Brazil
Brazil is immense. Bear in mind that Bolivia, so tiny tucked under Brazil’s western arm, is larger than Texas and about the size of France and Spain combined. The northernmost part of Brazil is closer to Canada than to its southern region. Think about that for a minute. This distance is comparable with London to Tehran or Anchorage to Santa Fe. And it’s about the same span across as up and down, to give you an idea of the broad scope of the world’s fifth largest country.
The Amazon, the River Sea of Brazil, is the largest and widest river on Earth, stretching up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) across during the rainy season and scaling back to about 6 miles (9.5 kilometers) across in the dry season.
If the United States is a melting pot, Brazil is a succulent cultural stew, the kind with surprising rapturous flavors, some of which you almost recognize, that inspire you to ask the waiter what’s in it and he politely bends to whisper in your ear that no one really knows for sure, but the broth is Portuguese and pay attention for the fish bones.
The extremes of Brazil are about cultures and lifestyles more than geography. The fourth most highly populated city in the world is São Paulo, not far from the scenic gem Rio de Janeiro on the southern coast. As of 2021, São Paulo had about 3.5 million more people than New York City, and for a peek at its diversity, it also has the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan. Similar to Australia, most of the people of Brazil live near the coast and beaches are part of the lifestyle along with carnivals, music, and dancing. The urban life of Brazil is festive and laid back and time is not strictly followed.
In contrast, the interior of the country is a vast jungleland where transportation is by river rather than road. The history of the indigenous peoples of Brazil is a bit unclear. This is partly because about 90% of the estimated three million Native Brazilians were wiped out by disease after the arrival of the Portuguese at the beginning of the 1500s. Brazil has the highest number of “uncontacted” tribes in the world, people who either by choice or the vastness of the country or a combination of both, continue to live out of communication with the modern world. There are people in the Amazon who don’t know what an iPhone is or how to drive a car or that people landed on the moon.
There is evidence that the Marajoara (Marajó) lived at the mouth of the Amazon River from 800 AD to 1400 AD, providentially leaving the area about a hundred years prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Today, there are about 305 tribes in Brazil with roughly 896,000 people speaking 274 different indigenous languages.
The Guarani is the largest tribal group with about 51,000 people.
The smallest tribe is a single man living alone in a forest.
The Guiana people are the namesake for the South American region of France called French Guiana. They also inhabit northern Brazil. The Guiana came from the same Arawak ancestors as the native peoples of the Caribbean.
Farther west, the Yanomami people have the most land and, as a result, live in the most isolation.
In the south, near Paraguay, the Terena people, numbering roughly 13,000, are the remaining descendants of the Guaná (or Chané) people who migrated from the Chaco region of South America to the west.
For more information, select Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Indigenous peoples by far the best guardians of forests – UN report.
As indigenous young adults strive to honor their people and come to terms with the modern urban world, there have been protests in marches and through music. ‘The way I am is an outrage’: the Indigenous Brazilian musicians taking back a burning country provides music clips of some of the artists who are striving to bridge the gap and bring the voices of their people to a larger audience.
Brazil is wild and beautiful but dangerous, both in the extremes of remote jungles and on the urban coasts. Parana, caiman, aggressive large spiders, anaconda boa constrictors, poison dart frogs, and jaguars are among the dangers of the Amazon. There’s an island off the coast of São Paulo that is off limits to people due to its population of lethal Jararaca snakes. And it is recommended that you not go in the water off the coast of Recife, or at least check-in with the locals first, because of the sharks.
In the cities, the favela shantytowns can be dangerous in spite of controversial efforts to turn them into tourist attractions. With one of the highest homicide rates in the world, Brazil is sometimes listed as the most dangerous country and its coastal cities appear on lists of the most dangerous cities on the planet. To learn more about the favelas, select What Is a Favela? Five Things to Know About Rio’s So-Called Shantytowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll in Brazil, especially on its indigenous people. At the time of this writing, Brazil is in a state of crisis.
Brazil has the highest number of endemic species of any country in the world, a biodiversity that includes the golden conure parrot, the golden lion tamarin, the white-whiskered spider monkey, the Brazilian coral snake, the hyacinth macaw, the giant anteater, the Brazilian tapir, the green anaconda, and the white-blotched river stingray.
