Nthe late fifteenth century, a major world power that established colonies in the era of old imperialism was . their colonial activity was mainly limited to .

In the late fifteenth century, Portugal established colonies in the era of Old Imperialism.  Their colonial activity was mainly limited to western Africa at that stage of their empire-building progress.  The Portuguese were the first to begin explorations of the African coastline.  In the 15th and 16th centuries, various European empires would compete for colonies and trade in Africa, India and the Americas.