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General Aspects
Brazil is the biggest country in Latin America. It covers almost the half of Latin America Continent (47.3%) with an area of 8.5 millions of km². It is the fifth biggest country in the world coming first Russia, Canada, China and The United States. Except for a small amount of islands, Brazil is constituted by a whole and continuous territorial extension. On the world map you can observe that the shape of the east contour of Brazil is in conformity of the concave curve of west of Africa. The Equator Line crosses the North region of the country, next to Macapá; the Tropic of Capricorn crosses the South of the country, next to Sao Paulo.
Its extension on the east-west direction (4,319.4Km) is almost equivalent to its major distance on the north-south direction (4,394.7Km). Brazil has its frontier with ten countries: French Guiana, Suriname, Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia north frontier; Uruguay and Argentine, on south; Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru, on west. The Ecuator and Chile are the only countries, of South American Continent, Brazil has no frontiers with. The Atlantic Ocean extends for all its east coast coming up with 7,367Km of coastal waters.
Language
Portuguese is the national language, but the Portuguese spoken in Brazil is different, from the one spoken in Portugal and Old Portuguese Colonies when it refers to differences of the intonation and accents.
Some people use to say that Brazilians, nowadays, speak “brasileiro”, the same way Americans could say they speak “American” and not English. There are Brazilians who speaks German and Italian, mainly on the south cities of Brazil, because of the colonization influences.
A Country Open to What Is New
Few places in the world have the grade of openness and for innovation like Brazil has. The motive of all of this is just the fact that we built a democratic racial system through the years. Nevertheless, there is still the occult type of prejudice demonstrated in a subtile way by a part of the elite group. Occult by the racial discrimination by some parts of the elite. However, it vigorates in a much mitigated way (if we compare to The United States of Europe for instance). There has been a culture that helped to build an effective political democracy in a country that had everything not to have it, as a matter of fact.
On the basis of the initial population was built a slave society, which has never left the tradition of a particular way of miscegenation through the years, since its discovery in 1500. This miscegenation generated children from White people with African American, African American with Indians, mulattos with White people, and White people with Indians. From this racial mixture, it happens to appear an identity so strong that managed to keep the integrity of the territory. The nation was built on the basis of settlements that many times seemed weird to the eyes of the Europeans – and at the same time to most of Brazilians too – but that worked well then and nowadays still works in its singular way.
The democracy in Brazil translates itself into the distribution of power and from mechanisms of political representation, since the XIX century. Since 1823 there are national elections in the country, with a progressive openness to the inclusion of voting population, uncommon fact for the patterns of the European democracy. The National Congress works with the regularity of a watch, since its first elections. Only on three occasions, in all Brazilian history, elected deputes didn’t complete their mandates. The Congress force is so huge that not even the military dictatorship, which was vigorating from 1964 to 1985, could dispense it. The dictators knew that Brazil is ungovernable without elected representatives
Culture and religion of the Brazilian people
The Brazilian people come from a mixture of races. Portuguese explorers, natives and African slaves (most of them coming from Yoruba and Quimbundu that correspond to Nigeria, Benin and Angola nowadays) constituted the racial base. French and Dutch explorers also had been on the northeast of Brazil. On the XX century, a lot of German, Italian, Polish and Japanese immigrants added new elements to this mixture. Maybe Brazil is the main country with miscegenation.
Formation of population
The following races participate on the formation of population: white, coming from Europe; black, coming from Africa and Mongolian people, the Indian born on Brazil. The miscegenation is intense from the beginning of the colonization. The small number of white women among the Portuguese explorers makes them to be an acquaintance of Indian and black slaves, many times by brute force. This miscegenation originates other racial groups, like mulattos, originated from the miscegenation of white and black; cooper-colored or mameluco, originated from the miscegenation of white and Mongolian; cafuzo, originated from the miscegenation of black and Mongolian. People that arrived late on Brazil, although in many cases they have stayed in restricted communities, also miscegenated with other races.