Although Brazil’s original name was Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross), ultimately it was named for its native pau-brasil (red wood tree), valuable for making dye. To read more, select The Tree That Gave Brazil Its Name.
Brazil is the top coffee producer in the world and is famous for its festivals.
Carnaval do Brasil, “goodbye to meat,” celebrated in Rio de Janeiro just before the start of Lent, is cited by many as the largest and grandest festival in the world. As the name of the building suggests, the Sambadrome is the place where colorful costumes and dances accompany samba music. For more information, select An In-Depth Look at the Carnival History.
Parintins Folk Festival, in the Amazonas state at the end of June, centers around the Boi-Bumba legend of the death and resurrection of an ox. For more information, select Festival do Boi Bumba in Amazonas.
Bumba-Meu-Boi do Maranhão in São Luís at the end of July is another of many celebrations of the Boi-Bumba legend in Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro is the musical home of the samba and the bossa nova.
Samba originated from Afro-Brazilian communities and is today an integral part of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Carmen Miranda was a samba singer, dancer, and actress who brought Brazil to the world. “We had discovered that she was both our caricature and our X-ray,” wrote Caetano Veloso in an analysis of her lasting legacy in Brazil in a New York Times article in 1991.
Bossa Nova was influenced by the Portuguese saudade, mixing its yearning and nostalgia with a gentle and beguiling rhythm.
Antônio Carlos (Tom) Jobim is perhaps the most well-known bossa nova performer. He composed Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema) among other songs.
Rio de Janeiro is where choro originated. Sounding a bit like New Orleans ragtime, Pixinguinha was a noted composer and performer of choro music.
Sertanejo, from southern Brazil and perhaps the most frequently played Brazilian music, often involving singing duos, is an upbeat pop music encouraging audience participation.
Forró is from northwest Brazil and involves accordion, zabumba (a bass drum worn by the player), and metal triangle. Sertanejo and Forró are considered the “country music” of Brazil.
Funk Carioca is a kind of hip hop and rap music from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the lyrics are often about the call for social justice.
For more selections of Brazilian music along with information about the style of music, select
The Essentials of Brazilian Music for Olympic Listening and A Music Lover’s Guide to Brazilian Pop.
Capoeira is a martial art/dance that originated from the slaves brought over from Africa. It is a mesmerizing fight, perhaps a subconscious desire to turn conflict into something beautiful.
Paulo Coelho is perhaps the best known writer from Brazil.
The Alchemist is a delightful read, an imaginative journey modeling a personal path to happiness.
The Pilgrimage is about Paulo Coelho’s journey on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in 1986.
Basketball player Kobe Bryant contacted Paulo Coelho about a children’s book project that they started just prior to Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash in 2020.
There is a movie about Paulo’s Santiago de Compostela Camino and there are two TV series in the works based on his novels.
Jorge Amado, one of Brazil’s best selling authors, published over thirty books and there is a museum in his honor in his former house in Salvador.
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis is considered a father of Brazilian literature.
Clarice Lispector, born in Ukraine and raised in Recife, Brazil, was an acclaimed novelist and short story writer.
Rubem Fonseca was a crime writer from Rio de Janeiro.
Hilda Hilst was a boundary-pushing poet from São Paulo.
Carlos Drummond de Andrade, born October 31, 1902 in Itabira, just to the west of Belo Horizonte, was an introspective poet revered by the country. Canção Amiga (Friendly Song) was featured on Brazilian currency. There’s a sitting statue of Andrade on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, intentionally facing away from the sea, looking inward instead of outward. There is also a memorial in his honor in Itabira with another statue to sit next to and his poem Confidêcia do Itabirano on a large upright slab. His poem Papel is on a street wall in Leiden, Nederlands.
To read his poetry, select Friendly Song and Multitudinous Heart and Wish.
To learn more about Brazilian literature, select The 10 Best Brazilian Writers, A Book Lovers Guide to Brazil, and Another Country – Afro-Brazilian Writing, Past and Present.
Oscar Niemeyer is a well-known architect who designed many of the modern buildings in Brazil, including the icon for its capital Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília and Rio de Janeiro’s museum that looks like a spaceship: Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói. For more information and a list of his buildings, select The Modernist Buildings of Oscar Niemeyer.
