Brazil: History, Geography, Economy & Culture

In the southern hemisphere of our world, there is a vast country, half a continent in size, is a land of heavenly beaches, steamy rainforests and vast plains that now feed hundreds of millions. A country with a troubled past, built on slavery and exploitation of resources. 500 years later, it now stands on the brink of becoming a global power in its own right. This is the country of the carnival and the rhythms that spread across the world. This is the country that took an English game and turned it into an art, and in the process came out on top. This is where Africa, Europe and the Americas collided, and the result was Brazil. Brazil is a large country that makes up the eastern half of South America, and is the home of over 200 million people. The name of the country is believed to have come from the Brazilwood tree that once grew in large numbers along the coast, so named by the Portuguese colonists that refer to the valuable red dye it produced. Brasa is ember in Portuguese, so Brasil is red like an ember. Brazil's history, as we would know it, begins with the Portuguese colonisation in the 1500s. But prior to this, the vast region of eastern South America was home to hundreds of indigenous tribes that had been living there as early as 11,000 years ago. The largest of these groups were the Tupis, Guaranis, Geish, and Arawaks. As many as 6 million occupied the area at the time of the arrival of the Europeans, but this number was decimated in the following few years, as it was in so many parts of the Americas at this time, by imported diseases that they had no immunity to. In 1494, just two years after Columbus' discovery of the New World, Spain and Portugal agreed to divide these new lands between them in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Because of the poor knowledge of the geography of the Americas at this time, the actual demarcation line was specified as the number of leagues east of the Cape Verde Islands near Africa, and as longitudinal navigation was also poor, the demarcation line varied according to opinion, but was close to the estuary of the Amazon River. All to the west of this line was claimed by Spain, and all to the east by Portugal, although the line was not strictly enforced, as is evident by today's borders. This treaty is the origin of why, today, the western half of South America speaks Spanish, and why the eastern half, encapsulated in a single country of Brazil, speaks Portuguese. The land of Brazil was formally claimed for Portugal by an expedition headed by Pedro Alvarez Cabral in 1500, being the first Europeans to set foot in South America, specifically along the central coast of Brazil at Porto Seguro. It wasn't until 30 years later though, before colonisation efforts began, with the granting of titles to paying donors of strips of land along the Brazilian coast by King John III of Portugal. This system, known as the Capitancies, was created as Portugal, being a relatively small nation, simply didn't have the resources to colonise such a large area of South America directly, and its priority at that time was trade with India. Most of these Capitancies failed within a decade or so, due to lack of resources or attacks by natives. So, in 1549, King John established the Governor-General of Brazil as a single colonial administration, with its capital in Salvador, taking over the failed Capitancies directly, while newer ones were granted over the next two centuries. Under this system, Brazil was gradually colonised, with such colonies fluctuating between conflict and alliance with the natives. The most successful Capitancies were those that began the plantation system to grow cane sugar, as Europe began to develop an insatiable appetite for sweet foods from the late 16th century onwards. The plantation system relied upon slave labour to perform the backbreaking work of cutting and mashing the cane into crystal sugar. Initially, these slaves were indigenous peoples, but were soon eclipsed over the next two centuries by millions of black Africans brought over the Atlantic. Africans were considered better slaves than the indigenous peoples, since they had already come from agrarian societies in Africa, whereas indigenous peoples were largely hunter-gatherers. They were also more resistant to disease, and had little prospect of survival if they escaped, being easily identifiable and unable to return to Africa. This system was pioneered in Brazil and later copied by the British, French and Dutch in the Caribbean, and later in North America. Brazil has the dubious honour of being the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888, 33 years after the United States and 55 years after the British. Slavery was a central factor that shaped Brazil and whose effects can still be seen today in the ethnic mix of the people and the problems the country still faces, as we shall see. Sugar was the mainstay of the Brazilian economy until around 1700, when increasing competition for the sugar market by Caribbean plantations drove prices down. The plantations had largely been based upon the long eastern coast of Brazil, with the interior still largely an ungoverned wild land of indigenous peoples, cattlemen, missionaries, runaway slaves and European outlaws escaping debt or tax demands. The discovery of gold in the interior highlands around 1700, however, led many away from the coast to seek their fortunes, with many also coming from Europe, and additional slaves being brought in from Africa or the existing plantations to do all the hard work. In what became known as the Minas Gerais, the general mines, the economy of the country centred around the extraction and sale of mostly gold and some diamonds throughout the 1700s, with Ouro Petro becoming the largest city in Latin America by 1730. This shifted the centre of gravity of Brazil's economy and the population from the northeast, where most of the plantations were, to the southeast, and as a consequence the colonial capital was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro in 1763. At the end of that century, however, events in Europe would set a change of course for the Brazilian colonies. Napoleon Bonaparte of France was setting the continent alight with revolutionary fervour, and his armies invaded and occupied Spain, threatening Portugal itself. The Queen and Prince Regent fled to Brazil in 1808 and set up the royal court in Rio de Janeiro. