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Ok.
Facts of Brazil in a “nutshell” is asking too much. But the main goal
here is to give you an overview of the country, so you can know some of
the basics, what to expect and have elementary knowledge of the customs.
There is a vast gulf of misconceptions between what foreigners imagine Brazil is
and the real country. The aim of this travel guide is to help narrow the
gap.
This
website edited by a Brazilian and an American and it is designed to
provide a broad perspective of Brazil through two distinct points of view:
a native’s and a foreigner’s. We want you to have all the information you
need to make the most of your Brazil travel. Facts of Brazil is a
ever-changing section. It will grow with time.
Brazil and Tourism
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. The land has multiform
landscapes from beaches, rainforests and wetlands to sand
dunes and rivers, Brazil has it all. It is warm throughout the year in
most of the country. Brazil is the perfect adventure destination and ideal
for a family vacation, for a honeymoon, fishing, diving… well, you get the
idea.
It took the country a long time to realize its tourism potential. And even
longer for the government to take action and invest in an industry that
has everything it needs to be extremely successful. Before Brazilians
discovered their country’s tourism potential, European foreigners,
enchanted by the Brazil’s natural beauty, were already in the country developing
small tourism businesses.
Anyway,
back to our travel guide. To make it easy and simple, we are going to
divide this overview into subcategories. Each one will deal with one
aspect of Brazil it would be good to know before traveling there. So,
let’s get started.
Numbers and Basic Information
Facts of Brazil
Area: 8,514,204.8 km²
Population: 184,739,395 inhabitants (2005).
Climate: Equatorial, Tropical, Atlantic, Sub-tropical and Semi-arid.
Average temperatures: 28o C in the North, 22o C in the South.
Forest Area: 5,511,000 km²
Capital: Brasília
Largest cities: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo
Horizonte, Salvador, Fortaleza, Brasília, Curitiba, Recife, Manaus, Porto
Alegre, Belém, Goiânia, Guarulhos, Campinas e Nova Iguaçu.
States: 26 divided into 5 regions: Center-West, North, Northeast,
Southeast and South.
-
Acre
(AC)
-
Alagoas
(AL)
-
Amapá
(AP)
-
Amazonas
(AM)
-
Bahia
(BA)
-
Ceará
(CE)
-
Espírito Santo
(ES)
-
Goiás
(GO)
-
Maranhão
(MA)
-
Mato Grosso
(MT)
-
Mato Grosso do Sul
(MS)
-
Minas Gerais
(MG)
-
Pará
(PA)
-
Paraíba
(PB)
-
Paraná
(PR)
-
Pernambuco
(PE)
-
Piauí
(PI)
-
Rio de Janeiro
(RJ)
-
Rio Grande do Norte
(RN)
-
Rio Grande do Sul
(RS)
-
Rondônia
(RO)
-
Roraima
(RR)
-
Santa Catarina
(SC)
-
São Paulo
(SP)
-
Sergipe
(SE)
-
Tocantins
(TO)
Borders: Uruguay, Argentine, Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, French
Guyana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela.
Language: Portuguese, but with a different accent from Portuguese
spoken in Portugal. Actually, Brazilians like to say they speak
“Brazilian” since the language has been influenced by different cultures
and languages and is very distinct from Portuguese from Portugal.
National Passion:
Brazil Soccer. From the President to the
average Joe everybody is crazy about soccer.
For Brazilians, Brazil soccer
is a form of art.
Phone Code: 55
Internet code: .br
Time
Zones: Four time zones. The Official time is Brasilia, time – 3 hours
less GMT.
Daylight Savings Time: From September to February in 10 states and in
Distrito Federal, where the capital Brasilia is located.
Currency: Real (Plural – Reais)
Voltage: 110V and 220V, AC @ 60Hz. It varies according to the state.
Making calls
International Calls: dial: 00 + operator code + country code + area
code + phone number.
Long
Distance calls in Brazil: 0 + operator code + area code + phone
number.
Reverse charge international calls: dial 0800-703-2111
Operators and Codes
Brasil
Telecom 14
Telefónica 15
Embratel 21
Intelig 23
GVT 25
Telemar 31
CTBC 34
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Cross Cultural
Contrasts and Challenges
Culture and People
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