Ivana Lopez; History 5My Country Report

GEOGRAPHY • Brazil lies along the eastern coast of South America

• It covers about half of South America (as shown below), making it the 5th largest country in the world

• It shares a border with every country in South America except for Ecuador and Chile

• Brazil spans 3 time zones and is filled with hills, mountains, plains, highlands and scrublands

• It has one of the world’s most wide-ranging system of rivers with eight major basins

GEOGRAPHY: CLIMATE• Brazil contains six climate regions:

• Tropical rainforest• Tropical wet and dry • Tropical monsoon• Semiarid • Humid subtropical• Subtropical highland

• Hottest part: Northeast• Most rainfall: city of Belem and upper

regions of Amazonia• Driest part: Northeast

GEOGRAPHY:

WIL

DLIFE

• Brazil is home to 60% of the Amazon rainforest

• It is considered to contain the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet

• Brazil contains most known plants, mammals and freshwater fish

• Additionally, Brazil is home to the largest snake known on the planet, the anaconda

HISTORY

• Brazil was claimed by Portugal in April 1500

• In 1534, Dom Joao III split the territory into 12 sections; however, this created issues. This led the king to assign a governor-general and the rest of the territory assimilated into native tribes.

• Sugar became Brazil’s most important export.

• The Portuguese was able to expand into the southeast through wars

HISTORY C

ONTINUED

• King Joao VI returned to Europe and left his elder son Prince Pedro to rule Brazil

• Fascists attempted to turn Brazil into a colony once again; however, Brazil refused and the Prince stood by them

• Prince Pedro was then named the first emperor of Brazil

• Brazil then won three international wars and slavery was abolished in 1850

• The monarchy was overthrown in 1889

HISTORY

CONTINUED

• Instability in finances, social and political led civilian and military rebellion in Brazil

• The Revolution of 1930 overthrew president Washington Luis, making Getulio Vargar president

• Brazil was pulled into World War II by standing with the United States

• Because of the allied victory, Vargas was overthrown and democracy was reinstated

• General Eurico Gaspar Dutra was then elected as president

PEOPLE (DEMOGRAPHICS)

• Brazil’s peoples range from different backgrounds• White: 48.34%• Multiracial: 43.80%• Black: 6.84%• Asian: 0.58%• Amerindian: 0.28%

• Most Brazilian inhabitants descended from indigenous peoples, African slaves and Portuguese settlers

PEOPLE: LANGUAGE

• The official language of Brazil is Portuguese• The language is different than

Portugal since it has developed differently and has been influenced by African languages and Amerindian languages

• Portuguese is used in newspapers, radio, and television

• In Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, the language spoken is Nheengatu

• Additional minority languages are spoken throughout Brazil

• German and Italian speakers also reside in Brazil

PEOPLE: RELIG

ION &

URBANIZATIO

N

• The most dominant religion in Brazil is Roman Catholicism

• Brazil contains the largest Catholic population

• The largest metrpolitan areas in Brazil are all in the southeastern region

• Sao Paulo has the largest population

SOURCES• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Geography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Climate

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Biodiversity

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#History

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Demographics