Pages Brazilian Regions -Locate and describe the four regions of Brazil (using your map). -Explain the location/creation of the city of Brasilia.

Pages Brazil: Physical/Political Amazonia Southeast Northeast Brazilian Highlands Why would this be the first place the Portugues e visited? This is the ______ region of Brasil.

Pages Brazilian Regions Northeast  Sugar plantations on the coastal plain have made Brazil the world’s largest exporter of sugar. Part of this sugar is used to make what fuel? ___________  The sertão, or interior plateau, has hard soils and bakes through year-long droughts.  Life expectancy is short because of low incomes and poor nutrition. Women in Bahia, near Salvador A worker cuts sugar cane.

Pages Brazilian Regions Southeast  Rural Brazilians migrate to cities looking for a better life. São Paulo 9,839,439, Rio de Janeiro 5,551,538  Many find no jobs or low- paying jobs, and most end up in slum communities called favelas.  Some favelas are being torn down and replaced with affordable public housing.  In this region, much of the coffee is grown – accounting for between 25-33% of the world supply. In contrast to the more affluent neighborhoods along the city’s southern beaches, favelas cover many of the city’s northern hills.

Pages Brazilian Regions Much of the city of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil, lies between mountains and water. The massive statue seen here is Christ the Redeemer. The statue, built to commemorate Brazil’s first 100 years of independence from Portugal, seems to gaze over the city toward Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Pages Brazilian Regions Brazilian Highlands Brasilia – Capital from Scratch  Brasília developed as a planned city, constructed ( beginning in 1957 ) on an uninhabited site to replace crowded Rio de Janeiro as the national capital. Brasilia, Brazil – National Capital

Pages Brasilia: Capital from Scratch Brazil’s leaders had proposed moving the capital inland from Rio de Janeiro as early as 1789, and the idea was included in the provisions of the 1891 constitution. But it was not until 1955 that the idea took hold. Relocating the capital to an inland location because:  Rio de Janeiro was overcrowded  Rio was vulnerable to invasion  Rio was too isolated from the rest of the country.  It was also considered important to develop and encourage settlement of the country’s sparsely inhabited interior.

Pages Brasilia: Capital from Scratch Today the city and its completely original buildings stand as one of the world’s best examples of city planning.  Layout of the city resembles the shape of an airliner  Among the city’s structures are the Ministry of Foreign Relations, which appears to be floating in the water garden that surrounds it, and the futuristic Metropolitan Cathedral, decorated with concrete fingers that resemble a crown of thorns. Does all this original architecture pose a problem for Brazil also? Why?

Pages The Catedral Metropolitana

Pages Congress Building

Pages Brazilian Regions Amazonia – the Amazon Basin  The Amazon River basin spreads across more than half of Brazil.  Temperatures are constant at 80º F (27º C) or higher. (why?)  The region receives heavy rainfall: more than 80 inches (200 cm) per year. (What sort of precipitation is this?)  The rain forest is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Soybean Trade Drives Forest Destruction in Brazil [4 min 26 sec]

Pages Conclusions What environmental and economic challenges exist in the northeast? How has urbanization affected the southeast region? Does Brazil fit into the larger Latin American region in this area? Why has the government encouraged urban growth and economic development in the Brazilian Highlands? What agricultural crops did you find in Brazil? Did this fit a regional pattern for Latin America?