About Brazil

History

Brazil was originally inhabited by Indians. In the early years of the 16^th century however, the country got colonized by the Portuguese, which explains Portuguese being the current official language. Brazil officially became a province of Portugal in 1548 and later on São Paulo was founded. Throughout the 20^th century the city grew to what today is the largest city of Brazil. Current society is formed by immigration waves out of Europe, Africa and Japan, of which the Europeans represent the largest group (54 percent) of the population.Even though the Brazilian population is ageing slowly, it still remains young; 63.3 percent is represented by a group aged 0-34 years old.

Economy

With a gross domestic product of 2,293,735 million US dollar, Brazil’s economy is the largest in Latin America and the eight-largest economic power in the world. Estimations tell us that in about thirty years Brazil will belong, together with the other BRIC countries, to the world's largest economies, which makes it an interesting market to invest in.

Brazilis actively involved in helping the world recover from the global financial crisis and is increasing its presence in intergovernmental institutions, which has enhanced the country’s position as an important global economic power. In response to a number of past economic crises, Brazil’s macroeconomic policies have improved markedly in the past decades and now provide a solid base for economic stability. Brazil’s policy framework is based on three main pillars: a central bank that targets inflation, a floating exchange rate and the primary surplus rule, which requires the government to run a primary budget surplus. In the past years of strong economic growth this framework has benefitted Brazil by maintaining an economic stability, which enhanced confidence among local and foreign investors.Although the global financial crisis influenced the Brazilian economy, the government has maintained a stable policy for which the financial crisis only caused a ripple in the Brazilian economy. The country’s major assets, such as abundant mineral and agricultural resources, a well diversified manufacturing sector and a sophisticated banking system are unique. Therefore, Brazil’s economic potential is large and its medium- and long-term economic outlook is bright. As the real GDP growth of 7.6% in 2010 shows, the economy is steadily growing.

Brazilis one of the four full members of MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market, for which the ‘Treaty of Asunción’ was signed the 26^th of March in 1991 and further policy protocol was established in December 1994. MERCOSUR comprises Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, besides Venezuela having pending full member ratification. Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Peru and Ecuador are associate members. MERCOSUR promotes, besides other aims, a program for the phased elimination of internal tariffs and the introduction of a common external tariff. With a population of 242 million people, the 2002 total output from the four member countries was 561 billion US dollar. In 2000, MERCOSUR and the EU opened negotiations for an Association Agreement based on three pillars: political dialogue, cooperation and a free trade area. Negotiations were suspended in 2004 over fundamental differences in the trade chapter. Political relations have nevertheless evolved, with an agreement made at the last Summit in Lima (2008) to extend relations to three new areas; science and technology, infrastructure and renewable energy.

Originally Brazil was a catholic country, but in 1891 the Constitution guaranteed religious freedom. This nowadays results in a variety of interpretations of the Catholicism and other religions. Still, 80 percent of the population is catholic, besides the Protestantism increasing to the religion of 15 percent of the population.

Brazil knows a highly diverse culture. With the original indigenous culture as the basis, the first major influence came with the Portuguese colonization. These Amerindian effects show in several aspects of the current culture, especially in architecture and language. Other influences come from Africa and Europe, as African slaves were brought to Brazil, while European emigration increased.

The Brazilian cuisine is a very diverse one, aligned with the highly mixed culture. All regions of the country know their own specialties, having regional influences from the immigration streams. A typical national dish is a meat stew with pork and black beans. Of course, the highly diverse nature throughout Brazil gives the country the richness of a broad range of tropical fruits, resulting in juice-bars on every corner of the streets.

When speaking of Brazil, one of the first things that comes to mind is, of course, carnaval. The annual event is originally catholic and traditionally takes place forty-six days before Easter. Celebrations include the world-famous bright colored costumes and a parade accompanied by a percussion band and samba dancers. Millions of tourists come every year to visit Brazil, where carnaval makes the country freeze for a couple of days.