9781422278802

B R A Z I L

Other Regions There’s more to Brazil than the Amazon Basin. The Brazilian Plateau, which covers most of the eastern, central, and southern parts of the country, accounts for about half of Brazil’s total area. Much of it consists of woodlands and it frequently rises more than 2,000 feet (610 m). The southeast occupies only about 10 percent of the land area but contains more than 40 percent of Brazil’s populationand several of its largest cities. Brazil also boasts one of theworld’s largest uninterrupted shorelines, stretching more than 4,500 miles (7,242 km) along the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of coral reefs, lagoons, dunes, and above all some of the world’s most spectacular and best-known beaches. The Portuguese Arrive Beginning in the late 15th century, the Portuguese expanded their reach far beyond their home country, exploring the coast of Africa and venturing into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Shortly after Columbus discovered the New World, Pope Alexander VI negotiated the Treaty of Torsedillas. It divided these newfound lands between Portugal and Spain along a line running from north to south through the Atlantic Ocean. Spain received everything to the west of that line, Portugal everything to the east. So when explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral splashed ashore in northeastern Brazil in 1500, he claimed the land for Portugal because it lay east of the line. As a result, nearly everyone in Brazil speaks a version of Portuguese called Brazilian Portuguese. It is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is the main language. Of course, indigenous people had already lived in Brazil for thou- sands of years. The newcomers began exploiting the country’s natural resources, especially sugar cane and brazilwood, whichwas used tomake

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