Brazil

a large republic of South America. Its area is 3,218,130 square miles. It occupies a full half of the South American continent, and is larger than either Europe or the United States. It borders on every country of South America, except Chile, and has a coast line of over 4,000 miles. No authentic census has been taken since 1900, but the population is estimated at 20,000,000. About one-third of the population is white. Settlements are confined chiefly to a fringe along the Atlantic coast.

Brazil was discovered in 1499 by Pinzon, a companion of Columbus. He took possession in the name of Spain, and took home a cargo of drugs, gems, and brazil wood for dye. In 1500 Cabral, a Portuguese navigator, was driven by adverse winds upon the Brazilian coast. He landed on Easter Day. He erected an altar, celebrated mass, and, declaring the country a possession of Portugal, he erected a stone cross to commemorate the event. Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the country was subsequently named, explored the coast of Brazil in 1501 and 1503. He also took possession of the region in the name of Portugal. He built a small fort, but just where is not known. He left a garrison of twelve men, and sailed for home with two shiploads of Brazil wood, parrots, and monkeys. A struggle that arose later between Spain and Portugal was settled finally by the pope, who allotted the eastern part of South America, or Brazil, to Portugal, and the western part, or the Andean region, to Spain. Bahia, the early capital, had a prosperous Catholic university a century before the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock.

In 1808 the Portuguese court was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro to escape Napoleon's domination. In 1821 the royal family returned to Portugal, leaving Dom Pedro, a son, as regent. A year later a revolution broke out. The only European throne in America was overturned, independence was declared, and Dom Pedro was proclaimed emperor of Brazil. In 1889 a republic was organized with a constitution resembling that of the United States.

The majority of the people are Catholic. Portuguese is the official language. Indians and negroes counted, about 85 percent of the population is unable to read or write. There are large colonies of German and Italian settlers in the southern states of Brazil.

Brazil occupies about seven-eighths of the width of South America. The eastern portion corresponds to the Appalachian system of North America. An immense mass of mountains, older than the Andes, has been worn down by wind and water into a highland. It slopes toward the lowlands of the Amazon and the Paraguay that sweep around it in a continuous waterway. The highlands stand like an immense island with the highest shore along the Atlantic coast. The highest elevation, 10,340 feet, is near Rio Janeiro. The highlands have mineral wealth, as yet but partly explored. Coal, iron, gold, mercury, lead, copper, and zinc are known to exist in abundance. The emerald, ruby, topaz, and amethyst are found in various localities. Brazil was at one time the leading country of the world in the production of diamonds.

Brazil is an agricultural country. It leads the world in the production of coffee. The annual crop is worth about $100,000,000. Next in value are sugar, tobacco, cotton, and Paraguay tea. Of natural products rubber, cocoa, timber, dye woods, drugs, and nuts are the chief. Meats, hides, wool, and goat and sheep skins are exported largely. Brazil does business chiefly with England, Germany, and the United States.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

For an account of the greatest river and largest forests in the world, the reader is referred to the article on the Amazon, and to the separate articles on the principal animals and productions. See also RIO JANEIRO; SOUTH AMERICA; COFFEE; RUBBER; BRAZIL NUTS; SLOTH; BOA CONSTRICTOR; TAPIR; PUMA and ARMADILLO.