brazil economy essay

The World Bank In Brazil

The World Bank Group has been working with the Brazilian government to address capacity, institutional, and regulatory gaps in the way of the country’s sustainable recovery and accelerated inclusive growth.

Brazil is home to 203 million people with a real GDP per capita of US$8,802 in 2022. It is a large federal country comprised of the union (federal government), 26 states (plus the Federal District), and over 5,500 municipalities. While it is highly diverse, racial and gender discrimination persist as systemic barriers that limit the opportunities of many individuals and families to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty.

Its people live in multiple ecosystems across a landmass of 8.5 million km2 (about the size of the continental United States), with sharp differences in race, history, culture, and industry manifesting many “Brazils.” The country’s overall Human Capital Index (HCI) shows that Brazilian children born today will have, as adults, only 55 percent of the productivity they would have had with full access to quality health and education opportunities. Factoring in adult unemployment, their productivity falls to 33 percent, implying that 67 percent of Brazil’s talent is lost to society.

Afro-Brazilians and Indigenous Peoples have less access to good-quality schools and health services than whites, and women face job discrimination that limits their earning potential far more than men. Even before COVID, some areas of Brazil had an HCI at around 40 percent (e.g., in the North and Northeast regions), akin to what can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, while others (e.g., in the richer Southeast of Brazil) had HCI levels around 70 percent, on par with countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Brazil’s real GDP expanded 2.9 percent in 2023 driven by robust private consumption, still supported by a strong labor market and fiscal stimulus to social transfers, and by a favorable external environment benefiting exports. In 2024, GDP is expected to grow by 1.7 percent, driven by the delayed effects of monetary tightening and a lower carry-over effect for the year. Inflation will gradually converge towards 3.5 percent by 2025, slightly above the Central Bank’s target of 3 percent (+/-1.5 percentage points) but allowing for a gradual easing of monetary policy and contributing to a recovery of growth in 2025 (2.2 percent).

Going forward, real GDP growth is expected to moderate to about 2 percent in the medium term. Poverty, measured at the US$6.85 per capita per day poverty line, decreased from 23.5 percent in 2022 to 21.3 percent in 2023, explained by improvements in economic conditions and social protection policies such as the Bolsa Familia program. 

Brazil’s macroeconomic buffers remain solid, with large international reserves, low external debt, a credible central bank, a resilient financial system, and exchange rate flexibility. In addition, Brazil initiated the first phase of a long-awaited reform of indirect taxes, whose further legislation will be elaborated in 2024. The indirect tax reform is expected to improve the business environment through tax simplification and to boost productivity.

However, the general government primary deficit reached 2.3 percent of GDP in 2023, from a surplus of 1.2 percent in 2022, while debt stands at 74.3 percent of GDP, up from 71.7 percent in 2022. Structural challenges for the Brazilian economy include a still complex tax system, a cumbersome business environment that discourages entrepreneurship, low savings and infrastructure investments, and limited integration in global markets that curb innovation and hinder competitiveness. Aging related challenges, particularly in health and pensions, are projected to put pressure on public finances.

Achieving higher levels of productivity and sustainable growth remain a key challenge that has become more urgent and will require bolder action. Productivity growth in manufacturing and services has been stagnant for 20 years and growth projections remain below upper middle-income country peers. While the agriculture sector registered productivity gains (through investments in innovation, technology, and trade logistic, as well as sector-specific government incentives) and sustained Brazil’s position as the world’s third-largest agricultural and food exporter, part of this success relied on extensive farming methods that threaten important biomes and biodiversity.

Overall, it is now clear that Brazil cannot rely on commodity booms and greater inputs of land and labor to reach high-income status. Instead, it needs to shift away from factor accumulation towards a low-carbon productivity-led growth model that is driven by high-quality education and modern infrastructure, including digital, to create more and better jobs. Brazil could also act as a global innovation hub through more competition, higher openness to trade, and integration with regional and global value chains.

A more conducive business environment would attract greater private investment in industries and in the climate transition. Despite the financial system’s development, further progress is needed to increase its efficiency. Finally, Brazil could empower its entire workforce to contribute and benefit further, especially by easing the systemic barriers that limit capital accumulation and job opportunities among Afro-Brazilians, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth.

Moreover, Brazil’s natural endowments position it well to exploit new growth opportunities as the world shifts to low-carbon economic sectors and markets. Since three-quarters of Brazil’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions result from land-use change and agriculture, stopping deforestation and transitioning towards low-carbon agriculture is a priority.

The Amazon rainforest is now near a tipping point beyond which it might not generate enough rainfall to sustain its own ecosystem or the agriculture, hydropower, water supply, and industries that have fueled Brazil’s growth, or the environmental services that it provides to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the rest of the world. Efforts to stop deforestation in the Amazon cannot result in more deforestation in other biomes like the Cerrado, as they are also important for similar reasons.

The agriculture sector has scope to curb deforestation and scale-up climate-smart land use while raising its productivity further. In addition, given its low-carbon energy matrix, Brazil can decarbonize transport, industry, and cities (“deep decarbonization”) at a very low net cost of about 0.5 percent of GDP per annum above “business as usual” costs, on average, between now and 2050. Doing so would position Brazil extremely well to integrate its businesses into the green economy of the future.

