1.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
2.
Outback
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The Outback is the vast, remote interior of Australia. Culturally, the Outback is deeply ingrained in Australian heritage, history, early European exploration of inland Australia was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas, the first party to successfully cross the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813,25 years after the colony was established. This contrasts with the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61 which was better funded. The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart, mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed. While the early explorers used horses to cross the outback, the first woman to make the riding a horse was Anna Hingley. The paucity of land use has led to the Outback being recognised globally as one of the largest remaining. The savanna of northern Australia are the largest, intact savanna regions in the world, in the south, the Great Western Woodlands, which occupy 16,000,000 hectares, an area larger than all of England, are the largest remaining temperate woodland left on Earth. Reflecting the wide climatic and geological variation, the Outback contains a wealth of distinctive, the Australian Outback is full of very important well-adapted wildlife, although much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals, such as red kangaroos and dingoes, hide in bushes to rest, birdlife is prolific, most often seen at waterholes at dawn and dusk. Huge flocks of budgerigars, cockatoos, corellas and galahs are often sighted, on bare ground or roads during the winter, various species of snakes and lizards bask in the sun, but they are rarely seen during the summer months. Feral animals such as camels thrive in central Australia, brought to Australia by pastoralists and explorers, feral horses known as brumbies are station horses that have run wild. Feral pigs, foxes, cats and rabbits are other imported animals that also degrade the environment, so time, the Outback is home to a diverse set of animal species, such as the kangaroo, emu and dingo. The Dingo Fence was built to restrict dingo movements into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent, the marginally fertile parts are primarily utilised as rangelands and have been traditionally used for sheep or cattle grazing, on cattle stations which are leased from the Federal Government. While small areas of the outback consist of soils the majority has exceedingly infertile palaeosols. Riversleigh, in Queensland, is one of Australias most renowned fossil sites and was recorded as a World Heritage site in 1994, the 100 km2 area contains fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age. The largest industry across the Outback, in terms of the occupied, is pastoralism, in which cattle, sheep. Capitalizing on the lack of improvement and absence of fertiliser and pesticide use
3.
Northeast Region, Brazil
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The Northeast Region of Brazil is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. For the socio-geographic area see Nordeste, of Brazils twenty-six states, it comprises nine, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, along with the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. Chiefly known as Nordeste in Brazil, this region was the first to be discovered and colonized by the Portuguese and other European peoples, Nordestes dialects and rich culture, including its folklore, cuisines, music and literature, became the most easily distinguishable across the country. To this day, Nordeste is widely recognized for its history and culture, Nordeste stretches from the Atlantic seaboard in the northeast and southeast, northwest and west to the Amazon Basin and south through the Espinhaço highlands in southern Bahia. It encloses the São Francisco River and drainage basin, which were instrumental in the exploration, settlement, the region lies entirely within the earths tropical zone and encompasses Caatinga, Atlantic Forest and part of the Cerrado ecoregions. The climate is hot and semi-arid, varying from xeric in Caatinga, to mesic in Cerrado and hydric in the Atlantic Forest. The Northeast Region represents 18% of Brazilian territory, has a population of 53.6 million people, 28% of the population of the country. Nearly three quarters of the live in urban areas clustered along the Atlantic coast and about 15 million people live in the hinterland. It is a region, 58% of the population lives in poverty. Nordeste has nine international airports, and the region has the second largest number of passengers in Brazil, the Zona da Mata comprises the rainsforest zones of Nordeste in the humid eastern coast, where the regions largest capital cities are also located. The forest area was larger before suffering from centuries of deforestation and exploration. For many years, sugar cultivation in this region was the mainstay of Brazils economy. The sugar cane is cultivated on large estates and the owners of these had, since the escarpment does not generate any further rainfall on its slopes from the lifting of the trade winds, annual rainfall decreases steadily inland. After a relatively short distance, there is no longer enough rainfall to tropical rainforest. This transitional zone is known as the agreste and because it is located on the escarpment, was not generally used whilst flatter land was abundant. In Portuguese, the word sertão first referred to the vast hinterlands of Asia, in Brazil, the geographical term referred to backlands away from the Atlantic coastal regions where the Portuguese first settled in South America in the early sixteenth century. Geographically, the Sertão consists mainly of low uplands that form part of the Brazilian Highlands, in the north, the Sertão extends to the northern coastal plains of Rio Grande do Norte state, whilst in the south it fades out in the northern fringe of Minas Gerais. Because the Sertão lies close to the equator, temperatures remain nearly uniform throughout the year and are typically tropical, however, the sertão is distinctive in its low rainfall compared to other areas of Brazil
4.
