Brazil: The History And History Of Brazil

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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.

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