Significant progress is within reach, but time is of the essence. The current government brought renewed political will, a strong reform agenda, and ambitious development programs to fight hunger and inequality, promote social justice, re-industrialize Brazil, and embrace a greener economy. It is committed to reaching zero illegal deforestation by 2030 and has launched an ambitious Ecological Transformation Plan (ETP) to promote inclusive and sustainable development while tackling climate change. The ETP’s goals are to boost productivity and generate well-paid green jobs, to reduce the economy’s environmental footprint, and to promote equitable development through better income distribution and benefits.

Additionally, significant progress will require sustained efforts and strong buy-in among key actors, including in the private sector, in a way that transcends political divisions and election cycles. If successful, the programs, policies and reforms adopted now would help strengthen Brazil’s productive structure and technological innovations in the short-term while also generating stronger foundations for the longer-term.

Last Updated: Apr 05, 2024

Progress in Brazil would enhance livability in the rest of the world, and vice-versa. The World Bank is committed to supporting Brazil’s goals of accelerating productivity growth and reducing high levels of poverty and inequality in a fiscally and environmentally sustainable way, thus building a future with opportunities for all while meeting Brazil’s potential as a leader in green and climate-friendly development. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) portfolio stands at $5 billion and includes 26 investment projects ($3,101.9m), three program for results operations ($610m), and four development policy operations ($1,282.53m).

Bolder support to Brazil, through financing, knowledge, support to institutions and private capital mobilization, is timely. It will build on the World Bank Group’s expanded vision and mission – ending poverty on a livable planet –, new playbook, and increased financing capacity, as set out at the 2023 Annual Meetings. Brazil is uniquely positioned to benefit from this transformation through World Bank Group engagements that promote scale and replicability, strengthen the effective uses of domestic resources, mobilize more private capital, enhance knowledge delivery, and leverage renewed partnerships.

The Brazil Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for FY24-28 (July 2024 – June 2028) is tailored to maximize these opportunities. Lending from the IBRD is expected to average about $2 billion per year and financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to exceed US$ 5 billion a year. Guarantees from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) are also expected to grow. Demand for World Bank Group support is high. Brazil is IFC’s largest client (the portfolio reached US$ 7.2 billion in November 2023), with a thriving and sophisticated capital market that makes it a solutions lab for climate finance and public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Requests for IBRD financing from states and municipalities and federal ministries, which articulate demand in Brazil’s federal structure, consistently exceed the volume of federal guarantees that the Union allocates to international finance institutions (IFIs) to enable borrowing. This “bottom-up” articulation of client demand for IBRD financing, together with Brazil’s wide range of development challenges, demands new approaches in programming and a bolder articulation of joint WBG work to mobilize private capital and enhance markets. While investor demand for MIGA’s guarantees has been low (total gross exposure was $101 million in March 2024), given low political risks and well-developed capital markets, new opportunities may arise in this CPF period, particularly in support of public banks and subnational entities.

The previous CPF covered FY18-23, with important adjustments made in the 2022 Performance and Learning Review (PLR) to address the COVID-19 pandemic. This new CPF will support the priorities of the current administration, as laid out in its Pluriannual Plan (PPA) for 2024-2027 and the ETP, and the ambitions of the Brazilian private sector to take a lead on the global stage.

Brazil’s partnership with the World Bank Group (WBG) spans decades of groundbreaking collaborations since the first loan, in 1949, in support of hydroelectric power facilities that since made Brazil one of the world’s leaders in low-carbon electricity supply. Over time, transformational support from the WBG extended well beyond the scope of its financing and spanned the three interrelated “Ps” of People, Prosperity, and Planet, as follows.

WB support had significant influence on:

(i)                  Brazil’s flagship conditional cash transfer program, Bolsa Família , which lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty since 2003 and continues to be at the cutting edge of crisis response and transparency;

(ii)                 Ceará State’s pioneering approach to transforming education quality , including through robust learning assessments and results-based financing, which has inspired other countries and Brazil’s federal government to attempt to follow suit;

(iii)               The inclusive provision of quality health services through a Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS), one of the most advanced public health systems in the world.

The World Bank also helped to pioneer sustainable opportunities for Indigenous Peoples, traditional communities, Afro-Brazilians, women , and youth with important breakthroughs in legislation – on social accountability, violence prevention, and the narrowing of racial and gender gaps – that can now be scaled up.

The WBG supported Brazil’s first public-private partnership (PPP) as part of an expansion of São Paulo’s Metro Line 4 . Since then, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) have supported a substantial PPP program in Brazil that unlocked at least US$8.5 billion in private investments over the last 10 years, with innovative and impactful PPP models that include the ambitious highway concession program in the State of São Paulo, municipal street lighting across several states, and the Paraná Roads program. These programs have significantly improved urban mobility, services and market access.

Over the years, World Bank’s analytical work and technical assistance also contributed to advancing Brazil’s fiscal and structural reforms, such as trade policies; the 2019 pension reform; the federal system for rating state capacity to repay loans (“CAPAG”), which helped to establish sub-national borrowing limits since 2017; and the recently approved indirect tax reform.

World Bank support in the Amazon region since the 1990s contributed to the demarcation of indigenous lands in a total area the size of Sweden; the establishment of community-managed extractive reserves; greater adoption of certified forest management approaches; significant institutional strengthening at both federal and state levels; and participatory approaches across hundreds of communities and civil society organizations.

Acknowledging the critical importance of other ecosystems, the WB has also been a leading partner in the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes through national and state-level lending programs and grant funding activities to support sustainable water management, agriculture and livestock, environmental regularization, natural resource management, and land use and landscape management.

