Brazil

A country whose identity is built upon diversity. The name Brazil was given by the Portuguese colonizers in the 16th Century based on Brazilwood, an endemic tree species with very noble wood and a rich red-colored pigment, which the colonizers extracted and brought back to Europe. Currently Brazilwood is severely threatened with extinction.

Before the Europeans, the land today named Brazil was already populated by hundreds of native people, with total numbers estimated in millions. Their diversity is engraved in the over 150 different languages spoken by them, such as Tupi, Guarani and Tikuna. The collective name of the country in the Tupi language is Pindorama. After the arrival of Europeans, the numbers of indigenous people in Pindorama was drastically reduced and since then they fight to maintain their culture, traditions and their way of life tied in equality with nature.

Current Brazilian society is composed of diverse ethnic influences, from the indigenous and African people (specially from west and central Africa), to European and Asian people. Some facts on the dimension of Brazilian diversity:

• Over half of the Brazilian population is self-declared black or brown.
• Brazil is the country with the largest absolute black population, second only to Nigeria.
• Brazil is the country with the largest number of Japanese immigrants and descendants in the world.

Brazil is also the fifth largest national territory in the world and is divided into five political regions, each with its own attractions and features:

• North region: Due to the Amazon rainforest, the climate here is very special, with exuberant nature and very high humidity. The main hubs in the region are the cities of Manaus and Belém, from where you can travel onward (very likely with boats through our wide rivers) to visit the rainforest itself.
• Center-West region: The capital city, Brasília, is located here. In the 1950s, Brasília replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital, as it was designed specifically for this end by architect Oscar Niemeyer. Places with beautiful nature here are the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland area, and the National Park Chapada dos Veadeiros, with beautiful waterfalls and ecotourism options.
• Northeast region: This region is home to arguably the world’s most beautiful beaches, such as Jericoacoara, Fernando de Noronha, Maragogi and Boipeba. The main hubs here are Salvador and Recife, where the influence of African descendants is more present than in other parts of the country and the culture and arts display unique esthetics.
• Southeast region: Probably the most known region worldwide, with the metropolises of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and certainly the most populated region in Brazil. Many people migrated from within the country to the southeast region, giving its cities a strong multi-cultural aspect.
• South region: This region is home to one of the world’s natural wonders, the Iguaçu Falls. European and Asian migration in the 20th Century was especially intense here, adding more cultural aspects to the already rich Brazilian mix. The proximity to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay also enables a more frequent exchange with Spanish-speaking countries.