About Brazil
Brazil is much more than the country of soccer, samba, and Bossa Nova, of the Amazon and Pantanal regions and beautiful beaches.
We are almost 200 million Brazilians and immigrants, and together we make one of the most fascinating countries on the planet. We are connected together by a single language – Portuguese, and spread across an area of more than 8.5 million square kilometers, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator. A country that respects and values the culture of men and women of all ethnic groups, nationalities, religions and cultures that merged to create a single national identity – the Brazilian people.
With a Gross Domestic Product of approximately USD 2 trillion, Brazil has the largest economy in South America, producing state-of-the-art technology, particularly in the aerospace technology, medicine and IT industries.
Many Brazilians are renowned in the international scenario. Pelé and Ayrton Senna in sports; Tom Jobim, Os Mutantes and Caetano Veloso in music; Jorge Amado and Paulo Coelho in literature; Cândido Portinari in painting; Carmen Miranda and Glauber Rocha in the movies industry; Rui Barbosa in politics; Oscar Niemeyer in architecture and Santos Dumont in aviation, among many others!
Despite being a young country, Brazil stands out in many areas, with technology centers, universities, industrial areas, IT, communication and aviation companies. There is some of everything from the North to the South of the country. From the countryman to the businessman, from agronomy to aerospace engineering, Brazilians are in touch with the newest technology and expertise in the world.
Brazil will host the WWW 2013 during the fall, gathering all nations in a very joyful event.
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Brazilian Regions
Brazil is divided in five geographic regions, namely North, Northeast, Center-West, Southeast and South. Learn more about each one of them:
The North Region
Geographically, the North Region is the largest in Brazil, with more than 3,000,000 km². The region covers 45.28% of the national territory and has the biggest portion of the Brazilian Amazon. Cities in this region are isolated from each other due to the low demographic density of the region. The states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins comprise the North Region.
From a cultural perspective, this is a very rich area. In the state of Amazonas, the Folkloric Festival of Parintins attracts thousands of visitors in June. Since 1793, Belém, the capital city of the state of Pará, hosts the Círio de Nazaré feast, a popular celebration to honor Our Lady of Nazareth, which gathers two million people every year. The largest river in the world crosses the largest forest in the world. The Amazonas River, 6,868 km-long, crosses Peru and Brazil and its volume of water 56 times that of the Nile. In Brazil, the river flows through two states, namely Amazonas and Pará, meeting the Atlantic Ocean near the island of Marajó.
The Northeast Region
Scalding heat, beautiful beaches and the hospitality of the northeastern people are the major features of this region. From Bahia to Maranhão, a kaleidoscopic mixture of beliefs, races and cultures fascinates every visitor to those states.
Brazil was born in the northeast region, when the Portuguese landed in Bahia in the 1500s. Africans, native Brazilians and Portuguese made the city of Salvador the capital of the new colony. During the next centuries, Dutch and French men imprinted their mark in the culture and in the typical accent of the people of this region.
The northeast region welcomes millions of tourists looking for its natural and cultural beauties. Olinda, São Luís, Lençóis Maranhenses and Fernando de Noronha are a few examples of the main tourist destinations in the country. Everything is accompanied by lots of music and a unique cuisine!
Northeastern States are: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Piauí, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe.
The Center-West Region
This is the land of the original Brazilian countrymen. The culture of the heart of Brazil spreads across the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. Brasília, the capital city of Brazil and of the Federal District, was designed by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer and is also located in this region.
Between the calm rhythm of the Pantanal and the fast-paced lifestyle of Brasília, there is a group of people who love their land. This region is also accounts for most of the Brazilian cattle industry. The music, which is based on the lifestyle of countrymen, always delights attentive listeners.
The South Region
Three states comprise the south region of Brazil: Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Those states are nationally known for the high concentration of German and Italian immigrants, who maintain and preserve the traditions from their countries of origin to this today. However, as it happens across Brazil, a mixture of cultures has created a true melting pot.
In Santa Catarina, the beauty of the beaches in Florianópolis beckons tourists to visit and stay longer. Gustavo Kuerten, a world famous tennis champion, was born in Santa Catarina.
The people of Rio Grande do Sul are very proud of their state. The gauchos (typical southern men) have always been involved in the most important decisions in the country, from politics (with Getúlio Vargas, the president of Brazil during World War II) to soccer (with Grêmio and Internacional football clubs). The people of Rio Grande do Sul are easily recognized by their accent and charming hospitality.
The Southeast Region
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais comprise the richest and most developed region of the country. The most important business transactions, the most buoyant cultural life and the largest populations are in the Southeast region.
Since the song Garota de Ipanema (Girl From Ipanema) was composed and became world famous, Rio de Janeiro has become Brazil’s most renowned landmark. The art of Bossa Nova (music genre) and Carnaval that enchants everyone also comes from the city that will host the WWW 2013.
Minas Gerais has been the land of gold, diamonds and many precious stone, which were extracted from the soil of this state during the colonial period. During that period one of the most important Brazilian sculptors, Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho (“Crippled”), became renowned in Minas Gerais. Many of his art pieces can be seen in the streets of Ouro Preto. Watching the sky of Minas Gerais, Alberto Santos Dumont invented the airplane 14-Bis, and became the first man to take off with an aeronautic engine.
The state of São Paulo has more than 40 million residents and is still growing. Whether through agricultural, industrial or service activities, this state is the engine of the Brazilian economy. São Paulo is the former home of the ‘Bandeirantes,’ explorers who left the state in a quest to explore the inland of Brazil. The state of São Paulo is also home to many of the Italian and Japanese immigrants, who work on its fertile soil to this day.
