Introducing Brazil

Brazil is a country that seduces visitors with its tropical islands, amazing beaches, and scenic towns. The fertile rainforests of Brazil boast of an astonishing assortment of flora and fauna, while numerous ethnic groups live contentedly in its vibrant cities.

Brazil is held in high esteem by the world because of the extraordinary skill in football of its people and for its wonderful music. People from Brazil are varied and filled with gay spirits as can be easily seen in the yearly events that are held in Rio de Janeiro as well as Salvador. Visitors are always welcome to participate in the festivities and have their fill of Brazil’s samba parties. The landscape of the country is diverse, much like its inhabitants. Although not too many visitors travel too far away from the impressive coastline of the country, for those who do get to travel to Brazil’s interior country, a world as captivating as the one you will find when you travel to other South American travel destinations is waiting to be explored. Aside from being home to the biggest rainforest on the Amazon, there are numerous wilderness sites ranging from the Pantanal wetlands and the Chapada Diamantina’s caves and canyons, to the Minas Gerais Mountains. The wide assortment of inhabitants and places to see in Brazil make it the ideal choice for tourists who simply want to get away.

You will find that there are just so many sights to feast your eyes on and thrilling activities to indulge in when you decide to spend some time in Brazil. For this reason, the pocket Brazil Travel Guide has been designed to provide you with everything you need to know while you are in Brazil. The overview will give you a pretty good idea about the country and what you can expect during your visit. While you are at it, you will also find out what the biggest tourist attractions should not be missed and places you need to add up to your itinerary as must-sees. Apart from that, you will also be able to explore great ideas on the countless activities you can do to make your trip even more memorable. To make sure that nothing gets in the way of a very enjoyable tour, there are some very important safety tips that will help to keep you safe while you are on vacation in Brazil. As always, when you travel, your safety should be your foremost concern so there will be no down time to having a good time while you explore the country.

Brazil’s official language is Portuguese and the Brazil Travel Guide includes some basic words and phrases in the local language to help you get around. Additionally, the Brazil Travel Guide is divided into chapters and sections for easy reference.

Brazil has always been the symbol of a great escapade and adventure to a world completely different from any other country in South America. Starting from the Carnaval’s mad fervor, to the vastness of the mysterious Amazon, the country is certainly legendary. It may not be what everyone pictures paradise to be, but Brazil is still an incredibly beautiful land. Not only is it rich in the most pristine beaches and still undiscovered rainforests, but the Brazilians themselves are people so filled with vibrant energy that can be quite contagious.

At present, Brazil ranks sixth among countries with the largest population worldwide. There are around 148 million individuals living in Brazil and the number has doubled up during the last 30 years. About two-thirds of the population resides by the coast, which means that lives pretty much revolve around the beaches of the country, both for the locals and the visitors alike. Although a multitude of various ethnic groups coming from diverse economic statures calls Brazil home, certain characteristics are shared by everyone. These are mainly the unique energy and passion that are uniquely Brazilian. This can easily be seen during a good game of football (their favorite sport of all time) where they excel, and the love of partying wherever they may be.

Brazil occupies almost one half of the continent of South America. It is surrounded from the north, south and west by all of the countries of South America with the exception of Ecuador and Chile. The Atlantic Ocean lies on its eastern side. More than 60% of Brazil is flat terrain, while the rest is composed of plains. The River Plate Basin where the rivers of Uruguay and Paraná meet is a lot more diverse, higher and less dense. On the Amazon’s northern area one will find Guiana Highlands, which is partially forested and partially a rocky desert. Brazil’s population occupies the states in the southeast of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Mina Gerais. There are more than 10 million people living in São Paulo alone, while Rio de Janeiro has a population of more than 5.5 million.

Because of the Portuguese colonization of Brazil for three centuries, there are many facets of the country’s culture that have been inherited from Portuguese culture, brought about by the settlers from the colonizing country. Hence, Brazil has a retained Portuguese as its official language, followed the primary religion of Portugal (Roman Catholicism), and has a majestic architecture inherited from the Portuguese. The culture in Brazil is not purely Portuguese, as it was already intermixed with the native culture from the various ethnic groups that have existed for a long time in Brazil. This is why the country also has a lot of Amerindian influence that is very visible, particularly in its food and the language used. And it is mainly due to the diversity of Brazil’s cultural background that has made the country so popular all over the world, with its exhilarating festivals and exciting celebrations like the Carnaval as well as the Bumba Meu Boi. These are Brazil’s biggest come-ons that attract millions of tourists from all parts of the globe every year.