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the court was urged to return to Portugal, but the Prince, now King John VI, found life in Rio more to his preference, and an attempt to quell discontent at home created the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the which brought together all Portuguese territories in a single, equal, united realm. Brazil was thence elevated from a colony to a kingdom. But discontent in Portugal continued, erupting into revolution in 1820, and with reluctance, the King returned to the homeland in 1821, leaving his son Pedro to act as his regent in Brazil, giving him a large degree of autonomy. The King was forced to accept a new constitution, largely drafted by Portuguese-born delegates to the parliament in Lisbon, which would have demoted Brazil once more to colonial status, as well as demanding the return of Pedro to Portugal. Unsurprisingly, this created fury among the court in Brazil, who, after assembling a council of representatives from the various provinces, persuaded Pedro to not only defy the demand to return home, but also to proclaim that any laws enacted in Portugal would only apply to Brazil with his consent. This further escalated the dispute with Portugal, which sent troops to Brazil to force Pedro's return. These troops were ordered back to Portugal by Pedro, although troops landing in other cities other than Rio fought with and were defeated by Brazilian militias. After elections for a new assembly in Brazil produced an even further pro-independence stance, Pedro agreed to declare independence from Portugal on the 7th of September 1822. Portugal reacted by sending further troops, but by the following year these were also defeated. Peace was sought with the mother country, since other countries would not recognise Brazil's independence otherwise, and so peace was found, at a price, with Brazil paying Portugal two million pounds in reparations for lost colonial properties, the money to pay for this being borrowed from Britain. So was created the Empire of Brazil, the only European-based monarchy to have ever existed in the Americas. All this, in total contrast to the much more violent events that played out around the same time in Spanish South America, with Simon Bolivar and his revolutionary war against Spain that led to the creation of newly independent republics. But that's a story for another time. In the following decades, ruled by Pedro I and after 1841 by his son Dom Pedro II, the new empire grappled with and overcame numerous problems. The transatlantic slave trade came to an end in 1831, but there were still a significant number of slaves working primarily in sugar, coffee and cotton plantations. Dom Pedro was careful to avoid antagonising the powerful landowners who had these slaves by gradually phasing out the systems and laws that underpinned the procurement and earning of slaves and culminated in the final freeing of the remaining 700,000 in 1888. Brazil was a vast country, with many regional differences, and rebellions and secessionist movements were common. But the emperor was able to contain these with the help of his able general Lima e Silva. Lastly, the issue of the expansion of Argentina and Paraguay around the Rio de la Plata on Brazil's southwestern flank was addressed through a series of three wars, with Brazil emerging victorious in each. Dom Pedro's rule of half a century was considered the most successful in Brazil's history. The population more than tripled from 4 to 14 million, and its railroads extended more than 8,000 kilometres. The highly educated emperor, showing great intellect tempered with modesty and generosity, made him very popular, up until the time of the military coup that would overthrow and exile him. A conspiracy between the growing urban middle class, the military and the coffee barons wanted to see a republic, since they believed a monarchy was holding back the country from modernising in the way that many European countries and the United States were at that time. In 1889, they overthrew Dom Pedro, who was sent into exile, with the former emperor dying in Paris just two years later. In his place, a republic was founded, and over the next 40 years, Brazil was governed by a succession of what became known as the Coffee Presidents. Coffee now dominated the Brazilian economy, accounting for half of all exports, and where there's money, of course there's power, and most of the presidents at this time were one of the landowning coffee barons. It was in this period from 1870 to 1930 that saw the biggest wave of immigration from Europe, with over 4 million arriving in this time. Most of these came from Portugal and Italy, with many others from Germany and Spain. Many of them worked in the coffee plantations that had lost their previous supply of labour in the form of slaves. In the first part of the 20th century, the demand for rubber, used in tyres for the newly invented automobile, opened up the Amazon basin for the first time, since rubber trees thrived in the hot and wet tropical rainforest climate. In this push westward, the borders with other countries in the centre and north of the continent were finally resolved, very much in Brazil's favour, so far west from the original line of the Treaty of Tordesillas. The 1930s were a difficult time economically