Greetings in Brazilian Portuguese

Carnival Brazil Sao Paulo 2013 Anhembi

Brazil's exports include coffee, sugar, Brazilian nuts, transportation equipment, iron ore, steel, soybeans, footwear, motor vehicles, concentrated orange juice, beef, and tropical hardwoods. Machinery, electrical and transportation equipment, chemical products, oil, and electronics are major imports.

Currency

1 Brazil real = 0.45296 U.S. dollars

Culture and Traditions

Brazil is famous for its carnivals and celebrations, again representing the fusion of African, Portuguese and native Indian cultures. The Samba is a distinctively Brazilian style of music and has its historical roots in the traditions of the Bantu people who came to Brazil from Angola in Africa. Brazil is one of the South American countries that is well known for its festive celebrations and annual events

Culture and Traditions

Brazil is fascinating for its miscegenation. The indigenous, European, Asian and African roots of Brazilians among many others are reflected not only in their culture as in their customs. The cuisine, music, crafts, architecture and festiva

ls imprint this multicultural identity. No wonder the country has 17 cultural and natural assets listed by UNESCO World Heritage Siteited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and one of the wonders of the modern world, the "Cristo Redentor" (Christ the Redeemer statue). Immigration in Brazil was extremely important for the formation of national culture. Characteristics from all over the world were added over the centuries since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500. In addition to the contributions of Indians, blacks and Portuguese, the significant arrival of immigrants from all parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia influenced the formation of Brazilian people. It should bee highlighted that, despite its territorial extent, the same language is spoken in all regions. Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language, and third among the western, after English and Spanish. The Brazilian Constitution guarantees the full exercise of cultural rights and states that the state should support, encourage and value their expression, and protect indigenous cultures, African-Brazilian and other groups participating in the national process of civilization.

Greetings

how are you? tudo bom? / como vai? I'm fine! tudo bem! / tudo bom! / tudo tranqüilo! hello olá hello (phone) alô hi oi goodbye tchau (pronounced like the Italian ciao) / até logo / adeus (used more as "goodbye forever") good morning bom dia good afternoon boa tarde good evening boa noite good night boa noite please por favor thank you obrigado (masculine) / obrigada (feminine) you're welcome de nada yes sim no não

Food

Brazilian cuisine has European, and African influences. It varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's mix of native and immigrant populations, and its continental size as well. This has created a national cuisine marked by the preservation of regional differences. Ingredients first used by native peoples in Brazil include cassava, guaraná, açaí, cumaru and tacacá. From there, the many waves of immigrants brought some of their typical dishes, replacing missing ingredients with local equivalents. For instance, the European immigrants (primarily from Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland andSwitzerland) were accustomed to a wheat-based diet, and introduced wine, leaf vegetables, and dairy products into Brazilian cuisine. When potatoes were not available they discovered how to use the native sweet manioc as a replacement. The African slaves also had a role in developing Brazilian cuisine, especially in the coastal states. The foreign influence

extended to later migratory waves - Japanese immigrants brought most of the food items that Brazilians would associate with Asian cuisine today, and introduced large-scale aviaries, well into the 20th century. Root vegetables such as cassava (locally known as mandioca, aipim or macaxeira, among other names), yams, and fruit like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, guava,orange, passion fruit, pineapple, and hog plum are among the local ingredients used in cooking. Some typical dishes are feijoada, considered the country's national dish; and regional foods such as vatapá, moqueca, polenta and acarajé. There is also caruru, which consists of okra, onion, dried shrimp, and toasted nuts (peanuts and/or cashews), cooked with palm oil until a spread-like consistency is reached; moquecacapixaba, consisting of slow-cooked fish, tomato, onion and garlic, topped with cilantro; and linguiça, a mildly spicy sausage. The national beverage is coffee, while cachaça is Brazil's native liquor.

Religion

Religion in Brazil formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of African slaves and indigenous peoples. This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices within the overarching umbrella of Brazilian Catholicism, characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities, and in some instances, Allan Kardec's Spiritism (most Brazilian Spiritists are alsoChristians). Religious pluralism increased during the 20th century, and a Protestant community has grown to include over 22% of the population. The most common Protestant denominations are Pentecostal, Evangelical,Baptist, Seventh-day Adventist, Lutheran and the reformed churches. Catholicism is the country's predominant faith. Brazil has the world's largest Catholic population. According to the 2000 Demographic Census (the PNAD survey does not inquire about religion), 73.57% of the population followedCatholicism; 15.41% Protestantism; 1.33% Kardecist spiritism; 1.22% other Christian denominations; 0.31% Afro-Brazilian religions; 0.13% Buddhism; 0.05% Judaism; 0.02% Islam; 0.01% Amerindian religions; 0.59% other religions, undeclared or undetermined; while 7.35% have no religion. However, in the last ten years Protestantism, particularly Pentecostal and/or Evangelical Protestantism, has spread in Brazil, while the proportion of Catholics has dropped significantly. After Protestantism, individuals professing no religion are also a significant group, exceeding 7% of the population in the 2000 census. The cities of Boa Vista, Salvador and Porto Velho have the greatest proportion of Irreligious residents in Brazil. Teresina, Fortaleza, and Florianópolis were the most Roman Catholic in the country.[ Greater Rio de Janeiro, not including the city proper, is the most Irreligious and least Roman Catholic Brazilian periphery,

