Brazil ... An amazing country! It is so unusual and charming that it will not be difficult for the curious to find interesting facts about Brazil. Anyone who has visited the country remains impressed for the rest of his life. What is only the 40-meter statue of Christ the Savior, which is a symbol of srana! And the Iguazu waterfalls located on the border of Brazil and Argentina, now referred to only as a new wonder of the world? And the well-known Brazilian carnival, a real national holiday? And all this is Brazil! Interesting facts about the country are the topic of today's conversation. History and nature, people and events, animals and children - we pay attention to everything.
According to the pages of history: interesting facts about Brazil
It is interesting to know that the first official tourists came to Brazil in 1502, January 1, as part of a Portuguese study group. A voyage led by Andre Gonçalves landed in the Gulf of Rio de Janeiro, later renamed the Gulf of Guanabara. And Rio de Janeiro has become the main city on the bay.
“Brazil” in translation means “red as a coal” and comes from the word Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia tree). From these trees, which once grew in abundance along the coast of Brazil, a rich red dye was produced. Previously, the country was called Terra de Santa Cruz, which meant "Land of the Holy Cross."
No less interesting facts about Brazil conceal the historical processes of creating the statehood of the country. It is noteworthy that in 1821 part of the royal Portuguese family left Brazil, after which unrest began in the country.
The ambiguity of political prospects frightened the local population, they did not want to return to the status of the Portuguese colony. In this situation, King Juan VI, leaving for Portugal, gave the Brazilian throne to his son, Prince Pedro, with the following words: “When the time comes, take power yourself until it is done by some impostor for you.”
And the son listened to his father. In 1822, September 7 (which later became Independence Day), declared Brazil an independent empire! Which sounds unusual in itself. On Independence Day, military parades are held in the cities of the country. The most impressive takes place in Rio de Janeiro, it is attended by ground forces, aviation and no less than the navy.
Not every country was so lucky, but Brazil has survived military rule in its history . It was a colony, and an empire, and a republic. Today is a democratic state.
On the social life of the country with the name "Brazil"
The most interesting facts that are useful to know:
Brazil ranks fifth among the countries of the world in area and sixth in terms of population. Today, more than 201 million inhabitants live in it.
On October 30, 2010, 62-year-old Dilma Rousseff became the current president of Brazil . For her election, the outgoing predecessor Luis Inacio Lula da Silva stood for. Dilma became the first woman president in Brazil.
Today it is the country in which there are the largest number of Catholics in the world.
About state symbols
The modern flag of the country is green, symbolizes the forests of Brazil, the yellow diamond reflects its bowels, the blue circle represents the sky and stars that covered Rio de Janeiro on the day when Brazil became a republic.
No less interesting facts about Brazil can be found even where you do not immediately think to look. For example, in the national anthem. It would seem that it could be unusual? Oh no. Its creator, Joaquim Osorio Duque Estrada, is a very famous person and just a real scholar. He created such a text of the anthem that it is difficult to understand even for people familiar with literacy, not to mention foreigners. And all because the text of the anthem is replete with many rare words and complex syntactic constructions.
About people
Foreign tourists visiting the country themselves find interesting facts about Brazil. Arriving home, they generously share their impressions with others. One of the traveler's observations: a characteristic feature of the people of the country is the desire to always be the first in everything and always win, and the inhabitants are cheerful, optimistic, passionate and surprisingly adventurous. Even a popular joke says that Brazilians do not lie, they are simply exaggerating.
Football and TV shows are integral parts of Brazilian life. That is why they are never shown at the same airtime.
Interestingly, all Brazilians, even the poor, have a housekeeper. In their homes there are no carpets and wallpaper, each has several bathrooms. Brazilians cannot understand how Russians can have only one bathroom. It seems that the fault is the hot climate of Brazil.
About plants
Take a look around - interesting facts about Brazil catch the eye of a tourist themselves.
It turns out that this happens: in Brazil there is a tree whose juice is used instead of fuel. The tree is called Copaifera langsdorffii and it grows in tropical forests. Private farmers are successfully using tree sap to more than cover their fuel needs.
About animals
Interesting facts about Brazil can be found in the animal kingdom, you just have to look at our smaller brothers:
The electric eel that lives in the Amazon River is capable of beating an electric current of 550 volts. To catch eels , the locals came up with a very witty move: first, a herd of cows is driven into their habitat. Eels spend the entire charge, after which they can be caught even with bare hands.
In Brazil, even dolphins help local fishermen. This happens as follows: dolphins, huddled in a flock, drive a school of fish to the shore, and fishermen at that time are in shallow water. At some point, one of the dolphins gives a sign - it turns over, then the fishermen throw the nets into the water. As a result, everyone is happy - dolphins eat fish that do not fall into the net, swimming directly at them, and fishermen hunt successfully. It is noteworthy that no one trained in such a method of dolphins. This action takes place in a town called Laguna.
About the younger generation in Brazil
There are also interesting facts for children. As it turned out, recently, primary school students give lost milk teeth to the class teacher. “Why?” You ask. And prostheses are made from them for those teenagers who have no molars left as a result of malnutrition and disease.
Families in which only two children are raised are very rare in the country. Three is good, and four or more is even better, according to Brazilians.
Sweets in Brazil are much sweeter than ours, two, or even three times.
Crime is quite common in the country, so children are not allowed to walk alone during the day, let alone the dark of the day. Representatives of the younger generation are difficult to see on the streets at this time.
About cities
The capital of Brazil is Brasilia. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was designed by one of the best architects at that time - Oscar Niemeira.
Brazil is a country where more than 80% of the inhabitants live in cities. The largest are: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza.
Interestingly, in the metropolis of São Paulo there is no outdoor advertising. Completely. The decision to dismantle all types of advertising, as well as signs, was made in 2007. In this way, pollution is controlled, in this case, visual pollution. More than half of the residents supported this campaign, although the law significantly hit the budget of the advertising industry.
Local residents spend several hours on travel from home to their place of work due to huge traffic jams. Surprisingly, they consider this a normal occurrence.
In one article it is impossible to display all the interesting facts about Brazil. Everything about Brazil, so unusual for our person, changing and developing, can be successfully found in various encyclopedias. Better yet, go there and see for yourself.