History and Introduction The Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived at present day Pôrto Seguro (Safe Harbor) in the state of Bahia on the Brazilian coast in April 1500 and named the new territory Ilha de Vera Cruz, Island of the True Cross, thinking he was on an island. A year later, Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sailed to Brazil on a voyage commissioned by the Portuguese crown and returned home with a cargo of hard, reddish wood. The wood was similar to an East Indian variety called pau brasil, which was then popular in Europe for making cabinets and violin bows. Pau brasil (brazilwood), the first product to be exploited by the Portuguese in this new territory, is the origin of the country's name, Brazil (Ramaworldtours.com, 2014). Brazil is characterized by a diverse culture and geography, and historically it has been the source of important natural resources in its 510 years of history. It is the largest country in South America in both population (approximately199.321 million- “World Population Statistics”) and area (8.5 million square kilometers) and 5th largest country in the world. Brazil has several regional variations, and in spite of being mostly unified by a single language, some regions are so different from each other that they could have become different countries altogether. Brazil is composed by multicultural mixture: Africans, Europeans and Native Americans formed the bulk of Brazilian culture. This fact influences arts, literature, music or gastronomy, creating a heterogeneous mix of habits and patterns in society. (Noble J., Chandler G., & Clark G., 2008) Bossa Nova, Carnival and samba are some of the most popular exponents of this heterogeneous and rich culture. Brazil was colonized by the Por... ... middle of paper ... ... (Fightforpeace.net. 2014) Conclusion: Brazil with the rest of the BRIC nations have a long way to go before their current economic development translates into benefits for the majority of the population. Fortunately, Brazil has great strengths. Thanks to its efficient and entrepreneurial farmers, it is the world’s third-biggest food exporter. Even if the government has made the process slower and costlier than it needed to be, Brazil will be a big oil exporter by 2020. It has several manufacturing jewels, and is developing a world-class research base in biotechnology, genetic sciences and deep-sea oil and gas technology. The consumer brands that have grown along with the country’s expanding middle class are ready to go abroad. Despite the recent protests, it does not have the social or ethnic divisions that blight other emerging economies, such as India or Turkey.
Brazil is the largest country in South America and in Latin America, fifth largest in the world. It is one of the more diverse countries in the world, with different cultures and ethnicities. Brazil’s type of government is a Federal Republic. Brazil is on its way to growing out of its emerging market status and becoming one of the richest and most developed countries on earth. Brazil’s human, mineral, and agricultural resources are on par with those of the United States and Canada, and it has a few great opportunities to take advantage of in order to continue the growth it’s been experiencing over the past 20 years. Brazil, known for its natural resources, find in energy one of the country’s main ways of resources, being either oil and natural gas or biofuels and solar/wind power.
Globalisation has been crucial to the economic and social development of Brazil. In the late twentieth century Brazil face years of economic, political and social instability experiencing high inflation, high income inequality and rapidly growing poverty. However after a change of government in the 1990s and large structural changes in both the economic and social landscapes, the brazilian economy has been experiencing a growing middle class and reduced income gap. Since the start of the 21st century, brazil has benefitted from the move to a more global economy.
The first chapter focuses on Brazil’s founding and history up until present. When the Portuguese were blown off course to Asia onto the coasts of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese knew they had found a land filled with opportunities. The main attraction was the abundance of brazilwood which could be used for manufacturing luxurious fabrics in Europe. Over the centuries, exploration led to the discovery of more resources such as sugar, coffee, and precious metals that had made it a sought after country for colonization. Even to this day, Brazil maintains the image of a land with limitless resources since the recent discovery of oil and gas reserves and other commodities.
Initially, Portuguese traders began to export the brazil wood tree, Brazil’s namesake, for the luc...
As a result, Brazil's population is intermingled to a degree that is unseen elsewhere. Most Brazilians possess some combination of European, African, Amerindian, Asian, and...
