Download Brazil

Brazil
An Emerging Power in South America
Example: Rio 2016
Emerging Power of South America
• What a visitor would see in
Brazil
– Physical complexity &
beauty
– Multicultural society
• Reality
– Effects of colonialism
– Underplanned economic
development
Demographics for Brazil
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Population: 184 million
GNI PPP Per capita: $10,160
Fertility rate: 1.9
Population growth rate: 0.9
Life expectancy: 74
Literacy rate: 99% females, 97% males
Population living below $2: 10%
Size: about same area as United States
Regions of Brazil
• The Northeast Region
– Settlement on the coast by Portugal in
1500s
– Colonists brought enslaved Africans to
work on the plantations (African
heritage)
– Sertao (interior plateau)
– Tropical wet & dry; subject to severe
drought and then punishing rains
– Severe poverty; lower life expectancy
(49); lower income (1/3)
Regions of Brazil
• The Southeast Region
– 11% of the land area
– 40% of the population
– Humid subtropical and fertile soil
– Sao Paulo and Rio de Janerio
• Major cities like NYC, Tokyo, etc.
• Lack infrastructure planning (sanitation, water, transportation,
schools, etc.)
• Urban growth poles-idea that if people were attracted to city
(investment) that social development and infrastructure would
follow
– Urbanization started in 1930s and has not slowed
• 77% urbanization
– Economically healthy except….
• Favelas-slum communities, shantytowns
• High crime rates; homeless street children
Will you see this in
2016?
Regions of Brazil
• The Brazilian Highlands
– North of southeast coast; central plateau
– Brasilia, built for economic development in 1960
• Took 3 years to complete
• 500 miles from old capital, Rio de Janeiro
• Draw migrants and investment for the development of
the western highland area (forward capital)
• Solve the overcrowding problem in southeastern
coastal cities
• Still see elements of old Brazil even though they tried
hard to keep them out
Regions of Brazil
• The Amazon River Region
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50% of the land area
10 % of the population
Amazon Basin-drained by the river and its tributaries
Earth’s largest expanse of rainforest
20% of earth’s fresh water
More than 100,000 species of plants and animals
Home to some of the last relatively undisturbed
indigenous cultures; no benefit for the Europeans so
left alone
– Hunters and gatherers, subsistence cultivators
Temperature-altitude zones
• As altitude increases, the temperature of the
air decreases by about 1 degree F per 300
feet.
– sea-level to 3000 ft-Tierra caliente-tropical crops
– 3000-6000-Tierra templada-corn,bean, coffee,
wheat
– 6500-12000 feet-tierra fria-wheat, fruit trees, root
vegetables, cabbage, broccoli
– Above 12000 feet-tierra helada-some grains, root
vegetables, ranching sheep, llamas, guinea pigs
Poverty in Brazil
• Rural areas– small group of people own the
large plantations
– Landowners farm in the sertao
– Brazil has about 18 million poor
rural people, the largest number
in the Western Hemisphere.
• Urban areas– Increase in number of people
moving to city large, but not
enough resources/jobs to keep
up with urbanization
Industrialization in Brazil
• Growth of industry in Brazil started in 1940’s &
1950’s
– Built steel mills
– Oil refineries
– Hydroelectric dams
– Established a bank for business loans
• The government created this programs to take
Brazil from agricultural dependent to an
industrialized nation.
Encouraging Interior Development
• Government encouraged the development of
Brazil’s interior lands
– Why? Reduce overcrowding in SE coastal cities
– How?
• Designed and built Brasilia
• Designed and built road system leading to interior
• Issued land and mining permits in the Amazon Basin
and highlands
Success and Failure
• Success of Brazil’s govt. plan
– Manufacturing now 1/3 of GDP
– Gasohol (response to cost of imported oil in 1970s)
– By 2000, about 1/3 of Brazil’s workers were in
construction, mining, or manufacturing. ½ work in
service industries.
• Failures
– Increased poverty in the cities
– Destruction of the Amazon Rain forest (deforestation)
• Flora/fauna