Essay Topic:

The geography, politics, cultural and social life of Brazil.

Essay Questions:

What position does Brazil occupy within all the countries in Latin America? Does Brasilia’s geo-location bring her advantages on other Latin countries? How is Brazil known all around the world?

Thesis Statement:

According to many socio-economic characteristics Brazil is identified as a developing country, nevertheless is occupies a special place in the list of these countries. Having a huge potential and a sufficiently high level of economic development, Brazil has found a place in the list of the new industrial countries.

Brazil Essay

Table of contents:

1. Geography

2. Political culture

3. Society and political parties

4. Government

5. Current issues

1. Introduction

Brazil is one of the largest countries on Latin America. The only countries that are bigger than Brazil are Russia, USA and Canada. Brazil possesses more than 30 kinds of mineral resources. Its population is more than 160 million people, which makes 2,6% of the planet’s population. Brazil concentrated 2/3 of the whole industrial potential of South America and more than a half of its scientific potential(1). According to many socio-economic characteristics Brazil is identified as a developing country, nevertheless is occupies a special place in the list of these countries. Having a huge potential and a sufficiently high level of economic development, Brazil has found a place in the list of the new industrial countries.

2. Geography

Brazil is the country with the largest area in South America and the fifth in the world. The country is situated in the east north of South America bordering with Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay[1]. Brazil, can without a doubt be called the economically strongest country in South America especially due to the storages of natural resources. Brazil has agricultural soils and also has rain forests with extremely high humidity. The rainforests are situated on in the low-lying rainforests of the Amazon. The Amazon is situated in the north of the country and the fertile hills in the south. The north of the country is almost not inhabited and the majority of population concentrates in the south(2.51). Guiana’s highlands are the highest mountain range in Brazil and is the homeplace of the Pice da Nebline.Amazon, obviously is the biggest river in Brazil and the second largest river on the planet. Among other important rivers it is possible to mention the Parana, Iguacu, Negro, Sao Francisco, Xingu and the Madeira river.

As the Amazon occupies a vast territory of Brazil it therefore does not have a significant variation of seasonal temperature. Only the north of the country sometimes experiences frost and snow.

3. Political culture

Brazil is a federation that consists of twenty-six states and one federal district. The biggest majority of Brazil’s population belong to the Christian religion and almost all of them are Catholics. This is something Brazil inherited being Portugal’s colony.Historically, the country was a colony claimed by people from Portugal and this made Portuguese the official language. The Portuguese reached Brazil in 1500 and until that moment is was inhabited by semi-nomadic people. The Portuguese converted Brazil into a country of slaves until 1800, when Maria I of Portugal came to live to Brazil. The Queen did not stay long in Brazil, but during the 20 years of royal presence a lot of changes occurred: commercial ports to United Kingdom were opened, Brazil stopped being isolated from other countries (4.24). So at the moment of getting the independence on the 7th of September, 1822, Brazil already had the potential to develop. The Brazilian Empire abolished slavery in 1888 in the face of Princess Isabel. A lot of European people started coming to Brazil and the industry of the country started working. The 19th and the 20th century, as it has been said above immigrated to Brazil and basically 5 million European and Japanese immigrants became the dwellers of Brazil.The beginning of the 20th century was especially marked by the immigration of a lot of Asian people: Japanesel Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants(4.67).As a matter of fact Japanese people do not immigrate a lot, and the fact that the Brazilian-Japanese people are the largest Japanese minority in the world does astonish greatly.

The majority of the cultural inherits of Brazil are actually Portuguese, due to the fact that Brazil was Portugal’s colony for a very long time. The southern states mainly consist of European population and the north and the northeast consist of a mixed population including Africans, Amerindians and Europeans. Most of this population is Roman Catholic. No other country in the world has the same amount of Catholics. The modern tendency of Brazil is the growing number of people calling themselves Protestants. Around 7,4% of the population are atheists. Some Brazilians, especially in the northern states were mixed Africans live prefer following the traditional African religions. Only 1,8% of the population chose Buddhism, Islam or Judaism(1).

Though Brazil always tried to maintain democracy it was collapsed several times by the dictatorship of Getulo Vargas. This fact could not affect the political situation in the country.

4.Society,political parties and government.

Though Brazil is a country with many natural resources and a strong economy, still 22 million people experience extreme poverty in this country.

The democratic orientation of Brazil, broken by Getulo Vargas was not truly democratic, as it the political system was not in reality what it was considered to be and that is the reason the military decided to find the solution to the situation with their own hands. In 1985 Brazil was claimed to be a presidential democracy and now is a federative republic, though in 1993 there was an attempt to change it either to parliamentary system or to constitutional monarchy. The earnings of these people hardly cover their very basic surviving needs. This problem has always been and still remains Brazils’ main problem. It happened primarily due to the fact that there is a little number of middle class representatives. Having a middle class in some Brazils regions is almost impossible due to the climate and other factors (2.12).

The president of Brazil is basically the head of the state and the head of the government. Brazil is a federal presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system, which everywhere in the world is interpreted as a guarantee of the achievement of the political freedom. Locally Brazil has three political formations close to the population: the Union, the States and the municipalities, which divide the political power. The President, the head of the government is elected every four years and can be altogether elected for two terms. The Union possessed executive power, which is in its turn executed by the government and its head. The bicameral National Congress executes the Legislative power. The system also has the Chamber of the Deputies and the Federal Senate that makes its similar to the U.S. government model. The process of making laws has several terms that have to be followed in order to make is completely legally right.

5. Current issues

Though Brazil has a strong potential its economy is experiencing problems and the country needs a lot of changes. One of the most important problems is the problem concerning the infrastructure of Brazil and the uneven wealth distribution. Brazil has a big debt to cover and for the present moment its size is a record for the country and the situation is not stabilizing. The major part of the national income is represented by taxes, which are constantly raising become the country needs means to survive (3.46). The only solutions are investments, but the problem is that they are made only in a certain social groups and the poor people only become poorer. Though some specialists have positive expectations in terms of Brazils economic growth if it is compared to the economic growth of such countries like India it stops being so positive.

6. Conclusion

Brazil is definitely a country with a great potential, but it still requires a lot of changes in order to reveal it and catching up with the economically strongest countries in the world. Being the biggest country in South America Brazil and having economical connections with important countries Brazil will definitely eventually convert into a developed country.