 As early as 1499, João Fernandes Lavrador explored Greenland and the north Atlantic coast of Canada.The following year, brothers Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real, explored what is today the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Greenland, claiming these lands for Portugal.João Álvares Fagundes and Pêro de Barcelos established fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521; however, these were later abandoned, as the Portuguese shifted their focus to South America.