In parallel, IFC pioneered innovative instruments for sustainable finance in Brazil, including the first sustainability-linked loan for the waste management sector across emerging markets, the first blue loan in Latin America and the Caribbean, the first super green loan through Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-linked financing, the first social bond, the first loan to a trading company with zero deforestation commitment and a groundbreaking mechanism for currency risk sharing in road concessions.

In late 2023, Brazil issued its first sovereign sustainability bond (a $2 billion 7-year bond at 6.5 percent coupon rate) under a framework articulated with support from the WBG and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which provides a blueprint for sovereign issuances and unlocks potential for new forms of private capital mobilization and sustainable finance.

The Progestão series , now approved in five states and with several others under preparation under a multiphase programmatic approach, supports fiscal efficiency gains across key sectors and whole-of-government functions. Other projects under implementation or preparation (e.g., with the city of Rio de Janeiro and the States of Sergipe and Alagoas) contribute to this agenda through reforms to strengthen fiscal management.

The WBG will continue to focus its efforts on engagements where it may be able to achieve levels of influence and impact that go beyond the size of its financing.

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Brazil: Five Centuries of Change

Brazil as a Global Economic Player

Brazil?s Economy in the Early Twentieth Century  

At the turn of the twentieth century, Brazil lacked the infrastructure and capital to support an industrial economy. With less than 3% of the labor force working in the manufacturing industry, the industrial economy in Brazil struggled before World War I.

Following the war, however, Brazil successfully enacted an import substitution policy, a trade strategy in which a nation reduces its dependence on foreign goods, as a means of spurring industrial growth and manufactures. Despite the Great Depression in the United States and the related worldwide economic downturn during the 1930s, Brazilian industry rose at 10%, on average, during the decade and Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP) increased at around 6%. By 1939, Brazil employed 9.5% of the labor force in the manufacturing sector.

Yet, Brazil?s policy of import substitution ultimately resulted in capital-scarce industrialization. Moreover, increased taxes on the agricultural sector used to underwrite Brazil?s industrialization induced inflation and an increased reliance on intermediates and capital goods from abroad. These economic strategies caused long-term imbalances and a reliance on foreign investment, which, until the twenty-first century, remained one of Brazil?s main economic strategies to stay afloat.

The Short-lived ?Economic Miracle? of the Early 1970s

Between 1968 and 1973, while Brazil was under military rule, Presidents Artur da Costa e Silva and Emílio Médiici enacted economic polices that resulted in rapid growth. These policies centered on a commitment to domestic production of consumer goods, namely automobiles, as well as the availability of foreign capital to finance economic expansion and significant government funding for infrastructure expansion.

Rising world prices for Brazilian exports aided the boom. Economic strategies focused on profits rather than wages. Led by technocratic leaders and advisors of the military government, Brazil grew at a rate 4 to 6 times greater than that of the worldwide economy. However, this seemingly miraculous period of growth came to an end in 1973, when a sudden rise in the price of petroleum impeded further rapid industrialization and slowed economic growth tied to oil.

While a lag in growth occurred, expansion continued until further increases in oil prices in 1981 led to a decline in output. Economic policies that ignored inflation and agricultural development and neglected the educational system and massive wealth inequalities sent the country into a dark economic period in the late 1970s and 1980s characterized by spiraling inflation and slow economic growth.

Emerging from Troubled Times

Between 1982 and 1994, Brazil experienced crippling hyperinflation that was typical of Latin America during the last decades of the twentieth century. Between 1990 and 1995, for example, inflation averaged 764% a year.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Finance Minister in Brazil between May 1993 and April 1994 and President from 1995 to 2003, introduced the Plano Real that saved Brazil from the inflation that had plagued the nation. The main components of the plan included introducing a new currency, the Real , and keeping the currency exchange-rate pegged until 1999, when it was deemed stable enough to float. By 2006, for the first time in over 50 years, Brazil?s GDP growth was greater than its average inflation.

Following the Cardoso Presidency, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was in office between 2003 and 2010, enacted a series of policies that continued to bolster the Brazilian economy by supporting a growth of the middle class. Lula reduced poverty in Brazil by 24% between 2003 and 2010 through a series of distributional programs, subsidized housing loans, and significant increases in the minimum wage that allowed 13 million Brazilians to escape poverty and an additional 12 million to escape severe economic deprivation.

Lula?s most notable government assistance program, known as Bolsa Família , provides small cash transfers to the female heads of household for Brazilians in the lowest economic strata, provided the children in the family are in school and receiving consistent medical checkups and healthcare. Twelve million households, nearly a quarter of the Brazilian population, receive assistance through Bolsa Família . Despite these socioeconomic advances, however, 26% of Brazilians still live in slums today and the education system offers little hope of socioeconomic advancement through schooling, given that Brazil ranks 119 th in primary education in the world.

Economic Success in the Twenty-First Century

In 2001, investment bank Goldman Sachs declared Brazil one of the future leading nations of the world and a member of the BRIC nations, a group that also includes Russia, India and China. All four are industrial nations with great potential for expansion that have experienced recent economic growth. In fact, Brazil was among the first countries to emerge from the global recession in 2009 with a growth rate of 5%, leading The Economist to publish an article entitled ?Brazil Takes Off,? which outlines Brazil?s recent economic success and growth.

