Lesson 2 - Brazil

Brazil is a country in South America and it is the world's fifth largest country. The country has a population of 186 million people. People in Brazil speak Portuguese and it is the only country in Latin America that speaks Portuguese; most of the others speakSpanish. The capital of Brazil is Brasília, a city planned and built from 1957 to 1960. The country also has the world's fourth largest city,São Paulo.

Geographics

Brazil has the world's largest forest, the Amazon Rainforest. It makes up 40% of the country's land area. Brazil also has other types of land; there is a type of savanna called cerrado; there is also a dry plant region named caatinga. Caatinga means white vegetation in Tupi, a native language of Brazil.

Brazil is known for soccer, but it also has many other things: a varied culture (influenced by people who have come from many countries), and a growing economy. Brazil is the largest country and in South America and the largest economy in Latin America. Its people include people of Portuguese or other European descent, African descent, and native Amerindians, as well as many people ofmixed origins. Brazil also has the biggest number of Japanese descendents outside Japan. The country is the fifth largest in the world by area. It is known for its numerous rainforests and jungles. It neighbours Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Colombia,Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, therefore it borders every country in South America, with the exception of two, Chileand Ecuador.

The most important cities are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasília, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Fortaleza,Manaus, Goiânia and Vitória.

People from Brazil are called Brazilians (brasileiros in Brazilian Portuguese language).