One major outcome of the Treaty of Tordesillas was the division of newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal. Signed in 1494, this treaty was intended to settle disputes over newly explored territories in the Americas and elsewhere. It drew an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean, granting Spain the rights to lands west of the line and Portugal to those east. This division helped to establish the empires of both nations, leading to the colonization of large parts of the Americas by Spain and Brazil by Portugal, and influencing global trade and cultural exchanges for centuries.