Today, Brazil is the world?s sixth largest economy, surpassing the United Kingdom in 2011. PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consulting firm, predicts Brazil will be among the top five largest economies in the world by 2014 and that São Paulo will be the fifth wealthiest city in the world by 2025.

Recent privatization of state-owned industries, a focus on keeping inflation rates down, and increases in foreign trade and investment have spurred Brazil?s growth. Brazil is unique among the BRIC nations in that it is a ?complete package?: Brazil?s government is a democracy; the nation lacks significant ethnic and religious conflict; Brazil?s exports are diverse and varied; and its people are known for their welcoming, kind, and accommodating nature.

A rapidly growing middle class also has furthered Brazil?s position as an economic powerhouse. The middle class–those with household incomes between $600 and $2,590 a month–has grown from 45 million people in 1993 to over 105 million people in 2011, in large part due to economic growth and redistributive polices of the Lula government and that of his successor, Dilma Rousseff, elected the first female president of Brazil in 2011. Today the middle class, as defined above, accounts for over 46% of the country?s buying power. In 2000, there were 4.2 million small businesses with less than 100 employees. In 2010, that number had increased to 6.1 million small businesses, and the number of large businesses had doubled from 30,000 to 60,000.

Brazil?s international presence has increased in recent years as its economy expands beyond the nation?s borders. Between the 1990s and 2010, Brazilian foreign investment increased by $700 million a year to more than $20 billion yearly. Today, Brazil has more than $130 billion invested abroad, more than both India and South Korea.

Petrobras, Brazil?s state-owned energy corporation with a global reach, has been making large-scale investments abroad. In 2007, Brazil also discovered significant amounts of oil off of her coast that will soon make it a leading distributor and exporter of oil worldwide. Furthermore, Brazil?s JBS, a food-producer, is on the verge of becoming the world?s largest meat producer, and Friboi, also Brazilian, controls 50% of the world?s meat processing, according to the United Nations.

Brazil has begun to acquire companies and become active in industries in the United States as well. In 2008, InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian beer company, acquired Anheuser-Busch. Marfrig, another Brazilian meatpacker, acquired Keystone Foods in 2010, making it one of the leading suppliers to fast food chains such as McDonald?s and Subway. Brazil?s acquisitions are not limited to the food and beverage industries. For example, Brazilian resin producer Braskem acquired portions of Sunooco chemicals in 2010 as well.

Despite Brazil?s continued success and growth, the nation today finds itself at a critical crossroads. Brazil has never successfully sustained a democracy, low rates of inflation, and significant economic growth simultaneously for any significant period of time. Furthermore, sluggish growth productivity due to a weak infrastructure and notoriously high interest rates continue to plague the country. Violent crime, irresponsible government spending and corruption, and an education system in need of reform are reminders of how far Brazil has to go before it can truly declare itself a stable, first world nation with a strong economy. Nonetheless, given the country?s recent success and growth, it seems that Brazil?s moment has finally arrived.

Further Reading  

• ?Brazil, the Entrepreneurial and Democratic BRIC? by Lesie Elliot Armijo and Sean W. Burgess in volume 42 of the academic journal Polity offers readers more on Brazil as a BRIC nation.
• Baer, Werner. ?Evaluating the Impact of Brazil?s Industrialization.? Luso-Brazilian Review 15, no. 2 (Winter 1978).
• Fishlow, Albert. ?Brazilian Development in Long-Term Perspective.? The American Economic Review 70, no. 2 (May 1980): 102-108.
• Forero, Juan. ?Brazil Quickly Becoming a Player in the Global Economy.? The Washington Post , September 21, 2010.
• Morley, Samuel A. ?Growth and Inequality in Brazil.? Luso-Brazilian Review 15, no. 2 (Winter 1978).
• ?Getting it Together at Last,? The Economist , November 12, 2009.
• Sweig, Julia. ?A New Global Player: Brazil?s Far-Flung Agenda.? Foreign Affairs 89:6 (November/December 2010).
• ?Brazil Takes Off.? The Economist, November 12, 2009.
• ?Brazil?s Growing Middle Class Spurs Economy.? San Francisco Chronicle , August 10, 2012.
• ?Say Bom Dia to Brazilian Business.? Newsweek , June 18, 2010.

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Economic Problems Facing Modern Societies Today

Microeconomics principles with its effects, economic utility, supply and demand decisions, labor decisions, macroeconomics principles with its effects, national income, financial output, economic problems faced by brazil, stagnation of economy, recommendations, ways to improve the country’s economic growth, tax cuts and tax rebates, using infrastructure to encourage economic growth, bibliography.

