This continent crosses the Equator toward the southern hemisphere. Known in OTL as South America, Brasil was inhabited for at least the last 10,000 years. In 1500, Brasil was discovered by the Portuguese, who claimed it. The land, originally called the Island of Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross) by Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, was later explored by Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered that it was a new continent.