Overview of Brazil

1: Where is Brazil? If you look at the world map, you can find Brazil

in the Continent of South America. Borders of

the country touch all the countries of the

continent except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is

the largest country in South America and fifth

largest country in the world after Russia,

Canada, China and United States. When you

look at the world’s map, Brazil is easy to

recognize, as its shape makes you to think of a

heart. It faces the Atlantic Ocean, Europe,

Africa and North America. Its size, relief,

climate, and natural resources make Brazil

geographically diverse. Brazil is the only

country in the world that lies on the equator

while having contiguous territory outside the

tropics. People from across the world, be that

of any region, culture, religion, ethnic

background visit Brazil.

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Why the country is called “

Brazil”?The word “ Brazil” originates from a tree that

once grew in abundance in Brazilian coast. The

color of this tree, Brazilwood or “ Pau-brasil”,

was red like an ember . The tree was used to

produce a deep red dye, so it was extensively

used in cloth industry. It was said that during ththe 16 century, massive amount of the tree

was harvested by the local people and they

used to trade this wood with the Portuguese

and French merchants. The wood has also been

used to produce red ink and the best quality

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musical instruments such as violins and cellos

are made of Brazilwood. Unfortunately, over

use of the trees led to decrease in tree thproduction during the 18 Century. This tree is

now considered endangered and its trade has

now been banned in Brazil. It is interesting to

note that Brazil was also called by early sailors

as “ Land of Parrots”.

How large is Brazil?Brazil is the largest Latin American country,

occupying an area of 3,286,470 sq. miles

(8,511,965sq. km) and covering nearly half of

the South American landmass. It is the fifth

largest country in the world after the Russian

Federation, Canada, China and the United

States. It is thirty five times the size of the

United Kingdom and more than ten times the

size of Pakistan. The distance from north to

south and from east to west is nearly as far as

the distance from London to New York.

The capital city of Brazil is Brasília. Brazil

consists of five regions and is divided into 26

states and a Federal District. The state of

Amazonas has the largest area and the most

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populous one is São Paulo. Brasilia is a planned

city, built in the late 1950s in the Goiás´

plateaus. Now, millions of people reside in the

Federal District. Two of the world's fifteen

largest cities are in Brazil: São Paulo and Rio de

Janeiro.

What is the History of Brazil?

Colonial Brazil

The Portuguese discovered Brazil by accident.

Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on 21st April 1500.

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At first, the Portuguese showed little interest

in Brazil and merchants only set up coastal

trading stations and exported brazil wood.

When they realized that the French also began

to trade with the Brazilian Indigenous people,

the Portuguese decided to found a colony to

guarantee the land. So, in 1530 men were led by

Martim Alfonso de Sousa and made the first

settlement at Sao Vicente.

Later, in 1532, the King of Portugal divided the

coast of Brazil into 15 huge areas and gave

them to Portuguese noblemen on condition they

encouraged settlers to Brazil. Nevertheless

there were few settlers in Brazil over the next

few years. So, in 1549 the King ended the

division and made Salvador the country's

capital. A governor-general called Tome de

Sousa was appointed.

Brazil began to grow as a colony when sugar was

introduced in the late-16th century. The

plantations were worked by African slaves. In

the early 17th century the Brazilian sugar

industry boomed. Brazil became Europe's main

supplier of sugar.

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In the late 17th century the sugar industry in

Brazil became less important, and, in 1695, gold

was discovered. The discovery of gold led many

people to settle in the interior of Brazil and the

population shifted. As a result the capital was

moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1763.

Then in 1807 a momentous event happened. In

Europe, Napoleon invaded Portugal, and that

made in 1808 the King of Portugal and his court

flee to Brazil. Rio de Janeiro then became the

capital of the Portuguese Empire, its

population grew rapidly, new public buildings

were erected and new theatres and libraries

were built.

Then in 1820 the king returned to Portugal,

leaving his son Dom Pedro as regent in Brazil. In

October 1821 Dom Pedro was recalled to

Portugal but the Brazilians persuaded him to

stay. On 7 September 1822 he broke with

Portugal and declared Brazil independent.

The Monarchy In BrazilHowever Dom Pedro's reign as emperor of

Brazil was short, he went back to Portugal and

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abdicated in 1831, in favour of his 5 year old

son, Dom Pedro II. As his son was only a child,

Brazil was led by a regency, and a period of

instability followed.

Dom Pedro II was crowned in 1840. Even

though he was only 14, he soon proved to be

capable ruler and restored order in the

country. During his rule, Brazil experienced a

coffee boom. From 1830 to 1964 coffee was

Brazil's main export. In the 1870s and 1880s a

network of railways was built across Brazil,

which made it easier to transport coffee to the

ports for export.

The prosperity of the country made many

Europeans immigrate to Brazil, and there was a

huge surge of immigrants after the 1870s.

Among them were many Italians, Germans and

Portuguese. There were also many Japanese

immigrants. The 1870s also saw the arrival of

republicanism in the country, and in 1889 the

monarchy was overthrown and Brazil became a

Republic.

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Early 20th Century Brazil

Brazil continued to be prosperous in the early

20th century, until the 1930s, when the whole

world was gripped by depression. After a

Revolution, in 1930, Getúlio Vargas became the

President of Brazil, position which he held until

1945. During that period, many policies were

created in order to modernize the country,

such as the creation of labour laws and the

installation of basic industries.