for Brazil, as coffee exports slumped in the face of the depression affecting the United States and many other countries in the developed world. Into this instability emerged Getúlio Vargas, who over the next quarter century dominated Brazil either as an elected president or dictator. Vargas, a big supporter of the United States, brought the country into World War II on the side of the Allies, with servicemen operating anti-submarine patrols in the South Atlantic, and ground troops seeing battles in Italy. The Vargas era came to an end in 1954 after a series of scandals, the last one involving him in an assassination against a political rival. He took his own life rather than face the humiliation of being forced to resign. The following years, under President Kubitschek, saw a greater emphasis on developing infrastructure such as dams, hydroelectric and roads, and in particular the building of a brand new capital, Brasilia, in the interior of the country, to spearhead a push to develop the country further inland through the development of its resources and farming. These projects came at a huge cost, without any immediate economic growth, however, and on top of existing economic problems that were not resolved in the Vargas era, leading to inflation spiralling out of control and an economic crisis that quickly developed into a complex series of political crises that brought the country to the verge of civil war between the two camps that followed the Vargas political school and those that did not, which was essentially a left-right split. Fearing a transition to communism under the elected President Joulard, the military took over in 1964, ousting him and over the next 20 years, would dictate who would be president. This effective military dictatorship initially outlawed political dissent, with thousands being arrested and tortured. Political parties were The regime, with support from the United States due to its anti-socialist agenda, was able to stabilise the economy, however, and through the 1970s and into the 1980s, the economy boomed, albeit at the price of political freedom. In this time, Brazil had reached the top ten globally in economic power, with the industrial sector in particular expanding during this period, in addition to the mainstay of in the north and west toward the Amazon. Civilian government returned in 1985, and between then and today, governments have flipped between socialist and conservative political parties. The economy has had its booms and busts, but in general has continued to grow, yet social problems remain deep. The legacy of slavery in particular still hangs over the country, with shanty towns known as favelas scarring large parts of cities such as Rio and Sao Paulo. When the slaves were freed in the 1800s, the state provided no aid or assistance to them, and so they simply built their homes wherever they could, with any materials on hand. Taking the meagre wages offered to them as unskilled and uneducated labourers, and this problem of a lack of education and prospects, along with social exclusion, has continued into subsequent generations, as they are effectively treated as second-class citizens by those not from the favelas. Brazil today has one of the highest income inequality indexes in the world, and perhaps as a consequence is home to high levels of violence in the larger cities, although drug gangs also must play their part in this problem. There have been, in response, reports of police death squads to deal with these criminals extra-judicially. Away from the cities and in the interior, destruction of the Amazon rainforest by the poor looking to eke out some living on the frontier has brought unwelcome international attention and criticism, as many in the developed world see this region as a global asset, both for its biodiversity and its role in acting as a sink for carbon dioxide. Brazil is a federation of states, in the same way that the United States or Germany is, with each of the 26 states exercising considerable authority within their own territory. Above these are the national federal government, which dictates foreign policy and other national policies that it deems are within its remit. Below the states are the municipalities, totalling over 5,500 nationwide, with the larger states having hundreds each, while smaller states might only have just over a dozen. The capital is Brasilia, located within its own federal district that is under the direct control of the federal government. That government is divided into three branches, the executive, legislator and judiciary, just like the United States. The executive is headed by the president, who is elected by the people, all of whom must vote by law, to serve a four-year term, renewable once. The legislator, which passes motions into law, is bicameral, meaning there are two houses. The upper house is the senate, which represents the power of the 26 states, plus the federal district, with three senators from each to give a total of 81, serving eight-year terms. The lower house is the chamber of deputies, comprising 513 seats, elected to four-year terms, and reflects more the actual population, with more popular states returning more deputies. Since its independence in 1822, Brazil has undergone no fewer than six revisions to its constitution, with the most recent from 1988 being a complete rewrite. The flag of Brazil, in use since the foundation of the republic in 1889, is one of the world's most distinctive and recognisable, with a field of green and a yellow rhombus, giving it the local nickname Verde e Amarelo. This green and yellow pattern was forwarded from the older Empire of Brazil flag, and the green denotes the house of Braganza of Pedro, the first emperor of Brazil, while yellow represents the house of Habsburg, from which Pedro's wife came. The earlier imperial emblem at the centre was replaced by a blue starry