I. Introduction

Brazil, one of the world’s largest and most populous countries. It is the largest country in South America, occupying almost half of the continent and extending from north of the equator to south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Its largest city is São Paulo, and its capital is Brasília. Brazil’s large size and diverse population provide great variety in the natural environment, culture, and economy.

Brazil’s population is a mixture of Native American, European, and African peoples. These groups have intermingled over the years to create a society with considerable ethnic complexity. The Native American population has been in Brazil the longest, but is now the smallest group. The Portuguese began arriving in 1500, and other European groups came after 1850. The ancestors of African Brazilians arrived as slaves, beginning about the mid-1500s and ending in 1850 when the slave trade was abolished.

Brazil’s population growth was generally high during the 20th century, but it began to slow in the 1980s. Until recently the population was predominantly rural and agricultural. The last half of the 20th century brought rapid urbanization due to population growth and the migration of people from rural areas seeking employment in the expanding industries of the cities.

Before 1930 the Brazilian economy was dominated by a number of agricultural and mineral products for export. The world economic depression of the 1930s encouraged the government to diversify the economy, particularly through industrialization. The state led much of this development, through economic plans and government participation in key sectors of public services, such as electricity, telephones, and postal services. The government was also directly involved in some of the country’s largest firms, particularly in the mining, steel, oil, and chemical industries. At the same time, it encouraged foreign investment in areas such as automobile manufacturing, engineering, and the production of electrical goods. As a result, the importance of agriculture and mining in output and trade fell significantly.

Despite success in growing its industrial sector, Brazil encountered economic difficulties. Periodic world recessions, the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, the accumulation of high foreign debt, and periods of rapid inflation all contributed to slow the progress of development in Brazil. In response to these difficulties, the government reduced its role in planning the economy and in financing the development of new industries. The government also opened up a number of state-owned companies to private investors in areas such as steel, petroleum, electricity, and telecommunications. In 2001 services accounted for 57 percent of Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP); industry, 34 percent; and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 9 percent.

Brazil’s history can be divided into two major parts: the colonial period from the arrival of the first Portuguese explorers in 1500 until independence in 1822, and the national period since independence from Portugal. During the colonial period Brazil became the first great plantation slave society in the Americas, producing sugar and later coffee on large agricultural estates worked by slaves. During the 1700s Brazil experienced the first major gold rush in the Americas after explorers discovered gold on frontier territory inland from the coast. After Brazil broke away from Portuguese rule in the 1820s, members of the Portuguese royal family ruled as emperors until 1889, in the only sustained monarchy in the western hemisphere. Since 1889 Brazil has been a republic, experiencing two periods of dictatorship: from 1937 to 1945 and from 1964 to 1985. The interaction of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans in Brazil has produced one of the most racially mixed societies in the world, and one with enormous economic and social inequalities.