Country Profile: Brazil

The Basics:

This is the Brazilian Flag. The green represents the forests, the yellow the mineral wealth, and the blue circle shows the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the day the Republic of Brazil was declared, November 15, 1889. The 27 stars on the flag represent all the states and the federal district. The band of white has the country's motto "Ordem e Progresso" (Order and Progress).

These is a map of Brazil. This HUGE country is the 5th largest in the world based on both population and size. However, the Center West Region (where Brasilia, the capital is located) and the North Region (located in the north and north west of the country) are largely un-populated. In contrast, the south east region, which has only 11% of the countries land, contains 43% of the people. The Southeast is where the famous cities São Paulo and Rio are. 

Here is an overview of the regions in Brazil. I could be placed in any of these!!! :O

But first... a quick profile on the whole country!

Brazil:

Regions: North, Northeast, Center West, Southeast, and South

Area: 3,287,597 (5th largest)

Population: 196,342,592 (5th largest)

Official Language: Portuguese (And if you are wondering, no, I do not speak it!)

Capital: Brasilia

Largest City: São Paulo

Currency: Real (every US dollar is about 2.30 Reals)

President: Lula

Ethicities: 49.7% White, 42.6% Pardo (mixed race), 6.9% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% Amerindians

Climate: many- equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and temperate

Interesting Fact(s): Largest Catholic nation in the world, with 74% of the population being Roman Catholic, Brazil is famous for three main things: Soccer (they have won the world cup 5 times!), Carnaval (biggest in the world), and the Amazon Rainforest (60% of it is in Brazil).

North Region: 

States of: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins

Area Percantage: 45.27% of the land

Population: About 13 million (about 6% of the population)

Largest City: Manaus (1,403,000 people) followed by Belem (1,279,000 people)

Ethnicities: Largest population of Amerindians (native Brazilians) 

Climate: warm, humid, and very very rainy (more than 2,000 mm and up to 3,000 mm annually)

Interesting Facts: Most of this region is completely uninhabited, and in large areas, completely un discovered by man. There are also tribes of completely uncontacted peoples! Additionally, half of the world's animal species live in this region.

Photos: (right to left) the Amazon Rainforest, a small village, the Amazon Rainforest, the city of Manaus

Northeast Region:

States of: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco,Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia

Area Percantage: 18%

Population: 51,000,000 (about 29% of the population)

Largest Cities:  Salvador (2,892,625), then Fortaleza (2,138,234) and Recife (1,421,993)

Main Ethnicities: Pardo (63%) and Black (7%). The state of Bahia is the state with the greatest African influence

Climate: inland is very dry, known as the Sertao, this area is pretty much a desert, the coast is warm yearround, as this region is so close to the equator

Interesting Facts: First region discovered by the Portuguese. This is considered the poorest area, and many people leave, which is one main cause of the favelas around major Southeast cities. Also, this is where capoeira, Brazilian jiu-jitsu was formed by the slaves.

Pictures: (right to left) The Sertao (inland "desert"), Carnaval in Salvador, and Capoeira!

Center West Region:

States of:  Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Distrito Federal (Federal District of Brasilia)

Area Percantage: about 19%

Population: 11 million (about 6% of the population)

Largest Cities:   Brasília  (2,043,169) and Goiânia (1,090,737)

Main Ethnicities: The Amerindians used to be most of the population, but when Brasilia was formed, Northeast workers moved to help build and many European immigrants came to do business

Climate: The elevation here is hight and the temperature is normally between 60 and 85 degrees.

Interesting Facts: The Pantanal, the world's largest wetland is here, and there are many animals. Also, the region used to be desolate, until Brasilia was built in the 1960 (Brasilia is a planned city). However, outside of the capital it is still very empty.

Pictures: (right to left) Brasilia, the vast emptiness, and the Pantanal.

The Southeast: 

States of: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo

Area Percentage: 11%

Population: 72,300,000 (over 40% of the population)

Largest Cities:  São Paulo (10,405,867); Rio de Janeiro (5,851,914); Belo Horizonte (2,232,747)

Main Ethnicites:  The most diverse region: White: 59%, Pardo: 40%

Climate: the costal cities have year round warm climates, but inland the climate is more similar to the southern US

Interesting Facts: This region has the largest number of Asians, and Sao Paulo city is the city with the second largest population of Japanese outside of Japan, this is the most populated region and the main powerhouse of the Brazilian economy

Pictures: (right to left) the Maracana stadium in Rio, Ouro Preto (a colonial city in Minas Gerais), Ipanema Beach, Christ the Redeemer, and the massive city of Sao Paulo

The South:

States of: Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina

Area Percentage: about 7%

Population: 25,800,000 (about 13% of the population)

Largest Cities: Curitiba (1,828,092) and  Porto Alegre (1,441,554)

Main Ethnicites: The largest white population 79.6% because the cooler temperature reccomended it to many Italian, German, Portuguese, and other European immigrants

Climate: the temperature is cooler here and during the winter it can even know

Interesting Facts: The european culture is a big influence here. Also,  the quality of living is highest here

Pictures:  (right to left) Churrasco (all you can eat meat that is populat here), Ronaldinho (one of the most famous soccer players ever was born here), Igacu Falls (huge waterfalls), and Florianopolis (this city is considered one of the best to live in).

Well thanks for reading this country profile on my soon to be home! Maybe you can see why  I picked it now! :D

I can't wait until I get to know where in this fabulous place I will be going! 

Further Reading:

(by the way, the red words and many others above are clickable!)

CIA World Factbook Brazil

AFS Brasil

Brazilian Embassy

Rio Gringa Blog

Gringoes