The island of Porto Santo was the first to be discovered. This event took place in 1418 with Madeira being discovered the following year. The discovery of the Archipelago of Madeira was not planned but happened during an expedition to Guinea, in which the fleet was overtaken by a storm, taking them to the island of Porto Santo. The exploration of the islands started immediately after their discovery, initially by the command of D. João I, the King of Portugal. Some years later, the control and administration of the islands was conceded to the captains who issued local laws. During this period the islands developed their self sufficiency through the development of natural resources. The discoverers and their families, the first settlers, soon found other groups to join them. The island of Madeira developed more quickly than Porto Santo, mainly because of its rich vegetation, the abundance of water for irrigation and its inaccessibility, which afforded protection from invasion by pirates. In 1508, D. Manuel I, King of Portugal, by Royal Decree, elevated Funchal to the status of "City". At this time, Funchal was considered one of the most important cities in the Portuguese Kingdom, and also the first city built by Europeans, outside Europe.
The number of inhabitants on the Archipelago of Madeira increased rapidly through the centuries. In 1580, there were 21,800 inhabitants and in 1891 a census revealed an increase to 132,223 inhabitants. With the increase in population, the region was also given autonomy from the mainland government. In 1766, the Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of the Portuguese Kingdom, granted Madeira the authority to mint her own money and in 1901 it was granted administrative autonomy to the District of Funchal. However it was only after the Revolution of 1974 that the Archipelago of Madeira reached full autonomy (both economic and political) to become the Madeira Autonomous Region (Região Autónoma da Madeira).

 Madeira's Flag

The University of Madeira is an independent public University, it was created in 1990, following an experience of an extension of Lisbon University in a remote Island; for the first few years it still depended heavily on its connection with the Capital. At first installed in the very beautiful, but also very dilapidated, XVI century building of the College of the Jesuits, the University has now a new campus locate on the outskirts of the city of Funchal. The old College, now completely restored, is home to the Rectory and administrative services.The launching of degrees in several areas of Science and the creation of Departments started in 1992. In 10 years,  the Chemistry Department went from 1 to 12 members of staff and is now home to about 100 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate students. Two degrees are currently offered, Chemistry and Biochemistry. In close partnership with the Department, scientific research is conducted within Madeira Chemistry Research Centre, developing projects in several areas such as metallodendrimers, clay catalysts, biomaterials, enology and medicinal plants research.