Brazil: Lesson 3

Life in Brazil

People

• Brazil is a mix of several cultures. Nearly 40% of Brazilians have a mixed ancestry.

• There are smaller multi-ethnic groups of African and Native descent. These are the descendants of the African slaves who escaped into the hinterland, often remote inland regions far from the coasts.

Places

• Some 17 million people live in Sao Paulo's metropolitan area, or city and built-up areas around the central city.

• The central city is the largest or most important city in a metropolitan area.

• Most of Brazil's large cities have shantytowns called favelas. These are make shift communities located on the city edges.

People and Cultures

• Personal warmth, good nature, and "getting along" are valued as the Brazilian way.

• Portuguese is their main language, but it is often closer to the Spanish language than the original Portuguese, as many words have been added by various ethnic groups.

• Most of Brazil is Catholic, but only 20% practice regularly.

Rural and Urban Life

• People in both rural and urban areas own their own houses.

• Family ties are strong, and families usually live with or near each other.

• Life in rural Brazil hasn't changed much, but city life is moving faster with more job opportunities.

• Soccer is played everywhere on a daily basis.

Contemporary Brazil

• Education is important in Brazil, yet 60% of Brazilians have only 4 years of schooling or less.

• The government wants to colonize the sparsely populated interior to stop overcrowding and also develop more land in the Amazon.

• However logging is a serious problem already, 15% of the Amazon is already gone.