In June 1494 Spain and Portugal signed a treaty called Tordesillas because it was ratified in the Castilian city of Tordesillas.
Through this treaty the two superpowers of the time divided the known world outside Europe into an exclusive duopoly between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire.
The division into two parts took place along an imaginary meridian called "Raya" to the west of which it could colonize Spain and to the east Portugal.
This imaginary meridian cut South America into two parts: to the west there was much of the continent of Spain. To the east Brazil given to Portugal.
This explains why in Brazil Portuguese is spoken while in the rest of the South American continent Spanish prevails.
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