Primeiro, uma História

First things first, let's establish the fact that even spelled "Brasil," it is still pronounced "Brazil." The subtleties of Portuguese - Brazil's official language - can be extremely confounding, especially when one has a rudimentary (or even advanced) knowledge of Spanish. To pronounce it correctly, roll the R, saying, Brah-zeeu.

The only South American nation to speak Portuguese, "Brasil,"(practice the pronunciation!) stands alone amidst its Latin neighbors, and not just because of its language. In 2011, Brazil now has the world's seventh largest economy, the only one of the top ten nations on the list from the southern hemisphere. And is it any coincidence that it is that way with the only nation in the west descended from Portugal? Considering Portugal's problems, probably. We can go into that another time. For now, allow me to enlighten you with some brief history of Brazil's origins.

Pedro Álvarez Cabral(pronounced, Peh - well, let's just not go there), led his armada of ships to the western hemisphere in 1500, landing in what is now Porto Seguro, north of Rio, and south of Recife.

We will remember from our old history classes, the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, where the Earth was divided and given to the Portuguese and the Spanish. The Portuguese thought they would win with their monopoly on Africa, but they did receive a small portion of eastern South America in the deal.

I don't know how well you can see, but the solid purple line is the divider of the world in this treaty. Interesting no? The whole world was divided between two nations! They came together and said, we get this half, you get that half, "tá bom?" (Portuguese for 'okay?')

From the unique treaty, the world wound up with Portuguese slave trade coming from Africa through the 1800's, and Spanish domination of the western globe until they ran into their own problems.

Now, perhaps you wonder what "Brasil" means in Portuguese. Perhaps it is someone's name? America is someone's name after all. But no; I will lay this mystery out before you all. In fact, a tree was named, the "Pau-brasil," from which they could get red-tinted liquid for paint. "Brasa" (brah-za) is the Portuguese word for "ember," and so, "Brasil" could mean something to the effect of "a quantity of embers." I don't have a better translation, maybe you do? Post a comment if so. So the great nation of Brazil was named for their tree of embers. A pretty decent name origin if you ask me. I would be interested in such a tree!

Brazil declared its independence from Portugal in 1824, although it basically remained a monarchy. It wasn't until the 1900's that Brazil had evolved itself into the República Federative do Brasil. Now, this Federative Republic of Brazil stands strong among its neighbors. And when taken from its neighbors, it stands strong among the strongest in the world.

Will Brazil become the the country of the future, o país do futuro as they say? Would it be such a bad thing? I hope to examine more of Brazil's history and follow its future with you in the coming years. Perhaps Portuguese will soon take Spanish's spot as the most learned foreign language in our schools. I might approve of that.