The Land

To the north, stretching from the headwaters of the Paraguay to the mountains of Minas Gerais, Brazil's Central Plateau is a peneplain, an ancient land surface that was eroded down to sea level and then thrust upward. Much of it is flat even though it reaches up to 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level, as in the Brasília area.

About halfway between Brasília and the coast, the landscape changes to one of low but rugged mountain ranges. The most prominent of these is the Serra do Espinhaço, on the western flank of Brazil's extremely productive mining region. This area not only supplies iron, manganese, lead, zinc, and aluminum ores, but also quartz crystal, mica, diamonds, 90 percent of the world's semiprecious stones, and gold. Twenty miles (32 kilometers) east of Belo Horizonte more than $250 million in gold has been extracted from the Morro Velho mine since it began operations in 1834. By the early 1980s it comprised a maze of tunnels opening off a shaft that is nearly 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) deep, one of the deepest such shafts in the world.

Mining extends even to the beaches of Espírito Santo and southern Bahia with their deposits of zirconium, titanium, and monazite sands that are a source of cerium and thorium. These have been washed out of the ancient rocks of the Serra do Mar. That range is at its most imposing in this region. One of the highest Serra do Mar peaks is the 9,144-foot (2,787-meter) Pico do Itatiaia, site of a scenic national park, on the border between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

In central Bahia the Serra do Mar decreases in elevation until it reaches Salvador where it is only a low bluff separating the two levels of that city. From this point toward the interior and northeastward along the coast, a jumble of low granite mountain blocks and sedimentary ridges and mesas contrast sharply with gently sloping basins.

Along Brazil's northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela is another uplifted peneplain landscape similar to that of the Central Plateau. The two were once a single surface but became separated when a block of the Earth's crust slipped downward to form a trench, or graben. It is through this gap that the Amazon River now flows into the Atlantic Ocean. A thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) upstream, near Manaus, the Amazon lowland broadens out into a vast basin that once held an inland lake that drained southward along the Paraguay River. The ancient lake bottom was covered with sediments into which the Amazon River and its tributaries have cut their present courses. The soils of the parts of the Amazon plain above the river valleys are not fertile because the organic and chemical nutrients are leached (removed) by the continuously heavy tropical rains. The land in the valleys next to the rivers floods each year when heavy rains on the Central Plateau and in the Andes Mountains raise the water level. Fresh deposits of silt then renew the fertility of these floodplains (várzeas), which have been farmed for thousands of years.

Climate, Vegetation, and Animal Life

The diversity of animal life along the Amazon and its tributaries is equally abundant. Most of it is concentrated in the treetops about 150 feet (45 meters) above the ground where food and sunlight are plentiful. Animals living there include tree frogs and salamanders, monkeys, swarms of insects, and a great variety of birds. About 1,400 species of birds have been identified compared to only 195 in New York State and 81 in the Canadian region of Labrador. Brazil has more kinds of butterflies than anyplace in the world, many of them in the Amazon Basin. There are, however, few large animals in the forest, and these live mostly along the riverbanks. They include the world's largest rodent, the capybara, as well as alligators, boa constrictors, and turtles. Turtles, once abundant, are becoming an endangered species because the eggs they lay in the sands along the riverbanks have been heavily plundered.

Because the Amazon straddles the equator, average temperatures hover at around 80° F (27° C) throughout the year. They rarely reach 100° F (38° C) during the day or drop below the mid-70s at night. Humidity is high the year around, and it rains, on average, every other day. The heaviest and most continuous rainfall comes between December and April, with 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimeters) per month. This drops to about two inches (five centimeters) a month during the brief dry season in July, August, and September. (See also Amazon River.)

South of the Amazon lowland the climate becomes more varied. There are increasing distinctions between the rainy and dry seasons, between winter and summer. These variations are most pronounced in the interior, especially on the highlands, and are more gradual along the Atlantic coast. Warmed by moist trade winds, the coastal lowlands have a climate similar to that of the Amazon for much of the year; rainfall is heavy, and temperatures average about 80° F. In June, July, and August, however, cold air sweeping up from Antarctica—although warmed as it moves over the ocean—can affect temperatures as far north as Recife. In Rio de Janeiro the temperature during those three months averages 69° F (21° C), while in Pôrto Alegre the temperature drops down to 57° F (14° C).

