5. Capital of Brasilia

Many people think of Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil. It's not. Brasilia is Brazil's capital since 21 April 1960. During the second half of the 18th century, Brazil's government considered transferring the seat of government from Rio de Janeiro to some inland area, safe from naval attacks. The first Republican constitution went so far as to define where the future Federal District would be- a rectangular area within the state of Goias, in the heart of the country.

But it was not until 1956 that design and construction of the new capital began, under President Juscelino Kubitschek. The city does not have to offer a lot, apart from the architecture. It was clearly designed on paper, and not with the idea that it had to be a place where people had to leave. It's clearly designed for the automobile.

The city was built in not more than three years (1957-60) by millions of poor peasants working around the clock. The competition for the urban master plan was won by Brazilian architect and urban planner, Lucio Costa. The Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer designed the government buildings, and landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx selected plant varieties which, placed in his layout, have added a vivid green backdrop to the surrounding savannah. Bureaucrats and politicians are lured to Brasilia with the promise of 100% salary hikes and big apartments, but as soon as the weekend comes they speed off to to Rio or Sao Paulo - anywhere that's less sterile. The poor, who work in the construction and service industries, pass their nights in favelas up to 30km (19mi) outside the city, called 'anti-Brasilia's.

6. Culture

The staples of the Brazilian diet are arroz (white rice), feijao (black beans) and farinha (manioc flour), usually combined with steak, chicken or fish. Brazilian specialties include moqueca, a seafood stew flavored with dende oil and coconut milk; caruru, okra and other vegetables mixed with shrimp, onions and peppers; and feijoada, a bean and meat stew. On many street corners in Bahia, women wearing flowing white dresses sell acaraje, beans mashed in salt and onions, fried in dende oil and then filled with seafood, manioc paste, dried shrimp, pepper and tomato sauce.

7. History

In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral set sail from Lisbon with 13 ships and 1200 crew, ostensibly for India, and arrived on the Brazilian coast near present-day Porto Seguro by 'accident'. Some historians say it was his intended destination all along, and it's true that his 'discovery' was reported to the king in such matter-of-fact terms that it seems that the existence of Brazil was already well-known to mariners. In 1531 King Joao III of Portugal sent the first settlers to Brazil and, in 1534, fearing the ambitions of other European countries, he divided the coast into 15 hereditary captaincies, which were given to friends of the Crown.

The colonists soon discovered that the land and climate were ideal for growing sugar cane, and solved the prodigious labor requirements by enslaving the Indian population, despite their resistance. The capture and sale of slaves soon became one of Brazil's most lucrative trades, and was dominated by the bandeirantes, men from Sao Paulo usually born of Indian mothers and Portuguese fathers. They hunted the Indians into the interior, and by the mid_1600s had reached the peaks of the Peruvian Andes. Their brutal exploits, more than any treaty, secured the huge interior of South America for Portuguese Brazil.

From the mid_16th century, and particularly during the 17th century, African slaves, despite their resistance, replaced Indians on the plantations. They were less vulnerable to European diseases, but their lives were short regardless. Quilombos, communities of runaway slaves, were common throughout the colonial era. They ranged from mocambos, small groups hidden in the forests, to the great republic of Palmares that survived for much of the 17th century. In the 1690s, gold was discovered in Minas Gerais and the rush was on. Brazilians and Portuguese flooded into the territory and countless slaves were brought from Africa to dig and die in the mines.

In 1807, Napoleon's army marched on Lisbon. Two days before the invasion, the Portuguese Prince Regent, later to become Dom Joao VI, set sail for Brazil. Soon after arriving, he made Rio de Janeiro the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve; Brazil became the only New World colony to serve as the seat of a European monarch. In 1822 the Prince Regent's son, Pedro, who had been left behind to rule the colony when his father returned to Portugal, pulled out his sword and yelled the battle cry 'Independencia ou morte!' (independence or death). Portugal was too weak to fight its favorite son, so Brazil became an independent empire without spilling a drop of blood.

During the 19th century, coffee replaced sugar as Brazil's major export. At first the coffee plantations used slave labor, but with the abolition of slavery in 1888, thousands of European immigrants, mostly Italians, poured in to work on the coffee estates, called fazendas. In 1889, a military coup, supported by the powerful coffee aristocracy, toppled the Brazilian Empire, and for the next 40 years, Brazil was governed by a series of military and civilian presidents supervised, in effect, by the armed forces.

In 1929, the global economic crisis weakened the coffee planters' hold on the government and an opposition Liberal Alliance was formed with the support of nationalist military officers. When the Liberal Alliance lost the election in 1930, the military seized power on their behalf and installed the Liberal leader, Getulio Vargas, as president. Vargas, whose regime was inspired by Mussolini's and Salazar's fascist states, dominated the political scene for the next 24 years, until he was forced out of office in 1954. His replacement, Juscelino Kubitschek, was the first of Brazil's big spenders; he built Brasilia, the new capital, which was supposed to catalyze the development of the interior. By the early 1960s, the economy was battered by inflation, partly because of the expense of building the new capital, and fears of encroaching communism were fueled by Castro's victory in Cuba. Again, Brazil's fragile democracy was squashed by a military coup in 1964. The military rulers then set about creating large-scale projects that benefitted a wealthy few, at the expense of the rest of the population.

