Portuguese explorers arrived in South America in the late fifth-tenth century, and Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil in the name of Portugal in 1500, who fled to Brazil escaping from Napoleon. He made Brazil an equal part of the kingdom of Portugal and Brazil, that is it no longer had the status of a colony. When he returned to Portugal as King John in 1822 his son Pedro was proclaimed emperor of Brazil. Pedro was overthrown by a military coup in 1889 after which Brazil became a federal republic. Thus Brazil fought no war of independence. The groups of people that had initial contact with Portuguese explorers displayed curiosity and a willingness to exchange goods, but they were also extremely adept at defending their communities. Tens of thousands of Native Americans, includi

Brazil and the United States are the essential players in the FTAA. Brazil is at odds with the United States about the timetable for the completion of the agreement. While the United

I am pleased with my decision to look at the global capabilities of Brazil. I am sure from what I have learned so far that I will be learning about a country that has some of the same diversities as those we experience in the United States. With the global indifference to the FTTA, it will be interesting to see how the people and the government of Brazil feel about this agreement. In my opinion, I believe that Brazil will be in the further or if not now looking in other directions than the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

Though under a democratic system, the society is still highly stratified with a small group of business elite and landowners controlling the direction of major policies.

Some of the other more interesting facts that I found out are about the people. With such a diverse heritage, Bryce Jenkins states that Brazil is considered by many history scholars the “melting pot” of South America. Its population consists of seven different ethnic divisions. The people of Brazil come from essentially three main cultural backgrounds: these are the natives (Indians), the European immigrants (mainly Portuguese), and Africans. Intermarriages by the natives among Portuguese settlers and, later, among African slaves, produced a racial mix that was further diversified in the nine-tenth century as German, Lebanese, and Italian immigrants began to arrive. Eighty percent of the population is urban and twenty percent are rural population. Fifty percent is under twenty years of age and less than ten percent is over sixty. The average life expectancy is sixty-three years old. The majority of Brazilians are of European or African descent. Besides the original Portuguese settlers, other significant ethnic groups include Africans, Germans, Italians, and Japanese.

potential along the coastline is significant but has not been fully exploited. The natural scenery and favorable climate also foster a successful tourist industry. Sugar, introduced in the sixth-tenth century by the Portuguese, was the first commercially successful agricultural crop in Brazil, followed early in the eighth-tenth century by coffee, brought in from French Guiana. Coffee grew well on the hilly uplands west of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and in the southern states, where it has been concentrated since, though some is grown in the Amazon region, too. Today, Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of both sugar and coffee. The south is Brazil's riches agricultural area. But farming lacks the advance technology widely used in the U.S. Brazil is almost self-sufficient in food production, except for wheat, and agricultural production accounts for about a third of exports. As well as coffee and sugar, major crops are soybeans, cocoa, cotton, tobacco, and corn. Rice, sorghum, and beans are grown for the domestic market. All kinds of fruits are plentiful, with some like maracuja or passion fruit now familiar in Western markets. Currently Brazil supplies eighty-five percent of the world market for orange juice concentrates. The forests also provide a range of nuts, of which the Brazil nut is the best known. Brazil’s main exports are agricultural, especially coffee and sugar. But it has a large industrial sector and exports cars, mainly to other third world countries. An attempt to substitute alcohol for petrol in vehicles has not been entirely successful, as the cost has turned out higher than oil, though the sugar and cassava from which it is made are grown at home. However, the agriculture sector suffers from lack of land reform as there is much land left empty while landless peasants migrate to the rain forest and burn it to produce poor land which has to be abandoned. Successive governments have promised land reform but never deliver, presumably

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Some topics in this essay:
Roman Catholics, War II, South Brazil, Currently Brazil, Japanese Children, Supreme Court, South American, Native Americans, Sao Paulo, American Dollar, natural resources, south america, free trade, american countries, south american, latin american, portuguese settlers, rich poor, latin american countries, iron ore, american free trade, orange juice, gap rich poor, free trade agreement,