The main consequence of the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 was the division of newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal. This treaty, mediated by the Pope, established an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean that granted Spain the rights to territories west of the line and Portugal the rights to those east of it. This division significantly impacted European colonial expansion, laying the groundwork for Spain's vast empire in the Americas and Portugal's explorations in Africa and Asia. It also set a precedent for future treaties regulating colonial claims, although it disregarded the rights of the indigenous populations in those lands.