In northern Brazil the coastal vegetation and animal life are an extension of those in the Amazon. Toward the south, however, the gradually increasing coolness eliminates or modifies many species. The trees do not attain the enormous height of those near the equator, and some shed their leaves during the cool months. Today only a few patches of the natural coastal habitat remain as a result of centuries of destruction caused by settlers and their ancestors who sought farmland and timber.

The same fate overtook the belt of tropical forest on the plateau in São Paulo, southern Minas Gerais, and northern and western Paraná, although at a somewhat later date. This area proved to be ideal for coffee growing. On the plateau south of the forest belt is Brazil's only subtropical climate. The city of Curitiba at an elevation of 3,000 feet (900 meters) averages only 70° F (21° C) during February, its warmest month, while its coldest, June, averages 54° F (12° C). Frosts occur with some regularity during winter, and there are occasional light snowfalls. Many Temperate Zone crops that do poorly in the tropics are grown in this area by Brazilians of Italian and central European descent. These crops include rye, oats, barley, potatoes, pears, and grapes. The land was once covered by forests of Paraná pines, but they have been largely destroyed to create farmland and to supply lumber, plywood, and paper mills.

Beyond the fringe of regular, plentiful rainfall that extends from the South, along the coast, and into the Amazon, the Brazilian interior suffers from drought during much of the year. Yearly totals range from 65 inches (165 centimeters) on the Central Plateau down to 33 inches (84 centimeters) in northeastern Brazil. However, 80 percent of the rain falls during a five-month period—between November and March on the plateau, where the dry season extends from May through August, and from January to May in the Northeast, where the four driest months are August through November. The dry months in these regions produce only about one inch of winter precipitation. Not only is rainfall low in the Northeast, but it is unreliable, causing droughts that drive farmers from their land and into overcrowded cities.

The People

Before the Portuguese discovered Brazil, it was the home of 4 million or more native peoples. They were divided into two fairly distinct racial and cultural groups. The thinly scattered Paleo-Americans, who were similar in many respects to the North American Plains Indians, occupied the colder and drier lands. They lived mostly by hunting and gathering. The tropical forest tribes were located in the jungles of the Amazon and along the Atlantic coast. Living in villages of as many as 3,000 people, they were expert fishermen and farmers who also manufactured hammocks, canoes and balsa rafts, blowguns for hunting and warfare, and exquisite pottery. Their staple food was cassava, or manioc, which is still an important part of the Brazilian diet.

Because they occupied the most accessible and fertile lands, the tropical forest Indians bore the brunt of early European settlement. They were soon exterminated by war, disease, and enslavement. The more isolated and warlike Paleo-Americans survived for several more centuries, and today a few bands still live near remote parts of the Amazon. Although Indians have almost disappeared from Brazil, many of its inhabitants, especially those in the interior, have some Indian heritage.

It did not take the Portuguese long to find out that Indians made poor and unwilling slaves. Therefore, beginning in 1538, they imported Africans to work on the coastal sugar plantations. Later, these slaves were taken to the gold and diamond mines in Minas Gerais and to the coffee plantations in the highlands of Rio de Janeiro. By 1822, when the slave trade was abolished, there were about 4 million Africans in Brazil, by coincidence about the same total as the number of Indians that once inhabited the country. Today the majority of Brazil's population consists of blacks and mulattoes.

There was a trickle of non-Portuguese European immigration into Brazil throughout the 1800s, but only after the emancipation of the slaves in 1858 did the country attract large numbers of European settlers. From that time until World War I as many as 200,000 arrived each year. About half were from southern Italy, and they went mostly to the newly opening coffee lands of São Paulo. After the war, immigration rose again, dominated by people from Germany, eastern Europe, and Japan. Then the depression of the 1930s, World War II, and a quota system reduced the numbers of immigrating people once more. After a brief resurgence following World War II, immigration declined again.

Culture and Religion

The customs and practices of Portugal are clearly reflected in Brazil's architecture, language, and Roman Catholic religion. Modern Brazilian culture, however, developed from the contributions of many peoples. The Indians contributed foods, farming methods, and many words from their languages; the Africans added their music, cooking, and religious practices; the northern Europeans and Japanese brought their technical and commercial know-how, adding new cultural values in the process. The diverse roots of Brazilian culture can be traced through the evolution of the people's religious beliefs.

