overview of brazil
TRANSCRIPT
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.
BRAZIL
1
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
BRAZIL
3
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
BRAZIL
4
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.
BRAZIL
5
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.
BRAZIL
6
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
BRAZIL
7
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.
BRAZIL
8
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
BRAZIL
9
BRAZIL
10
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.
BRAZIL
11
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
BRAZIL
12
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.
BRAZIL
14
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
BRAZIL
15
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.
BRAZIL
16
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
BRAZIL
17