different ethnic groups. The country
was a colony of Portugal for more than
300 years. Today, more than half of the
people are white, descendants of the
Portuguese colonists or other European
immigrants. About 40 percent of the
people have a mixture of white and
American Indian or black roots. Smaller
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Brazil 125
numbers of people have mainly African,
Asian, or American Indian ancestors.
Most Brazilians speak Portuguese.
Roman Catholicism is the main
religion, though many Indian and
African beliefs are also practiced.
More than 80 percent of Brazil’s people
live in cities or towns, and 13 of those
cities have more than 1 million
inhabitants each. Sao Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro are two of the world’s largest
cities.
Economy
Services—including education, government,
banks, hospitals, restaurants, and
the military—are the largest part of Brazil’s
economy. Manufacturing is the second
most important area of the
economy. The country mainly produces
foods, petroleum products, cars and
trucks, electrical equipment, steel, and
chemicals. Brazil’s industries use its
reserves of iron, silicon, clay, quartz,
gold, coal, petroleum, natural gas, and
wood.
Farmers use less than 10 percent of Brazil’s
land, mostly in the south. However,
Brazil is one of the world’s top producers
of oranges and coffee. Farmers also
grow sugarcane, soybeans, corn, cassava,
rice, bananas, tomatoes, and many other
crops. They raise great numbers of cattle
and hogs.
History
Before the Portuguese arrived in what is
now Brazil, at least 2 million American
1500 mid-1500s 1808 1822 1889 1937 1988
Pedro Alvares
Cabral claims
Brazil for
Portugal.
Brazil begins
importing
millions of
African slaves.
The Portuguese
royal family
moves to
Brazil.
Brazil becomes
an independent
empire.
The emperor is
overthrown;
Brazil becomes
a republic.
President
Getulio Vargas
begins ruling
as a dictator.
Brazil adopts a
new,
democratic
constitution.
T I M E L I N E
The Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland.
126 Brazil BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Indians lived there. Many were hunters
and gatherers. Others lived in large villages
and were expert farmers and fishermen.
In 1500 the navigator Pedro Alvares
Cabral claimed the land for Portugal
after landing near what is now Porto
Seguro, Brazil. Portuguese settlers soon
began bringing in Africans to work as
slaves on plantations and, later, in
mines. By 1822, when the slave trade
ended, about 4 million Africans had
been brought to Brazil.
When the French emperor Napoleon I
threatened to invade Portugal in 1808,
the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil.
They ruled from there and made
Brazil equal with Portugal in the new
United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil,
and the Algarves. The king returned to
Portugal in 1821, but his son, Dom
Pedro, stayed in Brazil. The next year
Dom Pedro declared Brazil’s independence
from Portugal and became
emperor of the new nation. In 1889 the
emperor Pedro II was forced to give up
his power, and the monarchy came to an
end. Brazil became a federal republic
with an elected government.
Since its independence, Brazil has been
one of Latin America’s most stable
nations, though dictators and the military
have ruled at times. Since 1985
civilian (nonmilitary) presidents have led
Brazil. In 1988 the country adopted a
new constitution that guaranteed basic
social and labor rights. Brazil continued
to struggle to strengthen its economy,
which has suffered from long periods of
rising prices.
..More to explore
Amazon River • Brasilia • Rio de Janeiro
• Sao Paulo
Dancers perform at a parade during the annual festival known as Carnival in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
Facts About
BRAZIL
Population
(2008 estimate)
187,163,000
Area
3,287,612 sq mi
(8,514,877 sq
km)
Capital
Brasilia
Form of
government
Federal republic
Major cities
Sao Paulo, Rio de
Janeiro, Salvador,
Belo Horizonte,
Fortaleza,
Brasilia
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Brazil 127
Brazzaville
Population
(2005 estimate)
1,174,000
Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic
of the Congo, a country in west-central
Africa. It is the country’s largest city.
Brazzaville is an important port on the
mighty Congo River. A railroad carries
goods from Brazzaville’s port to a port
on the Atlantic Ocean. TheWorld
Health Organization has an office in the
city. Many people in Brazzaville work
there or in government offices.
An African village known as Ntamo
once stood on the site. In the late 1800s
the French took over Ntamo and
renamed it Brazzaville. They later made
Brazzaville the capital of the French
colonies in west-central Africa.
The Republic of the Congo became an
independent country in 1960. Brazzaville
became its capital. Civil war broke
out in the country several times in the
late 20th and early 21st centuries. The
city was often the site of fighting.
..More to explore
Congo, Republic of the
Brick and Tile
Brick and tile are two different but
closely related building materials. Both
are made from a mixture of clay, sand,
and other fine particles called silt.
Brick
Brick is one of the world’s oldest building
materials. Making bricks is easier
than cutting and hauling stone for