A large number of Jesuit priests went to Brazil with the early Portuguese colonists. Their main function was to set up missions to educate and convert the Indians. Many were not converted, and in northeastern Brazil, where slaves were in contact with the Indians, the Indian beliefs crept into the Africans' religion and developed into a unique, altogether Brazilian cult, the catimbô.

Although the Africans brought their own religion and rituals with them, these were prohibited and Roman Catholic practices were enforced. But a strange mix of the two faiths developed, each saint masking an African deity. Thus, while they seemed to be praying to Catholic saints, slaves were secretly continuing the practices of their own religion. Numerous Brazilians, both white and black and representing all social classes, continue to endorse both faiths without any feelings of conflict.

Roman Catholicism, however, ceased to be the official religion after the proclamation of the republic in 1889. Finally, over the next century Protestant missionaries, largely of fundamentalist denominations, had considerable success in spreading their religion. The crente, as the Brazilian Protestant is called, is often devout and has usually renounced all other worship to embrace this new faith. So Brazil, although nominally the world's largest Roman Catholic country, has many other beliefs that run through its cultural fabric.

Literature and Art

Through translations, readers in many countries are becoming aware of the excellence of Brazilian literature, which is as varied as the origins and individuality of the people of the nation. The earliest writings, from the days of colonization, are mostly documentations of life in the new settlements.

An awakening of nationalism in the mid-1700s established a new literary trend that carried into the Romantic period of the 19th century. The beauty of the land, the native Indians, and the injustice of slavery were themes that appeared repeatedly in both poetry and prose of the time.

As Naturalism replaced Romanticism, new themes were discovered: life in the city, social conditions, developments in science and industry, and man's struggle to cope with a rapidly changing environment. Out of this naturalistic movement came Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, who is considered by many critics to be Brazil's greatest literary figure. His best works were his novels and short stories; but his crônicas—collections of often satirical anecdotes, reflections, and observations—are still very widely read and appreciated.

Brazilian literature of the 20th century is an amalgamation of earlier trends. Romantic themes have been rediscovered, but they are generally treated in a realistic way. Regionalism flourishes, and the literary language is more relaxed and colloquial. The two best known authors of the “New Novel” are Érico Veríssimo and Jorge Amado. Veríssimo writes about life in the South, and his polished literary style reflects the Europeanized culture of that region. Amado's less refined language characterizes the highly mixed origins of the people of his native state of Bahia.

The art and architecture of Brazil's colonial period was a continuation of the baroque style of Spain and Portugal, reflected mainly in the construction and artwork of the churches. The best known Brazilian artist of this style was the sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa. Better known as Aleijadinho, the Little Cripple, he worked in wood and the soft bluish soapstone of his native Minas Gerais. His most famous works are 12 larger-than-life statues of the Biblical prophets and six life-size scenes of the Crucifixion of Jesus, all in the small town of Congonhas do Campo, Minas Gerais.

In 1815 the king of Portugal, who was then in exile in Brazil, became patron of the School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. From that time through the years of the Brazilian Empire, from 1822 to 1889, painters, sculptors, and architects were enthusiastically supported by the court.

Brazil's greatest painter was, however, Cándido Portinari, a product of the 20th century. He went to study in Europe at the age of 25 and was deeply influenced by the French modernists, but his subject matter was usually Brazilian.

Contemporary Brazilian architecture, often considered to be among the most innovative in the world, also reflects this blend of modernism with native themes. Oscar Niemeyer, who was already well-known for his public and private buildings, headed a group of architects who in the late 1950s created the new capital, Brasília. A monument to modern design and planning, the city was entirely preplanned, from its inspiring public buildings and imaginative housing developments to its parks, artificial lake, and streets without intersections (see Brasília).

Education and Health

Until about 1960 the Brazilian education system was deficient at every level, from primary school through university. Higher education was available only to upper income level families. About one half of the population was illiterate. In 1964, although about three fourths of the city dwellers could read and write, only about one third of the rural population could do so. To remedy this the government launched a two-pronged attack on illiteracy. First, it started a teacher-training program, which eventually led to a doubling of the number of primary students. In 1970 the government began a second program to teach adults to read, write, and do simple arithmetic. Great progress was made in most of the country, and by 1995 Brazil had a literacy rate of 83 percent.

