The People of Brazil
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© Geographical Association 2015 Knowledge box 2 Geography Plus: Amazon Adventures 1 These knowledge boxes provide background information for teachers to help develop knowledge for teaching Amazon Adventures . The people of Brazil Brazil has the fifth highest population in the The earliest inhabitants world, after China, India, the USA and Indonesia. Indigenous peoples like the Xingu and According to the World Bank, in 2014 the Yanomami are descendants of early humans population reached 202 million. Some 80% of who came to South America from Asia. After Brazilians live in towns and cities, and people crossing the Bering Straits into northwest continue to migrate from rural to urban areas. America they moved gradually south and east. São Paulo has a population of 20 million, and In parts of western Brazil there are still Rio de Janeiro 12 million. The greatest uncontacted descendants of these migrants population density occurs in the south and east living like Stone Age communities. The total (see map). The people of Brazil are descended number of pure indigenous people in Brazil from migrants from many parts of the world. now is tiny; one estimate is about 900,000, or 0.0045% of the total. Boa N Vista Macap á Bel ém São Luis Manaus Fortaleza Teresina Natal Jo âo Pessoa Recife Rio Porto Branco Velho Macei ó Palmas Aracaju Salvador Cuiab á Brasilia Goi ânia Belo Campo Horizonte Grande Vit ória São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Population Curitiba 10,000,000 + Florian ópolis 5,000,000 + Porto 1,000,000 + Alegre 500,000 + 0 500 1000 100,000 + km Distribution of Brazil’s population . © Geographical Association 2015 Knowledge box 2 Geography Plus: Amazon Adventures 2 These knowledge boxes provide background information for teachers to help develop knowledge for teaching Amazon Adventures . European migrants 7 True: some of the rainforest is being cleared The next migrants were European, mainly for subsistence farming, and more Portuguese, settlers. Portuguese explorers first significantly for soybean production. settled in Brazil in 1500. 8 False: of Brazil’s ten largest cities, seven – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Fortaleza, African slaves Curitiba, Recife and Porto Alegre – are on or Between the 1600s and 1888, when slavery was near the coast. finally abolished in Brazil, something like 9 False: Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina. 10,000,000 Africans were taken from their 10 True: The climate ranges from Tropical in the homeland and forced to work as slaves in Brazil, north to Temperate further south in Brazil. often in coffee plantations. 11 False: the population of Brazil is over 2,000,000. Modern migrants 12 True: the average rainfall in the rainforest is There are some 25 million Brazilians of Italian around 2000mm a year. descent, and 10 million of Arab descent – the 13 False: the official language of Brazil is largest Arab population outside the Middle East. Portuguese. The 1.75 million Brazilians of Japanese descent 14 True: One Brazilian real is worth about 25p; form the largest Japanese population outside there are approximately four Brazilian reals Japan. There are also sizeable minorities of to the pound. Brazilians of German, Spanish and Polish 15 False: the Amazon flows from west to east; extraction. These groups are known as ‘Italian although some geologists have calculated Brazilians’, ‘Arab Brazilians’, etc. that millions of years ago it flowed in the opposite direction! Answers to Activity Sheet 4 16 False: Brazil has borders with 10 countries: 1 False: Brazil is the largest country in South Argentina (1224km); Bolivia (3400km); America. Colombia (1643km); French Guiana (673km); 2 True: the Equator does pass through Brazil. Guyana (1119km); Paraguay (1290km); Peru 3 True: the river Amazon does flow into the (1560km); Surinam (597km); Uruguay (985km); Atlantic Ocean. and Venezuela (2200km). 4 False: Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. 17 True: It was renamed after the wood of the 5 True: Around 40% of Brazil nuts come from brazilwood tree, which was one of the Brazil. country’s earliest exports. 6 False: very few animals can break into a 18 True: over 4000km of the river Amazon flows Brazil nut seed pod without tools. The agouti inside Brazil. is one: their strong, sharp incisors can gnaw 19 True: the state of São Paulo has the highest a hole in the pod to get at the nuts. There concentration of people with Japanese have also been reports of capuchin monkeys origins in Brazil. breaking open the pods by using a stone as 20 True: 84% of the population of Brazil live in an anvil. urban areas..