The modern Brazilian life has been formed by the cultures of the indigenous Indians, Africans and Portuguese.

Shenell Gordon

Group A

Brazil is huge. Big in size, big on celebrations, big on football, and big on shortage. It’s the world’s fifth-largest country, (the UK would fit inside its borders 35 times!). It could be a great place to live, but in reality life is harsh for many Brazilians,

especially children.

Climate

As Brazil is so big, covering almost half of South America, there are big local differences in climate and soil conditions. Most of Brazil has tropical or sub-tropical weather; high temperatures and high rainfall, but the North East is prone to drought following deforestation.

Culture

The modern Brazilian life has been formed by the cultures of the indigenous Indians, Africans and Portuguese. The Portuguese dominate this influence and Brazil takes its’ language and religion (Roman Catholic) from Portugal. Whereas Portuguese and African tradition, food, dance and religion dominate the cities and coast there is still a strong and ancient custom amongst the Amazonian Indians. Sao Paulo and Rio are homes to many respected museums, universities, libraries and eateries.

Recreational activities

Football is by far the most popular sport, and the national football team has won the World Cup five times. Famous footballers of the past and present include; Romário, Ronaldo, and Bebeto. Athletics and other ball games are also popular. ‘Capoeira’, a martial arts form urbanized by slaves, was masked as a dance to African music in colonial times, and is still practised today. Bahia, in the north east, is renowned for retaining momentous and folkloric customs, and many technique workers settle there. Salvador, the regional capital, has the ‘Mercado Modelo’ a famous market where jewelry such as emeralds, silver jewellery and antiques are sold. Belém, an Amazon City, is a centre for crafts that use materials from the local jungle surroundings. The world famous carnivals that take place each year in Brazil are thought to have originated from honouring the god Osiris in ancient Egyptian times. The name carnival, came later, and refers to the feasting which took place before the fast of Lent. During ‘carnaval’ -- which takes place in the week before ‘Ash Wednesday’, in the spring, – music, parades, dancing, singing, and partying on a grand scale, take place up and down the Brazilian coast. ‘Samba’ was brought to Rio de Janeiro by women from the Bahia area in the nineteenth century. The rhythm and dance are still popular today.

Places of interest

Brazil is a famous travel and vacation destination with the world's largest Carnival Festival, Beautiful Rio de Janeiro, the magnificent Iguazu Falls and friendly people. Brazil, including Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo, has total land area about 8,456,510 square kilometers, slightly smaller than the United States.

History

Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed Brazil for the Portuguese on landing in 1500. Brazil remained their colony until independence and the establishment of a monarchy in 1822. Brazil was one of the last ...

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Places of interest

History

Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed Brazil for the Portuguese on landing in 1500. Brazil remained their colony until independence and the establishment of a monarchy in 1822. Brazil was one of the last nations to abolish slavery in 1888. The decision was unpopular with wealthy landowners who relied on slave labour. Dom Pedro II abdicated in 1889 after the Republican Army challenged the monarchy. A military overthrow ended the Republic when in 1930, financial depression and regional disputes allowed ruler Getulio Vargas to take power. He ruled with the army’s support until 1945, focusing on industrial growth at the expense of social reform. This set a trend of widening the gap between rich and poor. The military took over government again in 1964, following civil unrest amongst workers and further economic problems. Successive regimes of leaders like Castello Branco brought the economy under control but repressed the people. Military rule ended in 1985, and in 1989 Fernando Collor became Brazil’s first democratically-elected president for 25 years. Brazil’s poverty and corruption charges saw Collor replaced by Vice–President Franco in 1992. Following the successful launch of his currency plan for the ‘Real’, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was enthusiastically elected in 1994 and again in 1998. In 2002, a former shoeshine boy Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - known as Lula - became the first left-wing president of Brazil in four decades.

Currency

Because of the very high inflation rates which Brazil had in the 1980s and early 1990s, the country had to change currency several times: Brazilians were used to dealing with Cruzeiros until 1986; that year, an economic plan cut three zeros from the bills and changed the currency to Cruzado; a few years later, another three zeros were dropped, and Brazilians were introduced to the Cruzados Novos ("new cruzados"). In 1990, the Cruzados Novos were retired, and the Cruzeiros were back; in 1993, the Cruzeiros lost another three zeros and were turned into Cruzeiros Reais.
In 1994, after the deployment of a new monetary plan, the new currency, called real, came to life, which preceded the launching of the Real. Since 1994, inflation has been maintained at civilized levels (2003, consumer prices rose by about 8%; in 2005, the inflation target is around 6%), and the Brazilian citizens had the chance, for the first time in a long period, to get accustomed to a stable currency. There are bills of R$1, R$2, R$5, R$10, R$20, R$50 and R$100 .Formerly, the bills were illustrated with images of Historic characters; problem was, however, that the high inflation caused the bills to loose value too fast, and what was supposed to be a homage turned into a mockery. Nowadays, the bills are illustrated with images of Brazilian animals (the feminine character on one side of all bills is a representation of the Republic Coins exist in values of 1 cent (R$0.01), 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and 1 Real. Coins vary in size and colour. Since the release of the Real, some coins were discontinued; click the links to check out the in course.

References