The objectives of Portuguese colonization in Brazil inserted the agro-export character of economy, which can be seen in the course of its main economic cycles that occurred in the colonial period: sugar cane and mining. Brazil did not go through the process known as the Industrial Revolution and was limited to the interests of the metropolis. Only when the Portuguese royal family moved to Brazil in 1808 , towards the city of Rio de Janeiro, did some structural improvements occur, roads and factories were created, as well as better institutional and administrative organization.
The opening of Brazilian ports to international trade carried out after great pressure from the British empire contributed to imports of English machines and products. After independence from Portugal in 1822, Brazil entered directly into the sphere of influence of England. From that short period of Brazil Empire, which lasted until the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the coffee cycle maintained the primary shape of the Brazilian economy, but in another context: contrary to what happened in previous cycles, for the first time it occurred in the country a type of primitive capital accumulation. The Barões do Café – name given to the great coffee producers of the mid-19th century – were the precursors of the Brazilian private initiative, mainly in the Southeast.
Another decisive change was the cooling of the use of slave labor. External factors, such as laws that restricted the slave trade, as well as internal factors, in particular the indebtedness of many rural producers to slave traders, made slavery increasingly restricted. Brazil created laws that slowly culminated in the end of slavery with the declaration of the Golden Law in 1888. In order to establish a new relationship between the land factor and labor, European immigrants, predominantly Italian, were used.
Italian immigration and the expansion of railways internalized occupation in the state of São Paulo. The currencies of coffee led to the formation of banking groups and the attraction of capital for the emergence of factories, modernization of ports and diversification of trade. At the end of the 19th century, in the Amazon region, the rubber cycle also caused an accumulation of capital for the region, allowing the formation of some important centers in the midst of large demographic voids, mainly Belém and Manaus.
After the imperial period, the 1st Republic or Old Republic began, considered in the view of many Brazilian social scientists as the consolidation of the agrarian elite as the holder of political power and the structuring of society, with few changes in the predominantly agrarian economy.
The economic crisis of 1929 directly influenced the coffee economy, which ended up gradually declining due to the fall in the international price of coffee. Between 1930 and 1945, the country reached a new stage, known as the Getulist State, which significantly changed the productive structure of Brazil. Getúlio Vargas laid the foundations for a national industry, with the State acting as an entrepreneur and regulator of the economic sectors. Companies such as CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional) and mining company Vale do Rio Doce, currently privatized, were conceived in this period. The National Petroleum Council was also created, a nationalist policy aimed at state control of oil exploration and production. Later, in 1952, when Vargas returned to the presidency through democracy, Petrobrás was created. For Brazil democracy and rights, please check localbusinessexplorer.
Based on a populist platform, Vargas introduced labor laws, organized the structure of the unions and increased the participation of industry in the composition of the Brazilian GDP, as well as encouraged the creation of sectors such as mechanics, electrical material, transport material, chemical and pharmaceutical. Together with other underdeveloped nations such as Mexico, Argentina and South Africa, the country started its late industrialization.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Brazil, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Brazil. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Brazil
Browse a collection of shaded relief and political maps of Brazil, an eastern South American country. Check out the Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and Sao Paulo city maps.
