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Overseas province


Overseas province (es,pt:província ultramarina) was a designation for territorial entities of Spain, and Portugal where it was established by the Estado Novo.

The political regime of Salazar and Marcelo Caetano argued that these territories were not colonies, but rather an integral and inseparable part of Portugal, regarding it as a "nation multirracial and pluricontinental" entity.

In the case of Portugal, it was an administrative division created by the Portuguese Estado Novo and a designation assigned to the Portuguese colonies -- Angola, Guinea, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde, Macau, the Estado da India (State of India) and Timor.

The first colony awarded this designation was the Estado da India (State of India) in 1946 as a political way to avoid the pressure Portugal was facing in international fora on being considered a colonial power.

The other Portuguese colonies gained this designation in 1951, thus abolishing the concept of a "Portuguese colonial empire". This designation appeared due to the rethinking of the Conceito Ultramarino Português ("Overseas Portuguese") concept and the consequent emergence of a new Ultramarina Portuguesa ("Overseas Portuguese") policy and the idea of a Solução Portuguesa ("Portuguese Solution").


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