A merger of the cuisines of Portugal and West Africa with the foods of the New World, some typical dishes in Brazil are:
pão de queijo (cheese puffs made with cassava flour)
feijoada (black bean stew, the national dish of Brazil)
canjica (white corn, milk, and cinnamon porridge, sometimes including coconut)
farofa (fried tapioca flour mixed with bacon used as a topping on dishes, especially rice and beans)
salgados (fried or baked snacks such as empanadas and coxinhas)
empadas (mini pies with different fillings)
coxinhas (fried battered chicken and/or cheese)
acarajé (fried black-eyed pea or shrimp fritters)
pastels (savory pastries filled with various meat, cheese or seafood)
açaí (dark purple berry eaten in smoothies and by itself with syrup and granola)
brigadeiro (little Brazilian chocolate bonbons)
beijinho de coco (little kiss of coconut)
For information about the food of Brazil, select:
The Ultimate Brazilian Food Guide
Brazilian Food: The 20 Essential Dishes To Eat In Brazil
Eat Your Way Through Brazil
Whirlwind Tour of Brazil from North to South:
The state of Roraima is extremely remote with very little urban population and few roads.
Monte Roraima is at the northernmost part of Brazil on the border of Venezuela and Guyana. Monte Roraima is an unearthly mountain with vertical sides going straight up over the clouds. Most people reach Monte Roraima from San Francisco de Yuruani, Venezuela.
Boa Vista, a beautiful, planned city on the Rio Branco, is the capital of the state of Roraima.
Pico da Neblina (Peak of Mist) is the highest point in Brazil at 9,827 feet (2,995 meters) and is on the border with Venezuela. It is extremely remote and challenging to get to.
Amazonas, the largest state, is mostly tropical jungle in the Amazon River basin. It is extremely remote and most of its people live in the one big city, Manaus. Amazonas has been extremely hard hit by COVID-19: In ‘dire’ plea, Brazil’s Amazonas state appeals for global COVID assistance.
Manaus, in northwest Brazil at the meeting of the massive Amazon and Rio Negro, is the gateway to the Amazon forest and a starting point for many river tours. Although Manaus is 900 miles from the Atlantic, there are beaches along rivers wide enough to seem to be seas. Manaus was once a rubber manufacturing site and has many colorful historic homes in the city of about two million people.
Teatro Amazonas is an opera house in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest in the city of Manaus.
Encontro das Aguas (The Meeting of the Waters) is where the Rio Negro and Rio Solimōes (Amazon) run side by side for more than three miles without mixing because of each river’s different temperature, speed, and density. For a satellite view, select NASA Earth Observatory – Meeting of the Waters.
Parque Ecologico Janauari, right near the Encontro das Aguas, is an area of swampland with fascinating water lilies.
Anavilhanas Islands form an archipelago in the Negro River.
Alter do Chão is a beachfront of the Amazon rainforest and has huge samaúma trees.
Macapá is at the mouth of the Amazon River where the Marajoara (Marajó) people lived before the arrival of the Portuguese. The equator runs through the city and straight through the Estádio Milton de Souza Corrêa. When people play fútbol (soccer) at this stadium, they are not only defending the goal of their team, but also the goal of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
Ilha de Marajó is a large estuary island with beaches and water buffalo and history of the Marajoara (Marajó) people who once inhabited the area.
Parque Nacional Lençóis Maranhenses, just south of São Luís, has a 70 kilometer long, 25 kilometer wide expanse of high sand dunes right on the northeast coast of Brazil. Lençóis means bed sheets in Portuguese because of the way these dunes look spread across the landscape. In July, the rains make beautiful lagoons among the dunes and give Parque Nacional Lençoís Maranhenses the name “the flooded desert.”
Parnaíba was once a major port.
Jericoacoara along the northeast coast has beautiful beaches, sand dunes, and lagoons, and features Pedra Furada, the Arched Rock.
Fortaleza on the northeast coast is Brazil’s fifth largest city. It is known for forró music, mixtures of modern and colonial architecture, and 16 miles of urban beaches. Home to a large textile industry, Fortaleza is also known for its shopping and inexpensive clothing. The beaches of Fortaleza are distinct for their red cliffs.
