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Researched by Trent D.
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Research Summary
Introduction
Brazil is the largest country in South America. In the world
Brazil is fifth in area and population. Also Brazil covers almost
half of South America.
History
Before Christopher Columbus traveled to the new world the Portuguese
had made many trips there, but they did not tell anyone. The official
discovery of Brazil was on April 21, 1500, by a Portuguese explorer Pedro
Álvares Cabral. The first permanent settlement was founded
in 1532 off the coast of Sao Paula. The Portuguese used the native
people either as soldiers in battle or manual laborers. Two of the
major Indian tribes are the Guarani and Tupinamba. Men hunted and
fished for much of their food while women gathered fruit and grew crops.
Cassava was their main crop.
Natural Regions
Most of Brazil lies between 700 and 2,600 ft in elevation. The
northeast of Brazil consists of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded
hills. The highest points in Southern Brazil are Pic Bandeira at
9,482 ft and Pic do Cristal at 9,180 ft. In the north the Guina covers
two percent of Brazil’s area. The highest point in Brazil is Pico
da Neblina at 9,888 ft in the mountains of Guina Highlands. Most
of the lower parts of Brazil are in the Amazon Basin. Most of its
terrain rarely rises over 490 ft above sea level. The second major
lowland is the Pantanal in western Matto Grosso near Bolivia and Paraguay.
Seasonal flooding occurs along Paraná and Paraguay River system.
It’s a great area for ranching, but has recently been recognized as an
important wetland that needs to be conserved. The third lowland is
the Coastal Plain. In the northeast, the Coastal Plain may be up
to 40 miles wide, but in some places it is very narrow, between Rio de
Janeiro and Santos it disappears. This Coastal Plain has been a major
area of settlement and economic activity since the colonial times and twelve
of Brazil’s capitals are located along it. The Plain widens in southern
Rio Grande do Sul and extends to Argentina.
Rivers and Lakes
Brazil has a large and complicated system of rivers. The Amazon River
is the largest river in volume of water in the world and is the second
longest river in the world after the Nile in Egypt. The second largest
river is the Paraná, which flows through Argentina and Uruguay.
It empties into the Rio de la Plata. São Fransico flows through
the hills and mountains in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia before
going east and into the Atlantic. The rest of Brazil has a lot of smaller
and shorter rivers along the Atlantic seaboard. Amazon transportation is
very important, but the Amazon is more important for hydroelectricity.
Dams make most of Brazil’s largest lakes. The largest lakes are Sobradinbo
on the São Fransico, Tucurui on the Tucantins, Balbina on the Amazon,
and Furnas on the Paraná. São Fransico is also used for irrigation.
Geography
Brazil has over 3.3 million square miles (8.5 million square kilometers)
and covers 42.3% of South America. It is the fifth largest country in the
world, but is barely smaller than the U.S. Brazil is about 35 times bigger
than the United Kingdom and has 9,129 miles of land boundaries and borders.
The coastline is 4,655 miles (7,481 kms) along the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil
is divided into five geographic regions.
Gold Rush
In 1695 a member of the Bandeira expedition found gold in a riverbed
in today’s state of Minas Gerais. This began the first large gold rush
in Brazil’s history. That led to a loss of population in the coastal plantation
regions. It also led the first large immigration from Portugal to Brazil.
Mining activities picked up at a fast pace. In the 18th century almost
1,000 tons of gold and 3 million carats of diamonds were mined in Brazil.
The need for cheap labor in gold mines led to a huge increase in slave
trade. In the late 18th century gold production began to stop.
Economy
Today factories and service industries make up most of Brazil’s economy.
Brazil’s economy is the highest in Latin America and one of the highest
in the world. Brazil’s economy is based on private enterprise. The government
controls the steel industry and some other small industries. Brazil doubled
its economic output during the 1960’s and 70’s.
Education
About half of Brazil’s adults can read and write. Brazil’s people are
most educated in the southern part of Brazil and least in the Northeast
part of the country. Brazil has a free public elementary school system.
Everyone has to attend school from 7 to 14 years of age. Many children
finish the school requirement and then start work. Most children are from
poor rural families. In many rural areas of Brazil they lack schools and
teachers. University students volunteer to teach in many areas. Government
programs teach adults to read and write all over the country. Public high
schools are free, but most of Brazil’s high schools are private and charge
tuition. Catholic churches run some of the high schools. The largest college
in São Paulo has about 45,000 students. The largest library in South
America is in São Paulo, and has about 3 million books. Rio de Janeiro
has one of the largest botanical gardens in the world.
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