knight depicting the constellations over Rio on the night of the declaration of the republic, with the southern cross being prominent near the centre. Each of the stars in the sky denotes one of the states of Brazil, and the flag has been updated several times as new states have been created over the years. Finally, the humanist-derived phrase, Ordem e Progresso, meaning Order and Progress, girdles the blue sky. The usage of the southern cross is a popular choice for countries in the southern hemisphere, with Australia and New Zealand also featuring this asterism in their flags. This constellation takes front and centre stage in Brazil's coat of arms, which also dates from 1889. The 27 stars of the country's states surround the cross at the centre, while a green and yellow star contains the central emblem. Outside of these are two sprigs, coffee on the left, tobacco on the right, while the bottom ribbon features the official name of the country, along with the date of the founding of the republic. Brazil scores rather poorly in the Cato Institute's Human Freedom Index of 2019, being around mid-table on personal freedom and low in terms of economic freedom. Key issues concern the judiciary, which is heavily backlogged, suspected of bias and untoward interference in cases, and with access to justice being difficult especially for those on low incomes. Overregulation, high taxes and the overall size of government act as limits on economic freedom. The geography of Brazil is vast and diverse. It is one of the world's largest countries, the fifth largest by land area at just over 8.5 million square kilometres, and by far the largest in South America, taking up just over half of that continent's surface. Brazil is the tallest country in the world, stretching a north-south distance of 4,395 kilometres and 38 degrees of latitude from 5 degrees north to 33 degrees south, beating Chile to this accolade by just 95 kilometres. The car journey of 5,700 kilometres, from the most northern to the southern tips, would take you three and a half days non-stop. The equivalent east-west journey is coincidentally almost the exact same in terms of distance and travel time. Better to take the plane, I'd say. Topographically, Brazil is relatively flat, especially in view of South America, having the world's longest and second tallest mountain range. But the Andes are in the west of the continent, and Brazil in the east. Instead, the country is essentially divided into three sections. The vast, low-lying Amazon River basin of the north-west, the equally vast upland plateau known as the Planalto Central of the east and south, and the narrow Atlantic coastal strip. The country's highest point is Pico da Neblina, on the border with Venezuela in the far north-west, at 2,995 metres. In terms of its situation, Brazil dominates the South American continent. The Atlantic Ocean makes up its entire eastern flank, the north borders with the Guyanas and Venezuela, the north-west with Colombia, and the west with Peru and Bolivia. The south has a complex set of borders with Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. Only Ecuador and Chile do not share a border with Brazil on this continent. Brazil's climate zones are mostly tropical, meaning warm to hot year-round, with some subtropical and temperate zones in the south. A tropical rainforest climate which is hot and wet year-round exists in the Amazon basin of the north-west and also along parts of the Atlantic coast. The graphs are similar, but the causes for these two areas are very different. The Amazon is mostly wet year-round due to the shifting upwardly convective tropical low-pressure system known as the doldrums. The Atlantic coast is wet year-round due to the constant north-easterly trade winds blowing off the Atlantic, bringing year-round moisture. The tropical monsoon climate is the tropical rainforest climate but has a noticeable drier season. This occurs again in the north-west Amazon basin and along the Atlantic coast. The largest climate zone in Brazil, however, is the tropical savanna climate, which is like the other two, only the dry season is very pronounced, and is an ideal climate for the growing of many crops. The north-east of the country is the driest part, and due to unpredictable rainfall patterns from year to the next, can experience extreme droughts. It's here that we find a hot semi-desert climate. In the uplands of the south, with higher altitudes, we find a number of subtropical highland climates which are noticeably cooler than the surrounding areas, with mild temperatures year-round, and ideal for the cultivation of coffee. Some have year-round rain, while others just get rain during the summer months. Finally, in the far south, we experience more seasonal temperature variations, and this gives us the humid subtropical climate of hot summers and cooler winters with year-round rain. In terms of natural biomes, Brazil has among the richest of any countries. The Amazon basin of tropical evergreen broadleaf forest is home to the world's second longest river and largest by water volume, and discussion of which could take up a whole video in itself, such is the richness of its ecosystem and the importance it plays globally in terms of regulation of climate. The area was for the longest time unexplored and even to this day it is believed that there may still be indigenous tribes there that we have still not made contact with. The continued deforestation of this area, much of it done without government permission to make way for farming and cattle grazing in particular, has been a touch point in Brazilian relations with the countries of the developed world who view this area as a global resource. Evergreen forest also exists along much of the Atlantic coastal strip. This is known as the Atlantic Forest, and is almost as rich as the Amazon, being fed by constant year-round