Natal is a beachfront city with Forte dos Reis Magos (Fort of the Three Wisemen). Natal means “Christmas” because it was founded by Dutch explorers on Christmas Day 1599.
Pria de Pipa is a popular white sand beach south of Natal.
Fernando de Noronha, discovered by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503, is an archipelago of 21 islands 350 kilometers out into the Atlantic Ocean from Natal.
Praia do Sancho, within the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, is a beloved beach with turquoise waters often voted the most beautiful beach in the world.
João Pessoa, named for the Paraíba governor, is the third oldest city in Brazil.
Olinda is an old colonial city with a historic old town and abundant art.
Recife, just south of Olinda, is one of the many cities in the world with the “Venice of…” title because of its waters and bridges. In the 17th century, it was a Dutch colony and many historic buildings and cathedrals remain. Recife is known for its beaches. Four mile long (seven kilometer) Boa Viagem is one of the most popular beaches with white sands, clear water, and a coral reef. Sharks are a danger, so double check that it is safe before getting into the water off the coast of Recife.
Porto de Galinhas has white sand beaches, warm water, and natural reef pools with aquatic life.
Salvador is a historic colonial Portuguese city in the Bahia state with Afro-Brazilian culture, fantastic beaches, capoeira performances, ornate cathedrals, seaside forts, a light house, and Carnaval in February.
Pelourinho is the old quarter of Salvador with cobblestone streets, beautiful architecture, and the gold laden São Francisco.
Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara has rock formations and archeological rock art at Toca da Entrada do Caldeirão dos Rodrigues.
Parque Nacional Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba is a park at the headwaters of the Parnaíba River with macaws, toco toucans, and Einstein monkeys in the state of Piauí.
Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina (the Diamond Plateau) is an outdoor wonderland with caves, cliffs, pools, hiking trails, and the tallest waterfall in Brazil: Cachoeira da Fumaca at 380 meters high.
Parque Nacional Chapada dos Veadeiros, in the center of Brazil just north of its capital, is filled with jagged cliffs, waterfalls, and gaping canyons. Moon Valley is an area of lunar-like landscapes.
Brasilia, a planned capital designed in the shape of an airplane, is full of fascinating modern architecture and parks.
Belo Horizonte (or Beagá) is a planned city with street fairs, markets, art, history, restaurants, and museums.
Santuário do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos in Congonhas just south of Belo Horizonte is a charming Rococo-style church.
Ouro Preto, meaning “black gold,” is a colonial town with bright painted houses, and baroque churches. Ouro Preto has streets like a roller coaster that was a prime place during the Brazilian Gold Rush.
Tirandentes is a colonial town with a beautiful church, cobble streets, and mountains.
Dedo de Deus (God’s Finger) is a beautiful rock formation in Serra dos Órgãos National Park.
Rio de Janeiro (River of January), once the nation’s capital, is the 21st largest city in the world with 13,544,462 people as of 2021. Rio de Janeiro is the most visited city in South America with stunning mountains, clifftop views, beaches, and Carnaval.
In the massive and stunning Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro features:
Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue stands on top of Corcovado mountain with arms stretched 28 meters and 709 meters high. Cristo Redentor is in the Parque Nacional Tijuca with a rack railway taking passengers 3.5 kilometers to the top.
Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), the rock peak that rises 394 meters over Rio de Janeiro, has a cable car that runs between Pão de Açúcar and the neighborning peak Morro da Urca.
Tijuca Forest is located within the city of Rio de Janeiro and is thought to be the largest urban forest in the world at an area of about 32 square kilometers. Cristo Redentor and Pão de Açúcar are part of the forest park.
Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the inspiration for popular songs, are at the coast next to these landmarks.
Maracanã Stadium, one of the world’s largest, seats 100,000 and is a great place to watch fútbol (soccer).
Museu de Arte Contemporânea is a modern art museum that looks like a spaceship.
Escadaria Selarón are considered by many to be the most beautiful stairs in the world. The 215 steps were designed in mosaic tiles by Jorge Selarón as a tribute to the Brazilian people.