Portuguese discoveries
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Portuguese discoveries are the numerous territories and maritime routes discovered by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Canada, Asia and Brazil, in what became known as the Age of Discovery. Ten years later, in 1498, Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut, Portuguese explorations then proceeded to southeast Asia, where they reached Japan in 1542, forty-four years after their first arrival in India. In 1500, the Portuguese nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral became the first European to discover Brazil, in 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from León, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso Henriques. In 1297 king Denis of Portugal took personal interest in the development of exports, on May 10,1293 he instituted a maritime insurance fund for Portuguese traders living in the County of Flanders, which were to pay certain sums according to tonnage, accrued to them when necessary. Portuguese imported armors and munitions, fine clothes and several manufactured products from Flanders, Genoese and Florentine communities established since then in Portugal, who profited from the enterprise and financial experience of these rivals of the Republic of Venice. Only the sea offered alternatives, with most people settling in fishing and trading coastal areas, young prince Henry the Navigator was there and became aware of profit possibilities in the Saharan trade routes. Later his brother Prince Pedro, granted him a Royal Flush of all profits from trading within the areas discovered, soon the Atlantic islands of Madeira and Azores were reached. There wheat and later sugarcane were cultivated, like in Algarve, by the Genoese and this helped them become more wealthy. Henry the Navigator took the role in encouraging Portuguese maritime exploration until his death in 1460. At the time, Europeans did not know what lay beyond Cape Bojador on the African coast, in 1420 Zarco and Teixeira returned with Bartolomeu Perestrelo and began Portuguese settlement of the islands. A Portuguese attempt to capture Grand Canary, one of the nearby Canary Islands, at around the same time as the unsuccessful attack on the Canary Islands, the Portuguese began to explore the North African coast. Sailors feared what lay beyond Cape Bojador, and whether it was possible to return once it was passed, in 1434 one of Prince Henrys captains, Gil Eanes, passed this obstacle. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to further along the coast. Within two decades of exploration, Portuguese ships bypassed the Sahara, Henry suffered a serious setback in 1437 after the failure of an expedition to capture Tangier, having encouraged his brother, King Edward, to mount an overland attack from Ceuta. The Portuguese army was defeated and only escaped destruction by surrendering Prince Ferdinand, after the defeat at Tangier, Henry retired to Sagres on the southern tip of Portugal where he continued to direct Portuguese exploration until his death in 1460. In 1443 Prince Pedro, Henrys brother, granted him the monopoly of navigation, war, using this new maritime technology, Portuguese navigators reached ever more southerly latitudes, advancing at an average rate of one degree a year. Senegal and Cape Verde Peninsula were reached in 1445, in 1446, Álvaro Fernandes pushed on almost as far as present-day Sierra Leone and the Gulf of Guinea was reached in the 1460s
5.