• Alcoforado, F., 2019. Brazil facing internal economic problems and the ruin of the world economy. [Online] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/falcoforado/brazil-facing-internal-economic-problems-and-the-ruin-of-the-world-economy [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Anon., 2012. Facts and Details. [Online] Available at: http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat57/sub383/item2135.html [Accessed 28 08 2019].
• Anon., 2019. 2019 Index of Economic Freedom. [Online] Available at: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/brazil [Accessed 26 08 2019].
• Anon., 2019. An Introduction to the Principles of Macroeconomics. [Online] Available at: https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/cw1d9yd1dj/An-Introduction-to-the-Principles-of-Macroeconomics.html [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Anon., 2019. What is Macroeconomics? - Definition & Principles. [Online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-macroeconomics-definition-principles-quiz.html [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• DEPERSIO, G., 2019. What Are Ways Economic Growth Can Be Achieved?. [Online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032415/what-are-some-ways-economic-growth-can-be-achieved.asp [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Loy, B., 2019. How Microeconomic Principles Affect Business Decisions. [Online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/how-microeconomic-principles-affect-business-decisions.html [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Raj, 2008. Steps to Stop Recession for Governments, Companies & Individuals. [Online] Available at: https://rajn.co/steps-to-stop-recession-for-governments-companies-individuals/ [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Riley, G., 2019. Brazil - Economic Growth and Development. [Online] Available at: https://www.tutor2u.net/economics/reference/brazil-economic-growth-and-development [Accessed 26 08 2019].
• Schneider, D., 2011. Brazil Economy Outlook 2019. [Online] Available at: https://www.8020investors.com/emerging-markets/brazil-economic-outlook/ [Accessed 26 08 2019].
• Sen, G., 2017. Political Instability in Brazil: Causes and Likely Future Scenario. [Online] Available at: http://www.brazilmonitor.com/index.php/2017/10/12/political-instability-in-brazil-causes-and-likely-future-scenario/ [Accessed 27 08 2019].
• Vita, S., 2019. 3 Economic Challenges Brazil Faces in 2016. [Online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/123015/3-economic-challenges-brazil-faces-2016.asp [Accessed 27 08 2019].

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Brazil , country of South America that occupies half the continent’s landmass. It is the fifth largest country in the world, exceeded in size only by Russia , Canada , China , and the United States , though its area is greater than that of the 48 conterminous U.S. states. Brazil faces the Atlantic Ocean along 4,600 miles (7,400 km) of coastline and shares more than 9,750 miles (15,700 km) of inland borders with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador—specifically, Uruguay to the south; Argentina , Paraguay , and Bolivia to the southwest; Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela , Guyana , Suriname , and French Guiana to the north. Brazil stretches roughly 2,700 miles (4,350 km) from north to south and from east to west to form a vast irregular triangle that encompasses a wide range of tropical and subtropical landscapes, including wetlands, savannas, plateaus, and low mountains. Brazil contains most of the Amazon River basin, which has the world’s largest river system and the world’s most-extensive virgin rainforest . The country contains no desert, high-mountain, or arctic environments .

Brazil is the fifth most-populous country on Earth and accounts for one-third of Latin America’s population. Most of the inhabitants of Brazil are concentrated along the eastern seaboard, although its capital, Brasília , is located far inland and increasing numbers of migrants are moving to the interior. Rio de Janeiro, in the eyes of many of the world, continues to be the preeminent icon of Brazil. The nation’s burgeoning cities, huge hydroelectric and industrial complexes, mines, and fertile farmlands make it one of the world’s major economies. However, Brazil struggles with extreme social inequalities, environmental degradation , intermittent financial crises, and a sometimes deadlocked political system .

Brazil is unique in the Americas because, following independence from Portugal , it did not fragment into separate countries as did British and Spanish possessions in the region; rather, it retained its identity through the intervening centuries and a variety of forms of government. Because of that hegemony , the Portuguese language is universal except among Brazil’s native Indians, especially those in the more-remote reaches of the Amazon basin. At the turn of the 21st century, Brazilians marked the 500th anniversary of Portuguese contact with a mixture of public celebration and deprecation.

The Brazilian landscape is immense and complex, with interspersed rivers, wetlands, mountains, and plateaus adjoining other major features and traversing the boundaries of states and regions.

The Brazilian government has grouped the country’s states into five large geographic and statistical units called the Major Regions (Grandes Regiões): North (Norte), Northeast (Nordeste), Central-West (Centro-Oeste), Southeast (Sudeste), and South (Sul). The tropical North—comprising the states of Acre , Rondônia , Amazonas , Pará , Tocantins , Roraima , and Amapá —covers more than two-fifths of Brazilian territory and includes the largest portion of Amazon rainforest and parts of the Guiana and Brazilian highlands; however, the region accounts for a limited proportion of the nation’s population and economic output.

The Northeast, which experiences some of the nation’s driest and hottest conditions, has nearly one-fifth of Brazil’s land area and more than one-fourth of the population. It contains the states of Maranhão , Piauí , Ceará , Rio Grande do Norte , Paraíba , Alagoas , Sergipe , Bahia , and Pernambuco , the latter including the island of Fernando de Noronha , some 225 miles (360 km) off the Atlantic coast. The region’s oldest cities date from the 16th century, when the Portuguese first established sugarcane plantations there. The Northeast accounts for one-fifth of the nation’s agricultural production, but the industrial and service sectors lag far behind those of the Southeast and South, and the unemployment rate remains high.

The Southeast covers only one-tenth of Brazil’s territory but has two-fifths of its population and the greatest concentration of industrial and agricultural production in the nation. The region includes São Paulo state, which is the nation’s economic and demographic heartland, landlocked Minas Gerais , whose very name (meaning “Extensive Mines”) testifies to great mineral wealth, and the populous coastal states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro . The city of Rio de Janeiro , the national capital from 1763 to 1960, remains Brazil’s main cultural and tourist centre.

The South, which stretches below the Tropic of Capricorn , includes the states of Paraná , Santa Catarina , and Rio Grande do Sul . It occupies an area nearly as large as the isle of Britain but is the smallest of Brazil’s regions. Its diversified economy includes strong manufacturing , agriculture, and service sectors. The South has about one-seventh of the nation’s population, including many people of European ancestry, particularly from Germany and Italy . The South’s tourist trade partly depends on the spectacular Iguaçu Falls , at the Argentine border.

