The maps presented throughout this article are from a series of historical maps entitled “Portugal Is Not A Small Country”.
In 1934, a fascinating propaganda map was created in Portugal with a simple but powerful message: “Portugal não é um país pequeno” (Portugal is not a small country).
The map was created during António Salazar’s Estado Novo (New State) regime to demonstrate the true scale of the Portuguese Empire.
Despite Portugal itself being relatively small (roughly the size of the U.S. state of Indiana), its colonial territories were vast.
The map cleverly superimposed Portugal’s overseas territories onto a map of Europe to visualize just how large the Portuguese Empire actually was.
When placed over Europe, Portuguese territories stretched from France to Turkey, with Angola covering much of Western Europe and Mozambique spread across Eastern Europe.
The map was first displayed at the Portuguese Colonial Exhibition in Porto in 1934, and soon became a ubiquitous propaganda tool throughout the country.
Henrique Galvão, the map’s creator, designed it specifically to boost national pride and support for colonial policies during a time when other European powers had much larger industrial and military capabilities.
Schoolchildren throughout Portugal studied these maps, which appeared in textbooks and classrooms across the country until the 1970s.
The map is noteworthy for its geographical accuracy – the colonies are shown at the correct scale relative to Europe, rather than being exaggerated.
The visual impact comes simply from repositioning the territories adjacent to one another, creating the impression of a continuous, massive Portuguese domain.
Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Portuguese India (Goa, Daman and Diu), Macau, and Portuguese Timor (East Timor) all feature on the map, alongside the larger territories.
Beyond just boosting national pride, the map served a political purpose: justifying Portugal’s continued colonial presence when anti-colonial movements were beginning to emerge.
What makes the map particularly interesting is that Galvão, its creator, later became a vocal critic of Portugal’s colonial practices and the Salazar regime in general.
Portugal maintained its colonial empire much longer than other European powers, only relinquishing its African territories after the Carnation Revolution of 1974 ended nearly five decades of authoritarian rule.
Maps like “Portugal is not a small country” demonstrate how cartography can be used not just to show geography, but also to shape political narratives and national identity.
The map remains an iconic example of 20th century propaganda and is still frequently referenced when discussing how maps can be used to influence public perception.
Today, these maps are historical artifacts that provide insight into how the Portuguese regime sought to maintain its colonial holdings through visual propaganda that emphasized territorial size rather than population or economic output.
For geographers and historians, the “Portugal is not a small country” map illustrates how spatial representations can be technically accurate while still conveying politically motivated messages.
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