At the university level competitive entrance examinations and the building of branch campuses in small communities increased enrollments fivefold during the 1960s. In 1972 substantial pay raises were given to professors, whose salaries had been so meager that most had had to take outside jobs. By the 1990s Brazilian university graduates were especially well-trained in scientific and technical skills, and for the first time many of them came from families with lesser incomes.

Health care has followed a pattern which is similar to that of education. The health of Brazil's lower income families was long neglected, even though highly skilled medical care was available to the wealthy. As a result of malnutrition, tropical diseases, and a high rate of infant mortality, the life expectancy of the average Brazilian in the 1940s was only 43 years.

Since that time the government has set a high priority on solving the nation's health problems. Medical services have been expanded, and they now include mobile clinics and hospital ships that reach the more isolated areas. University students have, since 1967, been volunteers in a program that provides medical assistance and teaches hygiene in the rural areas. As a result of these measures and of building modern sewage and water treatment plants in the small towns, life expectancy in Brazil has now risen to about 66 years.

Brazil's high infant mortality remains a critical problem. Of every 1,000 children born, 57 will die before reaching the age of five. This compares to a rate of 7 per 1,000 for the same age group in The Netherlands. Even so, because the large family is traditional in rural areas, Brazil's population is increasing at a rate of about 1.7 percent a year.

The Economy

During the 1960s and 1970s Brazil was not only able to absorb its high population increase but also to raise its people's standard of living. This happened because its economy was growing by about 7 percent a year, one of the highest growth rates in the world. Industrialization, the mechanization of agriculture, and the building of highways, power plants, and cities were all taking place simultaneously. The worldwide recession and the high price of oil slowed this growth during the late 1970s and early 1980s. High inflation and large budget deficits plagued the Brazilian economy throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. This trend was reversed when economic reforms instituted in the mid-1990s succeeded in bringing inflation under control and increasing economic growth.

Government and History

The government of Brazil has been replaced many times. Nevertheless, the basic system for organizing the country has been retained. Brazil is a federal republic divided into 26 states and the federal district of Brasília. There is an elected National Congress divided into a Senate, with three members from each state elected for eight-year terms, and a Chamber of Deputies, elected for four-year terms by a system of proportional representation. Power is divided among Congress, the judiciary, and the president. The president is elected for a four-year term and cannot immediately succeed himself.

Brazil's discovery is officially attributed to the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral on April 22, 1500, but other Portuguese explorers had reached the Amazon by 1498. Portugal gained the rights to present-day Brazil under its 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain. The country's name comes from brazilwood, a red dyewood found along the coast. (See also Cabral, Pedro Álvares; South America.)

Brazil was long neglected by the Portuguese, whose attention was focused on their wealthier colonies in Asia and Africa. As a result the French established settlements at São Luís and Rio de Janeiro, and in 1624 the Dutch occupied the entire northeastern coast. By then sugar from that area had become important to the Portuguese economy, and the Portuguese cleared the settlers out by 1654. In 1808 the Portuguese royal family took refuge in Brazil when Portugal was occupied by Napoleon. King John VI made many changes in the colony before he returned to Portugal in 1821. A central administration was established and, with it, a postal service. Brazil's ports were opened to non-Portuguese ships, and industry was encouraged.

King John's son remained behind as regent, but in 1822 he declared Brazil independent with himself as its emperor, Pedro I. He abdicated in 1831 and was succeeded by his 5-year-old son, Pedro II. Regents ruled in Pedro II's place until 1840. In 1889 he was overthrown and exiled. By then Brazil was a stable, unified country, a situation that contrasted sharply with the former Spanish colonies in Latin America, which were in political turmoil. Brazil became a federal republic, and a constitution modeled after that of the United States was adopted in 1891.

The orderly succession of Brazil's presidents was interrupted three times between 1930 and 1964. Getúlio Vargas, governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, seized power in 1930 after the economy had fallen into chaos because of the worldwide economic depression. His dictatorship never completely abolished the democratic process, however. After World War II the military forced Vargas to resign. Gen. Eurico Gaspar Dutra was elected president, but Vargas returned to power in 1951 after a free election. His second government was chaotic, and the military made him resign again in 1954. The government was then returned to civilian control. The military seized power again in 1964, allegedly because João Goulart, who had taken office in 1961, was ruining the economy. Under a new 1967 constitution and the amended constitution of 1969, the government continued to be led by the military. Some semblance of democracy was retained even though the political parties were abolished and the powers of Congress curtailed.

