Brazilian information

-History-

Brazil was first discovered and claimed by Portugal explorer, Pedro Cabral in 1500. It later became a colony of Portugal in 1549. It was initially used for raw materials and farmland by Portuguese sailors, until the Napoleonic Era. At this point, the King of Portugal, King Dom Joao VI, set up his government in Rio De Janeiro to escape French advancement. He later returned to Portugal and left his son, Prince Dom Pedro I, in charge. When in 1821 the king tried to take back control of Portugal, Pedro declared Brazil’s independence on September 1, 1822. His son later took over, and was overthrown by a military dictatorship. Brazil later had a revolt that led civilians regaining control. There has enjoyed several years of democratic elections, and the regaining of balance within the country economically.

-Economy-

Brazil is a capitalist society with many exports, imports, and industries. Some of Brazil’s exports consist of transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, and auto. Some of its imports consist of machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, and oil. A few of their industries are textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicle and parts, and other machinery and equipment. The national currency is the real which is worth about 1.8864 American dollars. Brazil has a GDP of $2.558 trillion, and it should be noted that there is a very large gap between the upper and lower classes, and there is a very small percentage of the population that is in between those two classes.

-Culture-

The Brazilian culture is a very eccentric and mixed culture from many parts of the world. The greatest influence on the culture is the Portuguese culture as this was the original culture to inhabit the country, and Portuguese remains as the national language today. Though this is the main cultural influence, the American and Asian cultures have also influenced Brazil.

Like most Latin American countries, the personal space area is much smaller than it is in the United States, so the touching of elbows, arms, and the back is very common. Long handshakes are also very common as a greeting or farewell in Brazil. The business person visiting Brazil should be warned that the “ok” hand signal in the United States is very offensive in Brazil, and that they should not wear the combination of yellow and green together for any reason because this too is offensive.