Discovering South America: Brazil

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Brazil

São Paulo São Paulo sits on a plateau 2,493 feet (760 meters) above sea level and 45 miles (72 km) from the coast. Founded in 1554 by the Jesuits, its original pur- pose was to serve as a mission center for early settlers and Indians. For a long time it remained a small town. Around 1850, however, it began to grow, fueled by the highly productive coffee plantations in the state. By the early 1900s, São Paulo’s coffee exports and increasing population provided invest- ment money and manpower, turning the little town into an industrial city. Today the city and its surrounding area are home to more than 20,000 indus- trial plants of all types and sizes. São Paulo has also evolved into a major financial center to serve the needs of business. Rio de Janeiro In 1502 Portuguese explorers arrived at Guanabara Bay, the site of Rio de Janeiro. But it was the French who, in 1555, first established a settlement fac- ing the bay. Twelve years later the Portuguese expelled the French colonists. For almost 150 years, Rio de Janeiro existed as a small Portuguese colony, whose members made a living by farming, fishing, and exporting brazil- wood and sugarcane. The building of a road in 1704 from Rio to the gold mines of Minas Gerais transformed the town into a major center of trans- portation, commerce, and wealth. The French captured Rio in 1710 and forced the Portuguese to pay ransom for its return. When the government of Brazil moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro in 1763, the city became one of the major capitals of South America. In 1808