Brazil



__About Brazil__

Centuries ago, Brazil was once under the rule of Portugal, hence the national language, Portuguese. It is the largest and most populated country in South America. Today, Brazil is one of the world's largest leaders in economy, as well as a leader in its region. Brazil attracts many tourists, but for those who call the country home, it is not as captivating. With its high crime rate, poverty and uneven distribution of income, a day-to-day life is very difficult for many Brazilians.

__Interesting Facts__

1. The most widely spoken language in Brazil is Portuguese. Other languages used are Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and English.

2. Brazil’s economy is much larger than all other South American countries and continues to expand.

3. Brazil’s population is the largest in all of Latin America and is the fifth biggest country in the world.

4. Soccer is the biggest, most important sport played in Brazil. Brazil soccer is well known throughout the world.

5. Brazil has the largest rain forest in the world.

6. Brazil was named for the Pau Brasil tree, also known as Brazilwood. Previous to this name, it was known as the Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of Real Cross) and Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of Holy Cross).

7. Every Brazilian city has at least one soccer stadium

8. Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue, located in Rio de Janeiro, is one of the 7 wonders of the modern world

9. Brazil has the most species of monkeys in the world.

10. Brazil is the longest country in the world, and spans approximately 2800 miles from north to south via land.

__News Articles__

[] Due to the floods in Brazil, over 500 people are known to have died, and this number may continue to increase. Many of the people living in these high risk areas are poor people, for they let these people occupy the risky areas, but tey have no choice but to live here, forced to stay on the dangerous hillsides. It’s crazy to think that people are putting others at harm because of their financial status. This does not occur only in Brazil, but also almost every other country. Their government chooses to let people occupy a very dangerous area. This is a big problem in Brazil, one that the government can solve by not allowing more construction to be done in those areas.

__[]__ A bank robbery of about $65 million occured in Brazil. A 656 foot tunnel was dug into the bank from a house close by; the thieves dug for about three months. It is interesting that they did not find out about the robbery until a couple days after because the bank was closed. If that were to happen here, in the US, it would be known right away. It comes to show that Brazil does not have the highest security, at least not as high as the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/americas/17brazil.html?ref=brazil Rio de Janeiro has hired a new civil police chief. It is known throughout Brazil that there has been much corruption in the police force. Because of this, Jose Mariano Beltrame, the security chief, has named the first woman ever to head the force in the city. The former police chief, Allan Turnowski, was fired only four days after Beltrame said publicly that he supported him. The new police chief, Martha Rocha, is a 27 year veteran of the force and is expected to help Beltrame solve the problem of corruption in Brazil.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16407585 Brazil's economy continues to flourish in a time when many other economies are struggling. In 2010, the Brazilian economy expanded by 7.5%, and expanded again by 3.5% in 2011. Brazil's boom in economy can be linked to their high population and natural resources, such as minerals, fresh water, and reserves of oil and gas. The economy has jumped ahead of the UK as the 6th largest world economy. Brazil is also working on improving public transportation as well as the poverty rate, as an estimated 20 million people have come out of the poverty rate in the past decade.

__Economy__

The economic activity in Brazil consists mainly of coffee, sugarcane, lumbering and reforestation, and oil.





Works Cited __[]__ __[]__ __[]__ __[]__ __[|http://www.celebratebrazil.com/interesting-facts-about-brazil.html]__ __[|http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/americas/17brazil.html?ref=brazil]__ __[|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fbusiness-16407585]__