Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
claimed to be a republic. A series of military dictators ruled until 1930, a
period referred to as the Old Republic.
With the encouragement of the emperor, Brazil attracted visits from
European scientists, many writing of a tropical paradise, and others warn-
ing of exploitation. The German botanist Friedrich Phillip von Martius
came in 1817, describing the plants in fifteen volumes. The French botanist
Auguste Saint-Hilaire published long accounts in 1833, complaining
that the land was being exploited for agriculture. Charles Darwin sailed
there aboard the HMS Beagle . Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer
of the theory of evolution, spent 4 years exploring the Rio Negro. The
Swiss-American geologist and paleontologist Louis Agassiz led an expedi-
tion in the 1860s.
The flag, adopted in 1889 with the creation of the republic, symbolizes
the rational positivism of the 19th century as well as the nation's natural
wealth. The motto inscribed is Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress). he
green and gold colors represent the green forests and gold, the country's
most valuable mineral. The stars represent the 27 states, arranged to
display the Southern Cross.
Brazil is huge, occupying half of the South American continent, and
about the size of the United States or China. The climate is mostly tropical
but is temperate in the south. Mineral resources are bauxite, gold, iron
ore, uranium, and petroleum. Timber is abundant, as is falling water
for hydropower. The Amazon River basin occupies most of the country.
Originating in the Andes Mountains of Peru, and extending a total of
6,400 kilometers, the river is the largest in the world in terms of water
volume and second longest in length. During the rainy season, it floods its
banks to cover three times as much land as during the dry season. At its
mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, it is 200 kilometers wide. Oceangoing ships
can navigate 3000 kilometers upstream. Much of its enormous drainage
basin is in adjoining countries like Peru and Ecuador. The Amazon Basin
is little settled and few roads exist. Their construction is difficult, nearly
impossible, due to the flooding. Sugar and coffee have been major exports
of Brazil.
The population is nearly 200 million and grows 2% annually. Most people
live in big cities along the Atlantic Coast. The two biggest are São Paulo
with 19 million and Rio with 11 million. Racially over half of the people
are white, 6% are black, and 38% are mixed white and black. Less than 1%
remains of the original native Indians. The country now takes pride in its
lack of racial prejudice.
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