Alagoas
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Alagoas is one of the 27 states of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Bahia, and the Atlantic Ocean and it occupies an area of 27,767 km², being slightly larger than Haiti. Its capital is the city of Maceió, next to last Brazilian state in area and 16th in population, it is one of the greatest producers of sugarcane and coconuts in the country and has an economy based on cattle raising. Land of the sururu, lagoon shellfish which serves as food for the coastal population, initially, the Alagoano territory constituted the southern part of the Captaincy of Pernambuco and only gained its autonomy in 1817. Its occupation pushed the expansion of the captaincys sugarcane farming, which required new areas of cultivation, thus arose Porto Calvo, Alagoas and Penedo, nuclei which guided the colonization, economic, and social life of the region for a long time. The Dutch invasion in Pernambuco was extended to Alagoas in 1631, the invaders were expelled in 1645, after intense fighting in Porto Calvo, leaving the economy totally disorganized. The escape of African slaves during the Dutch invasion created a labour shortage problem on the sugarcane plantations. Grouped in villages called quilombos, the Africans were only completely dominated at the end of the 17th century with the destruction of the most important quilombo, during the empire, the separatist and republican movement the Confederation of the Equator received the support of noteworthy Alagoano figures. Throughout the 1840s, political life was marked by the conflict between the lisos, conservatives, and the cabeludos, liberals, delmiro Gouveia was killed in October 1917 in circumstances still unclarified, after being pressured, according to rumor, to sell his factory to competing foreign firms. After his death, his machines would be destroyed and thrown into Paulo Afonso Falls, the suffix -ano is characteristic of Brazil, pernambucano, alagoano, sergipano, baiano, goiano, and later acriano. The states name originates with the lakes along its coast near the city of Maceió, the coast is bordered by fringing reefs and many fine beaches. This is the area dominated by sugar cane. Still farther inland lies the Sertão of the Northeast region of the nation, the Sertão is a high dry region dominated by scrub that is often thorn-filled and sometimes toxic, the caatinga. This area and its people are famed in legend and song and it is the land of the cowboy who is clad from head to toe with very thick leather to avoid the sharp vegetation. During the first three centuries of its history, Alagoas was part of the captaincy of Pernambuco, only changing into an independent captaincy in 1817. Initially, in the first years of the 16th century, Alagoas settlement went on slowly, in the period of the 16th and 17th centuries, French pirates invaded its territory attracted by the commerce of Brazil wood. Some time later, Duarte Coelho, owner of the captaincy of Pernambuco, gave the control of the back to the Portuguese. In 1630, the territory was taken by the Dutch, whose interest was to manage the commerce of sugarcane in most parts of the region of Brazil
6.
Bahia
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Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the 4th-largest Brazilian state by population and the 5th-largest by area, Bahias capital is the city of Salvador, located on a spit of land separating the Bay of All Saints from the Atlantic. Once a monarchial stronghold dominated by agricultural, slaving, and ranching interests, the name of the state derives from the earlier captaincy of Bahia de Todos os Santos, named for Bay of All Saints, a major feature of its coastline. The bay itself was named by the explorer Amerigo Vespucci during his second voyage and he named it after his parish church in Florence, San Salvatore di Ognissanti. Over time, the bay became distinguished as the Bay of All Saints, the state as Bahia, Bahia is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, with its Bay of All Saints the largest in Brazil. In the north, it is now bordered by Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, in the northwest, it is bordered by Tocantins. In the southwest, it borders Goiás, and in the south it is bordered by Espírito Santo, the state is crossed from north to south by the Diamantina Tableland, which divides it into two distinct geographical zones. To the east, the soil is fertile and the rain falls regularly, the western area is more arid and its predominate vegetation the cerrado. The natural aridity was greatly worsened over the 19th century by the habit of starting wildfires each year to improve the quality of the grass. The Green Road, a road that connects Mangue Seco in the far north to Praia do Forte, for this reason, the route is sometimes more than 10 km from the beach. At Praia do Forte, the road meets the Coconut Road leading to Salvador, passing through spots, in this region is located Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport. The largest bay on the Brazilian coast, the Bay of All Saints has a number of islands with tropical beaches. It is the largest navigable bay in Brazil and one of the most favorite spots for sports, due to its regular breezes, medium annual temperature of 26 °C. Major popular events and sport activities occur throughout the year, beginning on January 1, the islands of the bay are a separate attraction. Some are privately owned, others were declared a state heritage, other islands are the patrimony of 12 municipalities located around the bay. Only a few are uninhabited and many have small communities where the live on fishing. All have common characteristics, such a sea, dense vegetation, especially coconuts. Of the 56 islands, the most important are Itaparica, Madre de Deus, Maré, Frades, Medo, the Dendê Coast, south of Salvador, is surrounded by verdant vegetation, clear waters, islands, bays, coral reefs and a very diversified fauna
7.