Unlike many other military regimes in Latin America, Brazil's had not attempted to take over every aspect of the day-to-day running of the country. In the late 1970s the government began to put into place policies that would gradually return Brazil to a more democratic system. Political rights were restored to some of those who had lost them, provision was made for the establishment of new political parties, and press censorship was relaxed.

The two decades of military rule ended in 1985. Tancredo Neves, a moderate, was elected president in an indirect election, but he was hospitalized on the eve of the March inaugural. Vice-President José Sarney became constitutional president when Neves died in April. A new constitution took effect on Oct. 5, 1988. It guaranteed basic social and labor rights. On March 15, 1990, Fernando Collor de Mello of the National Reconstruction party took office, the first freely elected president in 29 years. On Sept. 29, 1992, the Chamber of Deputies voted to impeach President Collor on charges of corruption. Facing probable conviction, Collor resigned on December 29, a few minutes after the Senate had started his trial. Vice-President Itamar Franco was sworn in as president that same day.

During the ensuing two years, Brazil faced a continuing battle with runaway inflation, which reached peak rates of more than 3,000 percent per year. In early 1994, then–Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso succeeded in implementing a plan to fight inflation by introducing a new currency, known as the real, the value of which was to be pegged to the United States dollar. This innovative currency scheme succeeded in bringing a dramatic halt to hyperinflation and helped propel Cardoso to national fame. Backed by his reputation as a talented economic reformer, Cardoso won a landslide victory in the 1994 presidential election.

Once in office, Cardoso pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and currency stabilization that led to steady economic growth in the country. Despite the impressive economic growth, critics of Cardoso attacked the government's economic austerity on two fronts. On the political left, opponents charged that government plans to rein in government spending by slashing social programs would subject the country's poorest people to increased poverty. At the same time, economists warned that the government's strong currency policies artificially inflated the value of the real, leaving the currency susceptible to speculation and possible collapse.

Brazil Economic Crisis

Concerns over the long-term stability of the real increased dramatically following the outbreak of a global economic crisis that first ravaged economies in East Asia during late 1997. In August of 1998, fears of a possible financial meltdown intensified after economic pressure forced the Russian government to devalue its currency, the ruble. The spreading economic crisis prompted foreign investors to begin withdrawing their money from so-called developing markets.Despite the tremendous economic strides made during Cardoso's period of rule, worried foreign investors began withdrawing funds from the Brazilian economy at rates that would eventually reach more than $2 billion per day. Despite a brewing economic storm, voters in Brazil demonstrated their faith in Cardoso's ability to handle the latest economic troubles by reelecting him for a second term as president in October of 1998.

Hoping to stem the outflow of foreign funds from the state coffers, Cardoso's government sharply raised interest rates during the second half of 1998. The increased lending rates, however, exerted a tremendous strain on local governments, who were forced to repay loans to the federal government at these higher rates. During the first week of 1999, the governor of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais announced that his government would be forced to default on loans owed to the federal government. Faced with a prospect of widespread defaults on loans, the Brazilian government was forced to devalue the Brazilian real, ending some 4 ¹/₂ years of tight fiscal policy.

Economic analysts initially suggested that the devaluation of the real would drive the country once again toward hyperinflation. During the first months of the economic crisis, prices for goods and services throughout the country skyrocketed as the value of the currency fell. Pessimistic voices also suggested that a sharp downturn in the Brazilian economy would drag all of South America—and possibly North America as well—into recession.

Faced with a bevy of criticism for allowing the devaluation of the real, Cardoso maintained that a prolonged crisis would be averted only through continued fiscal discipline. Backed by a $42 billion assistance package from the International Monetary Fund and the United States, the Brazilian government undertook a number of reforms designed to improve the country's economic strength. By early 1999, these reforms began to show significant results as the Brazilian economy posted modest growth even as the government succeeded in holding down inflation. The renewed signs of economic vigor led foreign leaders and financial experts to praise the Brazilian government for engineering a seemingly remarkably rapid economic recovery. Population (2001 estimate), 172,118,000.