About Brazil

Brazil's vast territory covers a great variety of land and climate, for although Brazil is mainly in the tropics the southern part of the great central upland is cool and yields the produce of temperate lands. Most of Brazil's large cities are on the Atlantic coast or the banks of the great rivers.

The rain forests of the Amazon River basin occupy all the north and north central portions of Brazil. The Amazon region includes the states of Amazonas, Pará, Acre, Amapá, Roraima, and Rondônia; its chief city is Manaus. Gold mining, ecotourism, and fishing are also important. At the mouth of the Amazon is the city of Belém, chief port of N Brazil.

Southeast of the Amazon mouth is the great seaward out thrust of Brazil, the region known as the Northeast. The states of Maranhão and Piauí form a transitional zone noted for its many babassu and carnauba palms. The Northeast proper - including the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, and the northern part of Bahia—was the center of the great sugar culture that for centuries dominated Brazil. The Northeast has also contributed much to the literature and culture of Brazil.

The “bulge” of Brazil reaches its turning point at the Cape of São Roque. To the northeast lie the islands of Fernando de Noronha, and to the south is the port of Natal. South of the “corner” of Brazil. Above the escarpment is the great Brazilian plateau, which tapers off in the southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, where it is succeeded by the plains of the Río de la Plata country. The escarpment itself appears from the sea as a mountain range, generally called the Serra do Mar, and the plateau is interrupted by mountainous regions, such as that in Bahia, which separates E. Bahia from the valley of the São Francisco River.

The chief cities of the Northeast are the ports of Recife in Pernambuco and Salvador in Bahia. There are a number of excellent harbors farther south: Vitória in Espírito Santo; Rio de Janeiro, the former capital, one of the most beautiful and most capacious harbors in the world; Santos, the port of São Paulo and the one of the greatest coffee ports in the world; and Pôrto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul.

In the east and southeast is the heavily populated region of Brazil. The state of Rio de Janeiro, with the great steel center of Volta Redonda, is heavily industrialized. Neighboring São Paulo state has even more industry, as well as extensive agriculture. The city of São Paulo, on the plateau, has continued the vigorous and aggressive development that marked the region in the 17th and 18th century. Largely responsible for the development of the gold and diamond mines of Minas Gerais state, the second most populous state in Brazil, and for the building of its old mining center of Vila Rica (Ouro Prêto), succeeded by Belo Horizonte as capital.

Settlement also spread from São Paulo southward, particularly in the 19th and early 20th century when coffee from São Paulo's terra roxa had become the basis of Brazilian wealth, and coffee growing spread to Paraná. That state, in the west, runs out to the “corner” where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet at the natural marvel of the Iguaçu Falls on the Paraná River. The huge Itaipú dam, built from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s by Paraguay and Brazil, provides power for most of southern Brazil.

The more southern states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul are primarily cattle-raising areas with increasing industrial importance. Frontier development is continuing in central Brazil. The state of Mato Grosso is still largely devoted to stock raising. The transcontinental railroad from Bolivia spans the southern part of the state. The federal district of Brasília was carved out of the neighbouring plateau state of Goiás, to the east, and the national capital was transferred to the planned city of Brasília in 1960.

The Economy
The Brazilian economy is resilient and the outlook for the future economic prospects of the country are excellent according to a series of news items out in recent weeks highlighting the desirability of Brazil as an emerging market in which to invest.

In particular interest in the retail property market in Brazil is intense as competition for the best investments is increasing and ultimately “Brazil is a good market for retail property investment because of its growing middle class and expanding economy”

In support of the significant investments being made into Brazil and Brazilian property by overseas investors the Brazilian Minister of Finance Guido Mantega recently reconfirmed his government’s economic position. He stated that the Brazilian currency is strong, that the country is secure with a solid trade surplus and that because Brazil has significant reserves of US dollars any international fluctuations in currency markets or any general international market turbulence would be unlikely to negatively impact Brazil. This announcement has given international companies, institutional investors and individual investors greater confidence in the Brazilian property market.

Brazil is becoming a significant exporter, a prolific promoter of its assets and wares and it is a nation expanding internationally presenting a strong economic picture to the wider world and encouraging international investment through strategic entry into retail and export/import markets in Germany, America and Portugal in particular.

Furthermore the Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade is working with international ministries of economy and innovation to spread the word about the diversity of natural and manufactured resources available in Brazil which will increase exports from Brazil, further strengthen the economy, lead to increases in the wealth of the people of Brazil and lead to the overall economic advancement of the country - all good news for those researching and searching for news about Brazil property and the facts driving its potential profitability.


BAHIA PROVINCE