rains thanks to favourable trade winds. Further south, these forests change in species types due to a wider band of temperature between seasons, and make up the subtropical broadleaf forests in this area. The centre of the country, the vast Planalto Central, was once dominated by savannah, a mix of broken forest and tropical grasses, but has since been extensively farmed and is responsible for Brazil's giant agricultural sector. Between the evergreen forests and savannah lies a broad stretch of seasonal tropical forest that loses its leaves in the dry season. The dry northeast, prone to long droughts in some years, is unable to sustain anything beyond semi-desert scrub-like vegetation in what is known as the Catinga. Lastly, temperate grassland, or Pampas, borders the far south with Uruguay and Argentina. And by the way, the LONS-08 System of Biome Classification, the map of which you are looking at, and the subject of an entire series of videos of mine, was developed by a team based in, you guessed it, Brazil. With a current estimated population of 212 million, Brazil is the world's sixth most populous country. Most Brazilians live in relatively small areas of concentration in the southeast and northeast, while much of the interior, by contrast, is either undeveloped rainforest or farmland. The southeast is home to the two largest cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Rio, whose metropolitan area is home to 12 million people, was the capital of Brazil for almost two centuries, from 1763 to 1960, and today is without doubt home to one of the most recognisable and spectacular geographic settings of any global city. Sugarloaf Mountain, the Cristo Redentor Statue and Copacabana Beach are all world-famous landmarks. The city, which hosted the Olympic Games in 2016, is regarded as the leading cultural hub of the country. Not to be outdone, however, Sao Paulo is over twice Rio's size, with 21 million in the greater Sao Paulo area and as much as 33 million in the wider area connected to the city. Sao Paulo is, in fact, the largest city in the Americas, beating even New York City in size, and the largest city in the southern hemisphere. It is home to most of the large corporations in the country, the economic and financial centre, and home to a large manufacturing sector. These two cities dwarf all others in the country in terms of size, with the next largest being Belo Horizonte, at just over 5 million, with the north-eastern cities of Recife and Salvador, the country's capital in the colonial period, at around 4 million each. The country's capital of Brasilia, built from scratch in the 1950s in the heart of the Planalto Central, is also around 4 million, while the largest cities in the far south are Porto Alegre and Curitaba, each between 3 and 4 million. Manaus is also worthy of mention. Although only 2 million in population, it is in the centre of the Amazon Basin, far from any other city of comparable size, and developed out of the rubber boom of the early 20th century. Being on the north bank of the Amazon River, it has no direct road connection to the rest of Brazil, with a ferry crossing being required. Brazil is ethnically one of the most diverse countries in the world, a product of its unique history of indigenous peoples, Portuguese colonists, later European settlers and African slaves. The result of this historical melting pot creates a complex picture today. How Brazilians identify their ethnicity is not straightforward and is, as usual on matters of race, controversial. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics has been conducting censuses in the country since the 1940s, and in these individuals are asked to self-identify their ethnicity, putting it into one of the following groups. Brancos for White Europeans, Pretos for Black African descent, Pardos for Mixed Ethnicity, Amarelos for Eastern Asians, and Indigenous. The result of the most recent census of 2010 shows a close split between Brancos and Pardos, making up almost 90% of the population between them, with about 10% identifying as Black, 1% East Asian, just 0.5% as Indigenous. When these numbers are broken down by municipality, an interesting pattern emerges. The north is dominated by the Pardos of mixed descent, while the White Brancos make up a majority of the popular south-east and are dominant in the far south. This echoes the historical build-up of populations in Brazil at different times. The older north-east, with its sugar plantations, had a huge influx of Black African slaves, which, over the centuries, mixed with the Portuguese colonists, while the south saw the majority of heavy immigration in the latter half of the 19th century from Europe. In terms of religious affiliation, from the 2010 census, almost two thirds of the population stated that they were Catholic Christian, while about quarter stated Protestant Christian, and the remaining fifth either no religion or other. Portuguese, from the Latin branch of Indo-European languages, is the official and national language of Brazil and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. It is the only country in Latin America with this status, with practically all others being Spanish, a product of that demarcation line in the Treaty of Tordesillas over 500 years ago. Of the estimated 282 million Portuguese speakers globally, Brazilians account for three quarters of them. There are many regional accents spoken throughout Brazil, which is no surprise for a country of its size, but in general they adhere to a common language that differs from the mother tongue of Portugal in a similar way to Latin American, Spanish and Castilian, or American vs British English, in that many substitute words are used in place of the original European language, as well as a different pronunciation. Brazil's economy is one of the largest in the world, ranking 9th to 12th in nominal