The Central-West consists of the states of Goiás , Mato Grosso , and Mato Grosso do Sul , as well as the Federal District, in which Brasília is located. The region covers roughly one-fourth of Brazil, including forested valleys, semiarid highlands, and vast wetlands. A small proportion of the nation’s population lives there, but an increasing number of settlers have been moving into the region and extending its agricultural frontiers.

Brazil is a predominantly tropical country famous for its extensive Amazon lowlands; however, highlands cover most of the national territory. Brazil’s physical features can be grouped into five main physiographic divisions: the Guiana Highlands in the North, the Amazon lowlands, the Pantanal in the Central-West, the Brazilian Highlands (including the extensive coastal ranges), and the coastal lowlands.

Brazil shares the rugged Guiana Highlands with Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Forested mesas and mountain ranges, scenic waterfalls, and white-water rivers characterize the area. The highest point in Brazil is Neblina Peak , which reaches 9,888 feet (3,014 metres) along the Venezuelan border in the Serra do Imeri. The Serra da Pacaraima, farther east, rises to 9,094 feet (2,772 metres) at Mount Roraima , where the borders of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil meet. The less rugged Acaraí and Tumuc-Humac (Tumucumaque) ranges border on the Guianas.

The Amazon lowlands are widest along the eastern base of the Andes. They narrow toward the east until, downstream of Manaus , only a narrow ribbon of annually flooded plains ( várzeas ) separates the Guiana Highlands to the north from the Brazilian Highlands to the south. The várzeas fan out again as the watercourse approaches the Atlantic, but no delta extends into the ocean. The basin’s most widespread topographical features are gently undulating hills called terra firme (“solid ground”), composed of layers of alluvial soil that were deposited as much as 2.5 million years ago and subsequently uplifted to positions above flood level. Shallow oxbow lakes and wetlands are found throughout the region.

The immense Pantanal, an extension of the Gran Chaco plain, is a region of swamps and marshes in northwestern Mato Grosso do Sul and southern Mato Grosso states and, to a lesser extent, in northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia; it is one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the world, covering some 54,000 square miles (140,000 square km). The Pantanal is dissected by the effluents of the upper Paraguay River , which overflows its banks during the rainy season, inundating all but the tops of scattered levees and low hills. ( See also Drainage .)

Slavery: The Stronghold of the Brazil Economy Essay

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Introduction

Slave trade in brazil, abolition of slavery in brazil, ways in which abolitionism was anti slavery and anti slave in brazil.

Slavery is a term used to refer to an affiliation of supremacy and obedience whereby one person possesses another and can extort from the possessed person labor or any other services. Slaves can be people detained against their will, bought or born into this dehumanizing way of life, they are denied the right to leave or to reject work, or even ask for reimbursement.

Slavery in Brazil created the country’s societal arrangement and cultural background. All through the regal period, and for a period of more than six decades after the 1822 independence, slavery was one of the strongholds of the Brazil economy, in particular in the mining and sugar cane production sectors [1]

In the years after the 1500s Portuguese colonies situated in Brazil began to import African saves in large numbers. This was easy for them as the Portuguese were in control of several slave trade centres in the coast of West Africa where slaves were sold.

African slaves became the preferred choice to work in big sugar cane plantations and mines as they were resilient to tropical diseases and heat and the fact that they were reluctant to run away from their masters was a good thing for the Portuguese as they made more money this way. Soon after the 1600’s African slaves were found to be engaged in all economic sectors of Brazil. This is because they were good workers who worked hard for their masters; rarely got sick and rarely run off into the jungle.

Slave trade was abolished in May 1888 when Princess Isabel signed the; Lei Aurea, the ‘Golden Law’ that made slave trade illegal therefore legally putting an end to slavery in Brazil. The original script and the pen used to sign this document are preserved in the Brazilian national museum as it part of the history of Brazil. This single document freed the slaves and if it was not signed when it was, maybe slavery would have continued for much longer.

Due to the ending of the slave trade in 1888 in Brazil, the African culture is still very pronounced especially in the Bahia and the Northeast. The African slaves still practiced and practice their native cultures, food, music, dance and customs all which are viewed in the pulsating cultural assortment that is now independent Brazil [2] .

Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slave trade as slavery. The plight of slaves was noted down in literature that spoke out against slavery and spoke for the slaves themselves. Literature in Brazil included poems that spoke out against the suffering of slaves at the hands of their slave masters who in most cases were than not brutal. Abolitionist literature in Brazil was not limited and each and every person was allowed to freely express themselves and their feelings how they saw fit.

After independence in Brazil, antislavery appeals were found in local dailies and periodicals majority of these appeals however called for a stop to the slave trade and not slavery itself which is ironic. “In 1850, the travel of human slaves to Brazil was stopped due to the consequence of British political and naval pressure” [3] .

Shortly after the stop of slave trade, literature and poetry that depicted free blacks and slaves positively began to make its way into the market, how ever these works did not openly criticize slavery on its own.

Essays, poems, drama and novels began aggressively attacking slavery as a corrupting authority on white slave holders and as a hindrance on economic progress of the country as a whole. This catalyzed the process of abolishing slave trade and slavery itself and the slaves were set free to find and build their own lives away from the slave lives [4] .