Due to its high population rate (large labour pool), its vast natural resources and its geographical position in the centre of South America, it bears enormous growth potential in the near future. Aligned with increasing currency stability, international companies have heavily invested in Brazil over the past decade. According to CIA World Factbook, Brazil had the 11th largest PPP in 2004 worldwide and today has a well established middle income economy with wide variations in levels of development. Thus, today Brazil is South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. 2.
Recently, there has been a concerted effort from the Brazilian government to project their country as a “serious” power on the international stage. After many years of what could be deem as a failure of realized potential, Brazil is finally beginning to understand its worth as a major contributor to world affairs. Given its strategic location as the second most important country on in the Western hemisphere, and arguably the most important country on the Southern hemisphere, Brazil is poised to become an international powerhouse, the like of which South America has never seen. To fully utilize the opportunities being presented to Brazil in the coming years it is imperative that the Dilma regime bolster its reputation through increased efforts of international cooperation with emerging world markets.
Brazil is far from being a paradise on Earth. There is still a lot to be done. But from the eyes of an expat, I can see clearer the results of continuous transformations in Brazil than my fellow compatriots who are living and experiencing every small change over time. I have seen more changes in education and health happening lately than during my entire lifetime. I grew up hearing from several sources that Brazil would some day be the "country of the future." I thought that I would not live to see this day. Today, I can say that we are closer to the promised "future" than we ever were. Brazil is not the same as it was ten years ago. This country can finally be proud to honor the words written on its flag - "Order and Progress."
In 1822, Brazil became a nation independent from Portugal. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military government to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development. With an abundance of natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970’s.
In the current economic times the development and growth of any economy has come to a near stop or at least to a drastic slow down. The face of the global economic environment has changed and many new countries are starting to change the way their country and the rest of the world does business. One such nation is Brazil, who has turned around their own economic troubles and is becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the world (World Factbook). Brazil has started developing its economy and using the opportunity to achieve a level of respect in the world.
Symbolism in the Brazilian Revolution Eventually known as the Patriarch of Independence, in the 1800’s Dom Pedro led Brazil to their independence. When his father, the king of Portugal, fled to Brazil along with his family, he introduced many reforms to better the country. When he left Dom Pedro to rule, and he returned to Portugal, the Cortes began terminating the reforms, but Pedro took Brazil’s side. The three elements of the Brazilian Revolution that are symbolized in the monument are Dom Pedro’s speech “Fico”, the falling of Portugal, and the royal family splitting up.
Analyzing Theatre of the Oppressed: The Influence of Boal’s Ideology on Contemporary Brazil French playwright Yasmina Reza once said, “Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society.” This quote applies to Brazil. As a nation on the rise, Brazil faces new challenges that can be directly related to art and theatre. An example of this parallel lies in Augusto Boal’s concept of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). With his methods, he created plays with realistic conflicts that the audience members could then work to resolve.
Since that time, there has been a slow decline due to factors such as; over dependence on exports of raw commodities, low productivity, high operational costs, persistently high inflation, and low levels of investment. The inflation rate for Brazil in 2014 was 6.3% (“South America: Brazil”, 2015). The three major export partners of Brazil are China (18%), the United States (12.1%), and Argentina (6.3%). Export totals for Brazil for 2014, were $242.7 billion.
Brazil Our nation has been working hard into preserving and improving the standards of competitiveness with nations as powerful as the United States, China, Greece and Japan, for example. Social issues as eliminating urban slums or shantytowns (favelas in Portuguese) and ensuring access to adequate housing became one of the main problematic concerns at Rio de Janeiro and Brazil as a nation. Brazil with an area of 8,515,770 sq/km, represents the fifth biggest country of the world. Known for the most enigmatic forest of the world, the Amazons, Brazil has one of the most variable biodiversity including rare animal and plant species.
2. Burns, Bradford E. . A History of Brazil: Second Edition. New York: Cornell University Press, 1980.