365 Days of Climate Awareness 251 — Introduction to Brazil
Brazil dominates South America, in both area and population.
Brazil dominates South America, in both area and population. At 8.5 million km2/3.3 million mi2, Brazil constitutes 49% of the continent’s area. With 211 million people, Brazilians make up nearly 50% of South America’s population. Its GDP of $3.585 T is likewise 49% of the South American total of $7.27 T. Though the Amazon River starts farther west with tributaries in Peru, and its drainage basin reaches to the peaks of the Andes, most of basin lies within Brazil. Physically, economically and in population Brazil dominates South America.
Prehistoric remains of humans in South America were found in Brazil and date as far back as 11,000 years BP. Several cultures existed through the millennia there before the Portuguese encountered the Marajoara people in the 1400’s. After the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Portugal and Spain, Portugal claimed Brazil and began colonizing. During the wars with Napoleon, the Portuguese court relocated to Rio de Janeiro, to escape the threat of the French army. When the court attempted to return to Portugal in 1821, the former colony began moving toward independence, which Portugal recognized in 1825, though the Brazilian state was still…