It took some years however before the literature works took centre stage in fighting against slavery and positively stating that the slaves should be set free. Arguments based on the sufferings of the slaves were the basis of majority of the literature works they talked about how much the slaves suffered under their masters and this brought about awareness concerning slavery.

Some of the most famous abolitionist in Brazil include: Antonio Frederico de Castro Alves who was termed as the Conscience of Brazil due to his works that openly denounced slavery Os EScravos which contain poems like “ Navio Negreiro: tragedia nomar”, “ O Bandido Negro” and “ Vozes d’Africa” published in 1883.

Other poets; Silvio Romero and Valentim Magalhaes also fanned the flames of abolitionism with depictions of extreme brutality and inhumanity of slavery. On top of poems, novels were written that were against slavery and slave trade for example; Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published in 1852. This novel showed how innocent slaves suffered at the hands of their masters and their overseers.

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo’s As Vitimas Algozes written in 1869 and Bernardo Guimaraes’s A Escrava Isaura written in 1875. O Abolicionismo by Joaquim Nabuco a statesman written in 1883 is widely noted and accepted as an abolitionist work for its common and political appeal. This book disproved of the underlying principle of pro-slavery forces used in opposition for the continuation of Brazilian slavery.

It is important to note that all the above mentioned works of literature were written before 1888 when the golden rule was signed. This is to show that these literature works played a major part in pushing for the abolishing of slave trade and slavery in Brazil. They played a major role in abolishing slave trade and slavery in Brazil as they identified the pleas and cries of the slaves at the hand of their masters and spoke out these injustices for all people to know [5] .

There were quite a number of ways in which abolitionism was against anti slavery and anti slave in Brazil. This paper will discuss the moral, political, societal motivation behind the abolitionist movement not also forgetting the policies and plans employed in the abolitionist movement. These different ways in which abolitionism is looked upon as being both anti slavery and anti slave will help us understand not only the plight of the slaves but also why other people fought passionately for freedom of slaves and the abolition of slave trade.

Looking at the moral point of view, citizens of Brazil had a number of reasons to be part of the abolitionist movement. Religion was the first moral perspective to join the abolitionist movement, Christians who were at the forefront of this movement believed that it was the duty of the church to correct wrongs made by the society.

Christians viewed slavery as wrong and believed that each person was equal in the eyes of God, so it should also be in the eyes of fellow mankind. Other secular movements joined the movement of abolitionist as they felt slavery was going against the basic foundations of the government as it brought about unfair torment that clearly spelled out inequality among human beings [6] .

The economic and political view of slavery brought about questions of inequality as some politicians saw slavery as being unconstitutional. One of the goals of constitution was to bring equality to all man and slavery was a hindrance to this therefore, the politicians also joined in the abolitionist movement.

Majority of the people were passionate about the cause of ending slavery that they formed a political party that specifically fought for the rights and freedoms of slaves. The fact that the constitution brought forth the equality of all mankind and that citizen also fought for the freedom of the slaves made the abolitionist movement stronger and more effective and finally slave trade and slavery was eradicated all together in Brazil [7] .

Societal reforms were also a huge part of how abolitionist was anti slaves and anti slavery in Brazil. These societal reformers included groups of ethical and outstanding citizens who were concerned with church communities, or new group thinkers. These individuals made it their sole purpose to correct the wrongs of slavery and the wrongs in education, prisons and also voting rights.

These people wanted radical changes in the society that would make the society a much better place to live in for all people. People who joined the reformers were persuaded by the leaders’ views and they saw it as their responsibility to make changes in the society.

The abolitionist movement in Brazil was both anti slave and anti slavery as to employ different ways and tactics to use in spreading the cause in order to get many supporters. One of the major ways of distributing the information they had was through use of leaflets that were distributed all over the countryside.

These leaflets were used to tell people and educate them on the reasons they had for being against slavery and about why they wanted to end it. Novels, poems, stories and other literature works were also used in educating people on why slavery needed to be abolished thus getting support for the abolitionist movement. Organizations against slave trade and slavery also came into being and they fought for equality rights of the Brazilian slaves.

These organizations got a lot of support as they were led by prominent people who were passionate about bringing an end to slave trade and slavery. Several revolts and riots organized by these organizations which included free and enslaved men fighting for their freedom this however led to the slaves being deported to Benin, Nigeria and Togo [9] .

In conclusion, slave trade and slavery was a booming business in the 1800’s. People were captured from their native lands and sailed hundreds of miles to work in plantations, mines under the cruelty and brutality if their masters. These people were also forced to work in their masters houses performing terrible acts that their overseers and masters demanded. Slaves were uprooted from their lives that they knew only to be forced to adapt to a whole new lifestyle that saw the treated far much worse than animals themselves.

The brutality and cruelty of the masters brought about a lot of suffering on the slaves as they were inflicted with wounds that would take a long time to heal not to mention that the punishments that were mostly beatings that at times resulted in death of the slaves. The slaves would at times result to witchcraft to quell the brutality of their master’s and at times the slaves killed their masters.

Some slaves who opted not to run away continued suffering at the hands of their masters and overseers. The biggest issue about slavery was that some of the slaves were born into it and they knew no other life other than the life of submission, and following orders that resulted in punishment when one disobeyed.

The brutality and cruelty of the masters of these slaves brought about activists that rose and fought against slavery and slave trade. These activists brought forth the abolitionist movement that fought for the freedom of all the slaves in Brazil.