The world’s largest floating Christmas tree, 278 feet tall, in Rodrigo De Freitas Lagoon is part of the Christmas tradition of Rio de Janeiro.
Ilha Grande, just an hour west of Rio de Janeiro, was a prison and leper’s colony for decades and a pirate’s hideout, and is now a lush jungle island and nature-lover’s paradise.
Paraty (Parati) is just west of Rio de Janeiro with colonial architecture, stunning beaches, mountains, and tropical forests.
Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida, just north of Paraty, is the second largest church in the world after Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The church was built on the site of a sacred location where three fishermen found a broken statue of Mary in their nets and built a shrine.
Campos do Jordão, just east of São Paulo in the Mantiqueira Mountains, features Swiss architecture, waterfalls, and a winter classical music festival in the city with the highest elevation in Brazil at 5,341 feet (1,628 meters) above sea level.
São Paulo, nicknamed “the Land of Drizzle,” is the fourth largest city in the world with a population of 21,846,507 in 2021. Paulista Avenue is full of shopping malls, art galleries, theaters, restaurants, and coffee shops. São Paulo has the world’s largest Japanese community outside of Japan.
Ilha de Queimada Grande is a little island 90 miles off the coast of São Paulo that is closed to the public to protect the population of endangered snakes. And to protect humans as well. The jararaca is the most venomous snake in the world and one bite will likely result in death within an hour.
Curitiba has a beautiful French-style garden park right within the city and a Panoramic Tower with a rooftop observatory.
There is a scenic railroad that runs from Curitiba and Paranagua on the coast called the Serra Verde Express.
The Pantanal, along the border with Bolivia in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul in western Brazil, is the world’s largest and most diverse tropical wetland. The Pantanal is home to jaguars, giant anteaters, caimans, howler monkeys, coatis, capybaras, parrots, toucans, and the tall (up to four-feet) Jabiru storks with long black beaks, red necks, and white bodies.
Cuiabá, the geographic center of South America, is the gateway to the Pantanal.
Bonito is a small city near Paraguay in the southwest of Brazil near Gruta do Lago Azul and Anhumas Abyss.
Anhumas Abyss provides opportunities to snorkel under stalagmites.
Gruta do Lago Azul (Blue Lake Cave) is one of the largest flooded caves in the world.
Foz do Iguaçu Falls are a stunning series of 275 falls on the border with Argentina that are considered to be the largest system of waterfalls in the world. About 9,000 feet across, they are twice as wide as Niagara Falls. In the peak water flow of the rainy season (November-March) about 3.5 million gallons of water runs through Iguaçu Falls per second.
To see the falls, select Iguazu Falls – BBC.
There is a legend about the falls from the Guarani people who lived in the area before the arrival of Europeans. M’Boi was the serpent god living in the Iguaçu River. To keep M’Boi appeased, the people would sacrifice a maiden. M’Boi fell in love with the maiden Naipi and demanded that she be sacrified to him. She was pledged to be married to Taruba, a warrior of the tribe. They attempted to run away before the sacrifice, but M’Boi caught them and his anger caused the earth to split. M’Boi turned Naipi into a rock and Taruba became a palm tree high above her. Their punishment was to be forever within sight, but just out of reach, of each other.
Parque das Aves, minutes away from Foz do Iguaçu Falls, is a conservation sanctuary for the birds of the rainforest.
Itaipu Dam, nearly five miles long on the border of Brazil and Paraguay on the Paraná River, is the world’s largest hydroelectric facility. Shared by both countries, the Itaipu Dam generates a massive amount of electricity.
Santa Catarina Beaches are a series of lovely beach coves on the coast.
Florianópolis is a rather large jungle island in southern Brazil, just north of Porto Alegre, with waterfalls, lagoons, and 42 stunning beaches.
Cascata do Caracol is a beautiful high waterfall in the Floresta Nacional de Canela.
Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra features Itaimbezinho Canyon, waterfalls, and wildlife including pumas, ocelots, and howler monkeys.
Porto Alegre is a city on a huge lagoon near the coast in the southern part of Brazil not far from Uruguay.
For more about Brazil:
Dangerous Animals in Brazil
27 Top Tourist Attractions in Brazil
Why Visit Brazil