In 1945 elections for the presidency were held

and won by Eurico Gaspar Dutra. Getúlio Vargas

won the next elections, in 1950. This time, his

rule was troubled by economic and social

problems, and he ended up committing suicide

in 1954.

New elections were held and won by Juscelino

Kubitschek, who built the new capital at

Brasilia and attracted many automobile

industries to the country. Juscelino was

followed by Janio Quadros, who resigned after

7 months and was succeeded by Joao Goulart,

the Vice-President. However, in 1964 the army

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took profit of social instability and economic

troubles and staged a coup.

All political parties except two were banned

and trade unions were suppressed. The media

was strictly controlled. This situation lasted

almost 15 years. In the early 1980s the army

ended censorship in Brazil and allowed political

parties to form. In 1985, the National

Assembly elected a man named Tancredo

Neves as President, beginning the democratic

period that lasts until the current days.

How does Brazil look like? From the Amazon basin in the north and west

to the Brazilian Highlands in the southeast,

Brazil's topography is quite diverse. It has

beautiful beaches and coastal plains alongside

the Atlantic Ocean. The most extensive

lowland is the Amazon Basin. There are

highlands where Numerous archipelagos

( islands) form part of Brazilian territory, such

as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint

Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim

Vaz. The life above and below sea is the main

attraction of the island. Sea tortoises,

dolphins, albatrosses and many other species

are frequently observed.

How's the Weather in Brazil?Almost all of Brazil is humid as well as either

has a tropical or subtropical climate. Brazil's

rainy season occurs during the summer months.

Eastern Brazil suffers from regular drought.

There is little seismic or volcanic activity due

to Brazil's position near the center of the

South American Plateau.

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Natural Resources in BrazilBrazilian Natural Resources have always been

the prime attraction to the colonizers of

Brazil. In the beginning of colonial times, Brazil

was colonized by France and Netherlands in

search of it's natural resources. But the

Portuguese were the prime colonizers of Brazil

who always searched for gold and silver in the

region. It was the private explorers who named

themselves Bandeirantes who found gold and

silver in the state of Minas Gerais.

The agricultural land of Brazil has always been

quite fertile producing sugarcane, tobacco,

cotton, soybean in abundance. Owing to the

Brazil natural resources, Brazil is one of the

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leading exporters in the world.

These resources have helped a lot in the

enhancement of financial status of the

country. These natural resources mainly

include: Iron Ore, Manganese, Bauxite, Nickel,

Granite, Limestone, Clay,Sand, Tin, Gold,

Platinum, Uranium Gems, Petroleum,

Phosphates, and Timber.

From these natural resources major industries

have been developed and by involving with

those business many of the Brazilians are

making their livelihood. Some of the major

industries that developed out of these natural

resources are: Iron and Steel, Chemicals,

Consumer Goods, plastics, Shipbuilding,

Machinery, Vehicles, Metal Products,

Fertilizer, Foodstuffs, Textiles, Clothing,

P a p e r P r o d u c t s , P e t r o c h e m i c a l s ,

Pharmaceuticals, Cement, Wood Products.

Aside this from coal, natural gas and crude

petroleum, energies are drawn using which

major business activities are been made

possible.

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Land Resources of BrazilBrazil is a major global producer and exporter

of many agricultural goods including soy beans,

sugar cane, coffee beans, orange juice, beef,

pork, poultry cotton and iron ore. The country

is also the world's largest exporter of ethanol,

has 14% of the world's fresh water supplies

and 11% of all arable land. In 2010, 50% of all

new global oil discoveries were made in Brazil.

An abundance of natural resources is not

enough in itself to guarantee economic growth

but when teamed with effective economic

policy and flourishing technological and service

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sectors, they have contributed to Brazil's

development.

Mineral Resources of Brazil:Brazil is known to possess rich mineral

deposits. Brazil has proven and estimated

reserves of iron ore totaling 48 billion tons. Of

the total iron ore reserves, 18 billion tons are

located in the Carajas mountain range (Serra

dos Carajás) in the eastern part of the

Amazon. The mine at Carajás went into

production in 1985. In addition to iron ore,

Brazil has proven deposits of 208 million tons

of manganese, 2 billion tons of bauxite, and 53

million tons of nickel with a new discovery in

the state of Goiás which could amount to more

than 400 million tons. Brazil possesses

reserves of potassium, phosphate, uranium (an

element used for hardening steel), cassiterite

(the chief source of tin), lead, graphite,

chrome, gold, zirconium (a strong ductile

metallic element with many industrial uses),

and thorium.

Brazil produces gems, such as diamonds,

aquamarines, topazes, amethysts, tourmalines,

and emeralds.

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Economic Resources.The state of is responsible for about

half of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product as well

as about two-thirds of its manufacturing.

While only about five percent of the land is

cultivated, Brazil leads the world in coffee,

sugarcane and soybeansproduction (about a

third of the global total). Brazil also produces a

quarter of the world citrus, has more than one-

tenth of the cattle supply, and produces one-

fifth of the iron ore. A part of Brazil's

sugarcane production (12% of the world total)

is used to create ethanol which powers 90%

portion of Brazilian automobiles. One of the

key industries of the country is automobile

production. Brazilian aeroplane builder

company, EMBRAER, is also very powerful.

EMBRAER is the world’s leading aircraft

industry producer of aeroplanes with upto 120

seats.

São Paulo

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