The abolitionist movement approached the issues of slavery and slaves from different view points that included the moral, political, societal motivation. These different view points by different people were all anti slave and anti slavery and pushed for reforms in the society that were going to be of help in getting freedom for the slaves.

The ways in which the abolitionist movement spread it views in the countryside where majority of the population were slaves, helped in drumming up major support for the noble cause of putting an end to slavery and slaves. Through the distribution of pamphlets the abolitionist movement was able to educate the people and get a lot of manpower and individuals to participate in the riots and revolts that were arranged by organizations to drum up support that would fight against slavery and slaves.

Bentley, J. & Ziegler, H. 2005. Traditions and encounters: A Global Perspective on the past . Mcgraw-Hill College.

Creative commons. 2001. A Brief History of Slavery . Web.

Diouf, S. A. 2009 ed. Fighting the Slave Trade: West African Strategies . Athens: Ohio University Press.

Mattoso, Katia M. de Querios 2004. To be a slave in Brazil, 1550-1888 , Rutgers University Press.

Richardson, K. 2009. Abolition- the Role of the individual in Effecting Change . Web.

The Gale Group 2004 Nineteenth-Century Abolitionist Literature of Cuba and Brazil, the Gale Group, Inc. Farmington Hills.

• Creative commons 2010. A Brief History of Slavery
• Mattoso, Katia M. de Querios 2004. To be a slave in Brazil, 1550-1888 , Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0813511550
• The Gale Group 2004 Nineteenth-Century Abolitionist Literature of Cuba and Brazil, the Gale Group, Inc. Farmington Hills
• The Gale Group 2004
• Richardson, K. 2009 Abolition- the Role of the individual in Effecting Change
• Richardson, K 2009
• Bentley, J. & Ziegler, H. Traditions and encounters: A Global Perspactive on the past. Pp 781-805
• Diouf, S. A. 2009 ed. Fighting the Slave Trade: West African Strategies . Athens: Ohio University Press
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1. IvyPanda . "Slavery: The Stronghold of the Brazil Economy." July 12, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/slavery-in-brazil/.

Bibliography

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Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest nation in the world.

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest nation in the world. It forms an enormous triangle on the eastern side of the continent with a 4,500-mile (7,400-kilometer) coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. It has borders with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador .

The Brazilian landscape is very varied. It is most well known for its dense forests, including the Amazon, the world's largest jungle, in the north. But there are also dry grasslands (called pampas), rugged hills, pine forests, sprawling wetlands, immense plateaus, and a long coastal plain.

Northern Brazil is dominated by the Amazon River and the jungles that surround it. The Amazon is not one river but a network of many hundreds of waterways. Its total length stretches 4,250 miles (6,840 kilometers). Thousands of species live in the river, including the infamous piranha and the boto, or pink river dolphin.

Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Most Brazilians are descended from three ethnic groups: Amerindians, European settlers (mainly from Portugal), and Africans. Starting in the 19th century, waves of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East, and even Japan added to this mix. This diversity of cultures has created a rich religious, musical, and culinary culture.

Brazilians are soccer crazy, and their country has produced some of the best players. The most famous of all is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. Brazil has won the World Cup soccer finals five times, more than any other nation.

Brazil has the greatest variety of animals of any country in the world. It is home to 600 mammal species, 1,500 fish species, 1,600 bird species, and an amazing 100,000 different types of insects . Brazil's jungles are home to most of its animal life, but many unique species also live in the pampas and semidesert regions.

In the central-western part of Brazil sits a flat, swampy area called the Pantanal. This patchwork of flooded lagoons and small islands is the world's largest wetland. Here live giant anacondas , huge guinea pig relatives called capybaras, and fierce South American alligators called caimans .

For thousands of years, people have been exploiting the jungles of Brazil. But since Europeans arrived about five centuries ago, forest destruction has been rampant. Most of Brazil's Atlantic rain forest is now gone, and huge tracts of the Amazon are disappearing every year. The government has established many national parks and refuges, but they only cover about 7 percent of the country.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Brazil is a federal republic with a president, a National Congress, and a judiciary. From 1888 until recently, the country struggled with democracy. But in 1985, the military government was peacefully removed, and by 1995, Brazil's politics and economy had become fairly stable.

Brazil has many different soils and climates, so it can produce a great variety of crops. Its agricultural exports include sugarcane, latex, coffee, cocoa beans, cotton, soybeans, rice, and tropical fruits.

Brazil is also South America's most industrial nation, producing chemicals, steel, aircraft, and cars.

Until recently, scientists thought Brazil was first settled by Asians about 10,000 years ago. But new evidence shows there were people living there at least 32,000 years ago. Some experts think they may have arrived from islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Brazil was added to the map of the world during the great European explorations in the late 15th century led by Portugal and Spain. When Europeans first reached the coast of Brazil, the country was home to about 30 million indigenous people, or Amerindians. Today, only about 300,000 remain, living primarily in Brazil's remotest places.

Portugal established its first colony in Brazil in 1530. Colonists created sugarcane plantations along the coast and sent diamonds and gold back to Europe. Soon, people from West Africa were brought to Brazil to work as slaves. The discovery of large inland gold reserves brought thousands of people from the coasts and as far away as Europe to the interior of the country.

In 1789, Brazilians tried to kick out their Portuguese rulers. The rebellion was soon put down, but it started a movement toward independence. By 1822, Brazil was a sovereign nation. Kings of Portuguese blood ruled until 1888, when military leaders and landowners expelled the king, and Brazil became a federal republic.

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