Brazil Geography and Culture

brazil Geography and Culture Geography Brazil with a c overing fireground of Lusitanian colonialism back in 1500 is the largest nation in Latin America, nearly half (47%) of the South American continent, comprises slightly beneath half of the land mass in South America continent and sh be border with every South American unpolished except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil size is almost the size of joined States excluding Alaska. Brazil has 13 cities with over one million residents.The main capital is Brasilia, Brazil has 13 cities with over one million residents. Three important cities in Brazil including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador. Brazil is a diverse country with ethnic groups including 54% European, 39% mixed European-African, 6% Africa, 1% other. The physical env straighten outment in for each one region determined the types of crops grown or the resources sp arcted and this, in turn, influenced the populations that settled there and the loving and scotch systems t hat developed.Brazils economic history, in fact, has been marked by a succession of cycles, each one based on the victimization of a single export commodity timber (brazilwood) in the first years of colonization sugar cane in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries precious metals (gold) and gems (diamonds) in the eighteenth century and finally, coffee in the ordinal and early twentieth centuries. The Northeast neck of the woods has about 53. 6 million people, which rep dislikes 28% of the entirety act in the whole country.Most of the population lives in the urban argona, althourgh, about 15 million people lives in the sertao. Its famous in Brazil by its hot wheather, beautiful beaches, rich culture, the sertao and to be the birthplace of the country. The biggest cities argon Salvador, Fortaleza and Recife, which are the regional metropolitan areas of the Nordeste, all with a population above a million inhabitants. The Central-West sphere is composed of the states of Goias, M ato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul along with Distrito Federal (Federal District), whereBrazils national capital, Brasilia, is situated. This Region is right in the heart of Brazil, representing 18. 86% of the national territory. The Southeast Region of Brazil is composed by the states of Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian GDP. The Southern Region of Brazil is one of the five administrative regions of Brazil. It includes the states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and covers 576,300. km ? , macrocosm the beautifulest portion of the country. It is a great tourist, economic and cultural pole. It borders Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay as well as the Center-West Region, the Southeast Region and the Atlantic Ocean. The region received large numbers of people European immigrants during the 19th century, who contain had a large influence on its demography and culture. The main ethnic groups of Southern Brazil are Brazilians of Italian, Portuguese and German descent.Today Brazil is justifiably famous for the Amazon River Carnival in Rio the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema its many champion soccer teams, and of course, for the amazing collection of organized diversity that makes it one of the most significant and important countries on the human face of the planet. Brazil Culture The population of Brazil was about 194 million, the sixth largest in the human being after China, India, the joined States, Indonesia, and the Russian Federation. Despite its large population, Brazils demographic density is relatively low.Although there has been significant population fecal matter into the interior in recent decades, about 80 percent of all Brazilians still live inwardly two hundred miles of the Atlantic coast. Unlike many other Latin American countries where there is a distinct Indian population, Brazilians have intermarried to the poin t that it sometimes seems that almost everyone has a combination of o European, African and indigenous ancestry. Many original Portuguese settlers married primaeval women, which created a new race, called mestizos.Mulattoes are descendants of the Portuguese and African slaves. Despite the mixing of ethnicities, there is a class system in Brazil. set is determined by economic status and flake colour. Few Brazilians could be described as racist, although social discrimination based on skin colour is a daily occurrence. People with darker brown skin are economically and socially disadvantaged. Many senior and middle ranking Brazilian business executives converse excellent English and in fact, many of them may have studied abroad in the regular army or Europe.However, English is non spoken when dealing with people outside the major commercial centres, an major power to speak Brazilian Portuguese is extremely useful. The semiofficial language of Brazil is Portuguese however, ther e are more than 180 native languages spoken in the country. It is also important to note that Brazil is the nevertheless country in South America whose dominant language and culture comes from Portugal. Aside from a small number of recently contacted indigenous peoples, all Brazilians speak Portuguese. Brazilian Portuguese differs somewhat in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation from the language of Portugal.Brazilian Portuguese contains a large number of indigenous terms, particularly words for native plants, animals, and place-names are not found in continental Portuguese. While regional accents exist in Brazil, they are not very pronounced and native Portuguese speakers from one region have no difficulty understanding those from other regions. The vast majority of Brazilians are monolingual in Portuguese, although many middle-class and elite Brazilians field of operations English and to a lesser extent Spanish, French, and German.Brazilians are very proud of their linguisti c heritage and resent that many foreigners, particularly North Americans, think Brazilians speak Spanish. However, anybody wishing to do business with Brazil and the Brazilians should be aware of the various cultural and structural roadblocks, which might confront them. Probably the most pervasive barrier encountered by the unwary traveller would be the Custo Basil or the Brazil Cost. This term refers to the very real extra costs of doing business in Brazil corruption, governmental inefficiency, legal and bureaucratic complications, excessive taxation, poor infrastructure, pomposity etc.Although this costa is difficult to define and has lessened in recent years, itremains real and the cause of great frustration for international business people. Due to this Custo Brasil, it is important to work closely with local lawyers and accountants. Many people have found the services of local intermediaries (despachante) extremely useful in overcoming many of the unfathomable local complexit ies. The official religion in Brazil is Roman Catholic there are more Catholics in Brazil than in any other country in the world. As with any other country in the world, Brazil is a melting pot of different religions.In fact, due to the diversity of its cultures and its heritage, this country boasts an array of spectral ideals and affiliations. Interestingly, recent censuses have revealed that around 90% of the Brazilian population subscribe to some religious ideal, making it more religiously inclined than any other South American country. Only around 1% of its population do not believe in a God, or a supreme world in some form or another. universality was introduced to Brazil when the European settlers arrived with the aim of civilising the local native people.They built churches and brought religious leaders into the country to teach young and old alike the doctrines of Catholicism. During the 19th century, Catholicism was made the official religion of Brazil. This meant that Ca tholic priests were paid a salary by the government, including them in the governmental affairs of the country. As such, Catholicism became an integral part of the management and administration of Brazil and its people. Many of the Brazilian festivals are based on the Catholic religion.Other religions (non-Christian origin) includes Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Jehovahs Witnessm Shinto, Rastafarian, Candomble, Umbanda and 1% of its population do not believe in God or supreme being in some form or another. Why Brazil? With a population of 194 million, Brazil represents the fifth largest market opportunity in the world after China, India, Indonesia and United States of America. It is also the fifth largest country in the world by geographic size. not only that, Brazil is a land of rich in natural resources such as iron ore, bauxite, manganese, nickel, uranium, gold, gemstones, oil and timber.Combine these facts with the stabilising economic and political landscape, this is why Brazil at tracts a higher percentage of total global foreign direct investment every year. So, as with many countries, the opportunities are there and they are real but, it is essential to understand the local business landscape if want to do business in Brazil. Regardless in what sector banking, computing or pharmaceuticals, local knowledge is important. Today, Brazil has one of the largest economies in the Americas and is the largest in South America. References 1. http//geography. bout. com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/geographyofbraz. htm 2. http//www. justbrazil. com/site/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=119 3. http//geography. about. com/od/brazilmaps/a/brazilfacts. htm 4. http//www. brazil. org. za/brazil-culture. html 5. http//www. everyculture. com/Bo-Co/Brazil. htmlb 6. http//www. mapsofworld. com/south-america/culture/brazil. html 7. http//www. worldbusinessculture. com/Brazilian-Business-Communication-Style. html 8. http//www. brazil. org. za/religion. htm l