GDP globally, depending upon compilation. It is a relatively complex economy, ranking at 39 globally out of 137 in the Economic Complexity Index, and is centred around agriculture and manufacturing. Agriculturally, Brazil is a global giant, being the second largest food exporter in the world. It is the world's largest producer of soybeans, coffee beans, oranges and sugar cane. In terms of coffee production, Brazil has held that top spot for over 150 years. In terms of livestock, it is the world's second largest producer of beef, the third largest producer of milk, and the number one exporter of chicken meat. As part of a long-term strategic plan to gain economic independence, and in particular to reduce dependence on foreign oil which at one time accounted for two-thirds of its needs, Brazil embarked on an ambitious programme of hydroelectric power, which today accounts for over 60% of the country's electricity. The country was also a pioneer in the development of biofuels. Ethanol derived from sugar cane has been widely used in petroleum to power cars for decades. Such is the success of these programmes that Brazil is now a net exporter of crude oil. Mining is also a major part of the economy, with Brazil's vast area providing significant deposits of a diverse array of metals. Chief among these is iron ore, of which Brazil is the number two exporter globally. Brazil has a large and diverse manufacturing sector, second only in the Americas to the United States. It is the world's eighth largest producer of cars and trucks, with a tradition of automotive manufacturing that goes back to the 1920s. In aerospace, Brazil is part of a very select group of countries that wholly produces its own large aircraft. The Brazilian company Embraer is the third largest manufacturer of civilian jets and airliners after Boeing and Airbus, and in particular has led in the niche market of smaller regional jet-powered airliners. The Brazilian currency is the real, which at the time of this video was worth about 5 US dollars. Inflation is currently low, but in recent decades has suffered severe episodes. From 1981 to 1994, the inflation rate was never below 100% per annum, and in two of those years exceeded 2000%. Brazilian culture is rich, being a fusion of European, African and indigenous cultures. It has contributed to global culture most significantly in the realms of music and sport. Heitor Vila Lobos, a native of Rio, is regarded as the most famous Latin American classical composer in history, and created his own unique style through the blending of traditional European classical music and Brazilian rhythms. Samba is considered the national rhythm of Brazil and derives from African traditional styles that were brought over with the slaves in the colonial period. Loud, bombastic and energetic, it is the perfect accompaniment to that calendar event, the Carnival, which the Brazilians have taken to a level beyond that of any country. The Carnival of Rio is the biggest, longest, brightest and loudest of any in the world. Bossa Nova, developed in Rio in the 1950s, simplified and toned down Samba and fused it with jazz elements to create a sound that grew to international popularity in the 1960s, and became the sound that you would hear in many Hollywood movies, in many lounges, and elevators around the world. Brazilian architecture has drawn mainly from traditional European elements in the past, but many Brazilian architects in the 20th century embraced modernism, with the Rio-born Oscar Nemea becoming internationally recognised for his work in the development of the new capital of Brasilia, as well as collaboration on the United Nations complex in New York City. Brazil has produced many racing drivers over the years, but none can compare to the multiple world Formula One champion, Sao Paulo native Ayrton Senna, who died tragically during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, at the age of 34. Football is the world's most internationally popular sport, and many would love to argue this point, but really, is there any disputing as to who has the greatest national team? Brazil has won the World Cup no less than five times, more than any other nation, and players such as Pelé and Neymar are household names around the world. There isn't any country in the world quite like Brazil. It had the unfortunate start of simply being a project for the exploitation of resources to send back to the mother country of Portugal, with the reckless exploitation of indigenous and African peoples along the way. But 500 years later, that project is a country that overshadows its progenitor 20 times over. A truly international mix of people that have forged their own unique identity across this vast country of geographic riches, and who together have created the beginnings of an economic superpower. There is no question that the country still faces serious problems, such as those of socially integrating its former slaves, of government corruption and environmental destruction. Whether it continues to grow and develop is up to the 200 million that call themselves Brazilian. It has been a difficult birth and childhood for a nation, but as Brazil moves to claim its seat at the top table of international movers and shakers, the future can hold great promise, if the country can unite and put its troubled past behind it. And that's Brazil. Please like and share this video if you enjoyed it or found it useful, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments, especially if you're from this country, and if I missed out anything that you feel is important. If you haven't done so already, then please click the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. You can also support future development of this channel by becoming a Patreon supporter for as little as $2 a month. Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you in the next episode.