Religion
There’s no official religion on the country. Almost 88% of the Brazilian inhabitants are catholic. However, approximately twenty million Catholics also participate in some kind of ritual cult of African origin. There also are at least five million protestants, including an important number of Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalian and Jewishs.
Most of the Indian profess traditional religions. The Church and the State are formal and completely separated.
Weather and Temperature in Brazil
The weather changes according to the altitude and the latitude of the place. The seasons, in Brazil, are the opposite from Europe and United States, except from the North area of the country. The medium annual temperature is approximately around 28o C on the North area and 20o C on the South area.
There are places, in South of Brazil, that even have negative temperatures, with frost and snow. In Rio de Janeiro, on summer time, the temperature reaches 40o C.
Brazil, with its vast territorial area, and continental dimensions, has a varied climatic typology. Beyond its territorial area, other factors are influential in the variety of Brazilian climates, which could be classified as the conditions of temperature, altitude, pressure and proximity of the ocean. This great climatic difference of the country results in a variety of different vegetation. That's the reason why Brazil has the most varied and complex ecosystem of the world.
Brazilian territory is divided into climatic zones. That means that 92% of it is between Equator Line and Tropic of Capricorn. Nevertheless, Brazilian climate is predominantly tropical it has temperate climatic zones distributed among the rest of the 8% of the territory. The higher temperatures are the outcome of the most predominant low altitudes. The medium predominant temperatures are around 20oC.
Brazil seems to be one of the only countries in the world to have what is called Equatorial Forest (besides Congo, in Africa) within the Equatorial climate. This climate is common in the Amazon Forest with medium temperatures that oscillates between 24oC and 26oC.
The tropical climate is on the area of Planalto Central (Central part of Brazil, a plateau region) besides the Northeast and Southeast Brazilian areas. This climate is characterized by two hot different seasons a year, presenting medium temperature superior of 20oC.
On the high areas like the Atlantic plateau on the Southeast, and on the regions of south of Mato Grosso do Sul and North of Paraná , the predominant climate is what is called Tropical of Altitude. Medium temperatures oscillating between 18oC and 22oC characterize this type of climate.
The Atlantic Tropical Climate predominates practically on the littoral area of Brazil, coming from Rio Grande do Norte and reaching out Rio Grande do Sul. This climate has annual medium temperature around 18oC and 26oC.
The region with the coldest climates in Brazil is the one on the territorial area below the Tropic of Capricorn, going through the south states, except the north of Paraná. The Subtropical climate of these regions presents medium temperatures inferior of 20oC. This region has the most rigorous winters in the country, including the areas of higher altitudes.
Currency
The Brazilian currency is Real (R$).
Conversions of currency
The conversions of currency are published daily on the newspapers. You are able to exchange money in banks, travel agencies and authorized hotels. Money or travelers checks could be easily exchange in these places. Cash or travelers checks could be easily exchange in these places. International Credit Cards are accepted in hotels, restaurants, stores, travel agencies, rental cars, and other special service tourism companies.
Vaccination
-Vaccination against Yellow Fever:
It is necessary to have an international Certificate against Yellow Fever to tourists, who were traveling through a period of three months, or coming from the following countries: Republic of Angola, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Republic of Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, Gabon, Republic of The Gambia, Republic of Ghana, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, French Guiana, Republic of Liberia, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Peru, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Sierra Leone, Sudan, Venezuela and Zaire.
It is recommended to have also the Vaccination Against Yellow Fever to those national, international, tourists who intend to visit the following Brazilian states: Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins. Do not forget: it is necessary to have the shot at least 10 days before the departure.
- Vaccination against Polio
It is necessary an international Certificate of Vaccination against Polio for children from three months old to six years.
Doubts and other vaccinations:
Consult the Brazilian Consulate next to you or the Brazilian Embassy of your country. | |
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