The Carnaval of Brazil is a festival that happens yearly, and is celebrated 46 days prior to Easter. This celebration supposedly found its beginnings in the Saturnalia, a pagan festival that when adapted to the Christian faith, became a symbol of bidding goodbye to all things bad during the season. This would be a time for asking for forgiveness and making preparations for the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. The celebration is a Brazilian holiday that has become a very big event that runs for nearly a week, both night and day. Rio de Janeiro in particular is the most exciting destination during the Carnival period. Here, you will find dancers gyrating in a frenzied pace, but very gracefully to the beat of the music, such as the samba-enredo and the marchinha that you will usually hear in Rio and the Southeast region of the country. In the Northeast, the usual types of music you will be treated to are the maracatu, the frevo, and the Axé. As the temperature of summer rises, people young and old of every size and color troop to the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana in their skimpiest beach attire for a swim, have a fun game of volleyball with other beach-goers, or simply enjoy watching beautiful people pass by.

To satisfy the adventurer in you, there is the Amazon, the biggest forest in the world that offers visitors the most amazing features. There is probably nothing that can make anyone feel so much closer to nature in all its glory than the sound of monkeys chanting just before a storm sets in at night, or a chorus of frogs welcoming the coming of the evening. The atmosphere is rich with all the sounds of the forest and everywhere you look is a feast of greens and other unimaginable colors that only nature can produce. The Amazon rainforest can make one feel so small in its vastness, and one cannot help but marvel at the beauty and splendor of a place still untouched by the world. The starting point of a visit to the Amazon is Manaus, which is at the center of Brazil’s Amazon Basin. Tourists will typically stay for about two to three days with activities such as canoeing on lakes, visiting the ecological park and the “caboclos” or settlements, fishing, forest trekking, and swimming.

The architecture of Brazil during the colonial era has been influenced greatly by the Manueline style of Portugal, although it has been adapted to the climate of the country, which is tropical. Ouro Preto is a city in Minas Gerais that is home to many examples of the style and has also been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. During the later centuries, the architects of Brazil began to get more influence on their architectural style from countries such as the United States and France, before finally developing their own distinct style that has made them famous all over the world.

Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, is where you will find most of the modern types of architectural structures that have received much praise from so many. More recently, landscape architecture in Brazil has been attracting attention. This includes the Copacabana Promenade that you can see in Rio, and Ibirapuera Park located in São Paolo. Both of these were created by Roberto Burle Marx.

The food in Brazil is varied according to what region you are in. This variety is a reflection of the mixture of the native inhabitants and the immigrants in the country. Dating back to the colonial era, the feijoada has remained the national dish of Brazil, which is directly associated to the black population in the country. According to Luís da C?mara Cascudo, the dish has been modified in every region in Brazil so that it is now not a simple dish but considered a complete meal. The rice and the beans that are ingredients of the feijoada are staples at every Brazilian meal because they are believed to be very healthy. There is no way that you would ever run out of choices of food to eat when in the country. There is the lanchonete, which is similar to snack bars that sell sandwiches, pastries, hamburgers, and other ready-to-eat food to satisfy your hunger. Then there are the restaurantes for your sit-down meals, and where you have a wide range of choices of different local delicacies as well as foreign dishes. The pizzarias are of course for the pizza lovers and pasta aficionados as well. Charrascarias offer eat-all-you-can barbecued meat aside from other types of food for one price. The rodizio is a kind of serving system where waiters go around and serve customers more and more food until they can no longer take any more. Breakfast or café in Brazil is usually between 6 am to 8:30 am. Lunch starts at 11:30 am and usually ends by 1:30 pm. Dinner typically starts from 7 pm and can go on until late at nights.

When it comes to shopping, Brazil has so much to offer, ranging from clothing, leather products, jewelry, art pieces and handcrafts. The country’s main cities have most of all the products you are looking for, although the smaller towns of Brazil have charming little markets and other shopping establishments where you can find a lot of local crafts, too. The artisan fairs in the country are places to find the most unique types of ethnic crafts, and the proceeds go to the locals. Shopping is a delightful experience in Brazil, especially because they have some of the most unique clothing you will find in the world.

Now that you have finally decided to experience the excitement of Brazil, you will find that our pocket Travel Guide Brazil extremely useful to have. Included here are the basic information you need to make the most out of your stay in this vibrant country, from the best sights to see and the many things you can do. Brazil is a country with a very colorful past that has made it what it is today, a destination that is a dream come true for travelers all over the world. It offers the thrill of its festivals, the gaiety of its music and dance, the energy of its diverse people, and the mystery of its magnificent rainforest. With the Travel Guide Brazil as your personal guide, discover the beauty of Brazil and make your visit an experience to remember forever.

Explore the rest of the pages of our Brazil travel guide by clicking on the travel guide links menu and enjoy!

“Important Notice – You may use or download information available on our travel guide pages for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided that you give proper attribution, with a link back to our website. Similar to the sources used for the travel guides, World Interpreting provides links to information references even for contents we believe constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. More information here.”