Pernambuco
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Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. The state of Pernambuco also includes the archipelago Fernando de Noronha and its capital and largest city, Recife, is one of the most important economic and urban hubs in the country. As of 2013 estimates, Recifes metropolitan area is the fifth most populous in the country, in 1982 the city of Olinda, the second oldest city in Brazil, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Recife, the capital and Olinda have one of the most traditional Brazilian Carnivals. Both have architecture of Portugal, with centuries-old casarões and churches, kilometers of beaches, the proximity of the equator guarantees sunshine throughout the year, with average temperatures of 26 °C. Pernambuco comprises a narrow coastal zone, a high inland plateau. Ranges of these form the boundary lines with three states–the Serra dos Irmãos and Serra Vermelha with Piauí, the Serra do Araripe with Ceará. The coastal area is fertile, and was covered by the humid Pernambuco coastal forests. It is now place to extensive sugar cane plantations and it has a hot, humid climate, relieved to some extent by the south-east trade winds. The middle zone, called the region, has a drier climate and lighter vegetation, including the semi-deciduous Pernambuco interior forests. The inland region, called the sertão is high, stony, and dry, the climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights. There are two defined seasons, a rainy season from March to June, and a dry season for the remaining months. The interior of the state is covered mostly by the dry thorny scrub vegetation called caatinga, the Rio São Francisco is the main water source for this area. The climate is mild in the countryside of the state because of the Borborema Plateau. Some towns are located more than 1000 meters above sea level, the island of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean,535 km northeast of Recife, has been part of Pernambuco since 1988. The rivers of the include a number of small plateau streams flowing southward to the São Francisco River. The former are the Moxotó, Ema, Pajeú, Terra Nova, Brigida, Boa Vista and Pontai, a large tributary of the Uná, the Rio Jacuhipe, forms part of the boundary line with Alagoas. Originally inhabited by tribes of Tupi-Guarani speaking indigenous peoples, Pernambuco was first settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century
8.
Rio Grande do Norte
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Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal and it is the land of the folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo and, according to NASA, it has the purest air in the Americas. Its 410 km of sand, much sun, coconut palms, Rocas Atoll, the only such feature in the Atlantic Ocean, is part of the state. The state is also closest to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Rio Grande do Norte is dominated by its coastline. The state is famed for its beaches and sand dunes, and the air is, according to NASA, two climates predominate, humid tropical, in the oriental littoral, and semi-arid, in the remaining of the State. There are also many mangroves in the state, and the interior is dominated by rainforest, Rocas Atoll in the Atlantic Ocean,260 km Northeast of Natal, also belongs to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is contained in the fully protected Atol das Rocas Biological Reserve, the first European to reach the region may have been the Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. The Vespucci expedition also named the Potengi river, whose considerably large mouth contrasted with the bodies of water, Rio Grande, after which the Captaincy, Province. For decades thereafter, no permanent European settlement was established in the area, in the 16th century, it was explored by French pirates in search for brazilwood. In 1598, the Portuguese built the Forte dos Reis Magos and, in the following year, rasing cattle and sugarcane plantation lifted the local development and economy. In 1633, the became a battleground between the expansionist Portuguese, seeking to take more land for their Brazilian territories, and the Dutch. After a short period of peace and prosperity in Olinda and Recife, the prices went down in the market of Amsterdam. The economic problems led the Portuguese settlers and native Brazilians to revolt against the Dutch in what is today as the massacres of Cunhaú. The governor of Bahia promised new Portuguese troops, but most of the rebels were Africans and Amerindians, in 1654, the Dutch were finally cast out. During World War II, Rio Grande do Norte was used as an Allied airbase from which to air raids on German-occupied North Africa. In 1964, Latin Americas first space launch site was constructed in Rio Grande do Norte, Barreira do Inferno, which was often referred to as the Brazilian NASA. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimates that the population of Rio Grande do Norte was 3,168,133 on December 1,2010, multiracial people make up 52. 48% of the total population
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