Language

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese (Article 13 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil), which almost all of the population speaks and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for business and administrative purposes. The most famous exception to this is a strong sign language law that was passed by the National Congress of Brazil. Legally recognized in 2002, the law was regulated in 2005.The law mandates the use of the Brazilian Sign Language, more commonly known by its Portuguese acronym LIBRAS, in education and government services. The language must be taught as a part of the education and speech and language pathology curricula. LIBRAS teachers, instructors and translators are recognized professionals. Schools and health services must provide access ("inclusion") to deaf people. Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, mostly similar to 16th century Central and Southern dialects of European Portuguese (despite a very substantial number of Portuguese colonial settlers, and more recent immigrants, coming from Northern regions, and in minor degree Portuguese Macaronesia), with some influences from the Amerindian and African languages, especially West African and Bantu. As a result, the language is somewhat different, mostly in phonology, from the language of Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries (the dialects of the other countries, partly because of the more recent end of Portuguese colonialism in these regions, have a closer connexion to contemporary European Portuguese). These differences are comparable to those between American and British English. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from those of its Spanish-speaking neighbors. In 1990, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which included representatives from all countries with Portuguese as the official language, reached anagreement on the reform of the Portuguese orthography to unify the two standards then in use by Brazil on one side and the remaining lusophone countries on the other. This spelling reform went into effect in Brazil on 1 January 2009. In Portugal, the reform was signed into law by the President on 21 July 2008 allowing for a 6-year adaptation period, during which both orthographies will co-exist. The remaining CPLP countries are free to establish their own transition timetables. Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation. One hundred and eighty Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and a significant number of other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants. In the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Nheengatu (a currently endangered South American creole language – or an 'anti-creole', according to some linguists – with mostly Indigenous Brazilian languages lexicon and Portuguese-based grammar that, together with its southern relativelíngua geral paulista, once was a major lingua franca in Brazil, being replaced by Portuguese only after governmental prohibition led by major political changes), Baniwa and Tucano languages had been granted co-official status with Portuguese. There are significant communities of German (mostly the Brazilian Hunsrückisch, a High German language dialect) and Italian (mostly the Talian, a Venetian dialect) origins in the Southern and Southeastern regions, whose ancestors' native languages were carried along to Brazil, and which, still alive there, are influenced by the Portuguese language. Talian is officially a historic patrimony of Rio Grande do Sul, and two German dialects possess co-official status in a few municipalities. Learning at least one second language (generally English and/or Spanish) is mandatory for all the 12 grades of the mandatory education system (primary and secondary education, there called ensino fundamental and ensino médio respectively). Brazil is the first country in South America to offer Esperanto to secondary students.

Location

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the French overseas department of French Guiana to the north. It shares a border with every country in South America except for Ecuador and Chile. It also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse. Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8,514,876.599 km2 (3,287,612 sq mi), including 55,455 km2 (21,411 sq mi) of water. It spans three time zones; from UTC-4 in the western states, to UTC-3 in the eastern states (and the official time of Brazil) and UTC-2 in the Atlantic islands. Brazil is the only country in the world that lies on the equator while having contiguous territory outside the tropics. Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of the terrain lies between 200 metres (660 ft) and 800 metres (2,600 ft) in elevation. The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country. The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills.The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). These ranges include the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountains and the Serra do Mar. In the north, the Guiana Highlands form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the Amazon Basin from rivers that empty into the Orinoco River system, in Venezuela, to the north. The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at 2,994 metres (9,823 ft), and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic. Major rivers include the Amazon (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the Paraná and its major tributary the Iguaçu (which includes the Iguazu Falls), the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and Tapajosrivers

Important places:

•One of Brazil’s best-preserved colonial towns, Ouro Preto, meaning “black gold”, was founded at the end of the 17th century. It quickly became the epicenter of a new gold rush in the state of Minas Gerais. The city contains well preserved Portuguese colonial architecture, while modern buildings must adhere to historical standards maintained by the city. 18th- and 19th-century churches decorated with gold and the sculptured works of Aleijadinho make Ouro Preto one of the most popular tourist attractions in Brazil. •Teatro Amazonas or Amazon Theatre is an opera house located in Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. It was built during the heyday of rubber trade using materials from all over the world, with furniture from Paris, marble from Italy, and steel from England. On the outside of the building, the dome was covered with 36,000 decorated ceramic tiles painted in the colors of the Brazilian national flag. •Fernando de Noronha is a beautiful archipelago with pristine beaches, landscapes and wildlife, situated 354 km (220 miles) off the northeastern coast in Brazil. •Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia, with an attractive colonial town, a vibrant musical scene and loads of exceptional beaches all around. •The Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland, lying mostly in Western Brazil but extending into Bolivia and Paraguay as well. •There are carnival celebrations in virtually every corner of Brazil, the best-known ones taking place in Recife together with the neighboring Olinda and Salvador. •The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world, just slightly shorter than the Nile, and the largest river by volume. •One of the great natural wonders of the world, Iguaçu Falls is situated on the border between Brazil and Argentina. •Is the famous statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro. Located at the peak of the 700 meters (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain, it provides a sweeping panorama from the interior of Guanabara bay to the north, to Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas to the south.