Discovery of Brazil

The discovery of Brazil (Portuguese: descobrimento do Brasil) refers, from a Eurocentric perspective, to the first arrival of European explorers to the territory of present-day Brazil. The moment is often understood as the sighting of the land later named Island of Vera Cruz, near Monte Pascoal, by the fleet commanded by Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, which occurred on 22 April 1500. Cabral's voyage is part of the so-called Portuguese discoveries.

Although almost exclusively used in relation to Pedro Álvares Cabral's voyage, the term "discovery of Brazil" can also refer to the arrival of the expedition led by the Spanish navigator and explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, who reached the Cape of Santo Agostinho, a promontory located in the current state of Pernambuco, on 26 January 1500. This is the oldest confirmed journey to Brazilian territory.

The use of the term "discovery" for this historical event considers the viewpoint of peoples from Europe, who had records in the form of written history, and therefore it is a Eurocentric conception of History.