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International Visitors

Brazil

Brazil is a very wide and diverse country located in South America. It is divided into 5 regions (North, Northeast, Center west, Southeast and South) and formed by 26 states and the Federal District.

It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and has over 7.300 kilometers of coastline. Brazil borders all the countries in South America (except for Ecuador and Chile).

Portuguese settlers arrived in Brazil in 1500 and found approximately 2 million Indian inhabitants living here (nowadays, there are 600 thousand Indians in the Brazilian territory). Indians spoke more than 180 different languages and dialects. African people started arriving in Brazil with the beginning of the sugar production in the first half of the XVI century.

In Brazil you will find people from every corner of the world.

Brazilian culture emerged from the blending of these three peoples and cultures: the Portuguese settlers that imposed their language and religion; the native Indians; and the African people.

Since the second half of the XIX century, Brazil has also welcomed a great amount of immigrants, mainly Germans, Spanish, Italians, Portuguese, Slavic and Japanese. Because of that, Brazilian culture has a strong syncretism.

In the world, Brazil is:

  • the fifth largest country by geographical area (8,514,877 km²);
  • the fifth most populous country with approximately 187,521,914 inhabitants;
  • the ninth largest economy;
  • one of the countries with the highest level of biodiversity;
  • one of the biggest multicultural and multiethnic societies.

Facts

  • Capital: Brasília
  • Largest City: São Paulo
  • Official language: Portuguese (sixth most spoken language in the world – spoken in Europe, Americas, Africa, and Asia).
  • Government: Presidential Federal Republic
  • Independence from Portugal:
    • Declared: 7 September 1822
    • Recognized: 29 August 1825
    • Republic: 15 November 1889
  • Currency: Real (R$) BRL – Plural: Reais
  • Subunit: Centavo – 1 R$ = 100 centavos
  • Internet TLD: .br
  • International Calling Code: 55
  • Predominant religion: Catholicism

Northeast Region

Northeast was the first area to be discovered in Brazil. It was primarily inhabited by indigenous peoples, mostly from the Tupi-Guarani family. Before the colonial era, they helped Europeans with the extraction of Brazilwood from the coastal rainforest in exchange for spices. Later on the Portuguese colonials started bringing African people to work as slave manual labor.

Culture in Northeast Brazil is very rich and remains fully permeated by the Portuguese, Indian and African influences that can be found in the unique constructions, dance, music, and cuisine.

Temperatures throughout the year are usually quite warm, with some cooling during the rainy seasons.

São Luís - Maranhão

In the exotic region of Northeast, on the outskirts of the Amazon forest, stands the island of São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão.

Founded by the French in 1612, invaded by the Dutch, and colonized by the Portuguese, São Luís is a picturesque place where the Europeans, the native Indians and the Africans blended in to form a unique culture, rich and diverse in its miscellaneous folklore, delicious cuisine and warm people.

"São Luís was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997"

Because of its rich collection of colonial buildings with hand-painted tiles, São Luís was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. This valuable background turns São Luís into an interesting place for a lifetime intercultural experience.

Via Mundo is currently working to expand the High School Program in Brazil to other cities in the Northeastern region.

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