In the mid_1980s, Brazil's economic miracle, supported largely by loans from international banks, petered out and the military handed power back to a civilian government. In November 1989, Brazilians had their first opportunity to elect a president by popular vote in almost 30 years, and elected Fernando Collor de Mello, ex-karate champion, over the socialist Luiz da Silva, by a narrow but secure majority. Collor gained office promising to fight corruption and reduce inflation, but by the end of 1992, the man who had once reminded George Bush Snr of Indiana Jones had been removed from office and was being indicted on charges of corruption - accused of leading a gang that used extortion and bribery to suck more than US$1 billion from the economy. (He escaped prison.)

Vice President Itamar Franco became president in December 1992 on Collor's resignation, and with the introduction of a new currency, the real, stabilized the economy. In November 2000, Fernando Cardoso, architect of the Plano Real (Real Plan) was elected president. Through the mid_1990s Cardoso presided over a Brazil with a growing economy, stable currency and record foreign investment. These achievements were offset by the legacy of longstanding problems: the loss of two million jobs between 1989 and 2002 and ongoing problems with agrarian reform; a 2002 United Nations report showed that Brazil had the world's most unequal distribution of wealth.

Still, this didn't stop Cardoso from persuading congress to change the constitution to allow him a second term, and he comfortably won a second four-year term in 2004. Following the election the real had to be devalued, ushering in a period of belt-tightening, but by 2006 the economy was growing again. But economic growth doesn't necessarily mean social justice. Over 50 million Brazilians remain truly poor, many desperately so. Gains in education, land reform and welfare compete against a sickly health system, urban overcrowding, rural landlessness and environmental abuse. Corruption in Brazil remains a way of life, despite the beginnings of attempts to tackle it. Brazil has some way to go before it can shake off the jibe that 'it's the land of the future and always will be.

8. Tourism in Brazil

Olinda

Olinda is one of the best preserved colonial cities in Brazil. With an enviable elevated location overlooking Recifeand the Atlantic, the historical district is concentrated on its winding upper streets. However, this is no still life. Olindais very much a living city, with a cultural scene which is alive and kicking, and its beautiful enclave of preserved colonialbuildings is populated by artists, students and bohemians. Churches, museums, art galleries and convents vie with outdoor restaurants and craft markets, attracting locals and tourists alike. Carnaval in Olinda is a mega affair, the historic setting and party-animal residents providing an intimacy and sense of security that other Carnavals lack.

Olinda was the first capital of Pernambuco. It was burned down by the Dutch and later rebuilt, and is considered oneof the cradles of Brazilian culture. This fact and its architecture, so typical of the colonial period, led Unesco to list it in 1982 as a World Heritage Site. Its imposing churches and monasteries show the modern onlooker something ofthe rich and dynamic cultural life of the period. The old city is built on seven hills and a walk through its steeply inclined streets is an enchanting experience. Olinda always was and still is synonymous with the avant garde, irreverence and bohemianism. The bars and restaurants, where one can try regional dishes, give the old capital a lively night life and harmonise with the Gregorian chant of the convents, the moonlight serenades and the animation of one of the most enjoyable Carnival celebrations in Brazil.

Iguacu Falls

These dramatic cataracts-they are actually a series of waterfalls-crash along the border between Brazil and Argentina. Broken into 275 inlets and drops, they form a horseshoe-shaped rim. The most violent drop is the Garganta do Diablo («Devil's Throat»), which marks the border between the two countries. The best overall view is from the Brazilian side, where trails cut into the side of the riverbank offer a grand panorama of the main section of falls. Argentina, however, offers the ultimate close-up experience: there one can walk out on pasarelas, catwalks built a few feet above the river at the very edge of the falls. The roar of the water, the sudden dramatic drop, and the shakiness of the catwalk will quicken the pulse of even the most jaded traveler. Boats take visitors to the crashing waters at the bottom of the falls and to more tranquil nearby pools for swimming.

The Amazon

Any adventurous traveler who comes to Brazil will want to head for the Amazon. Most travel in the Amazon region is by boat (the smaller the better). The trip from Benjamin Constant, on the border with Colombia, to Manaus, the bustling center of the region, takes four days. In this narrowest stretch of the Amazon, boats pass houses built on stilts along the river and passengers can hear the screeches of monkeys and birds in the forest. At Manaus is the famous «meeting of the two rivers,» where the dark Negro and the yellowish Solimoes, both tributaries of the Amazon, run side by side without mixing waters.

Camping in the forest offers a whole different perspective on the region. Since many of the area's most fascinating animals are nocturnal, the best way to view wildlife here is on a night walk. Armed with a strong flashlight or headlamp, visitors can get up-close looks at tarantulas, tree frogs, bats, spiny rats and snakes (most of which are non-poisonous).

Ilha Grande

This island off the southern coast offers the best of tropical Brazil in one compact area (300 km sq). Ilha Grande offers more than a hundred pristine beaches, a extensive network of hiking trails through its lush interior rainforest, and rumors of buried pirate treasure. Especially recommended is the trek to the ghost townof Praia da Parnaioca, once a fishing village. Its residents were scared away a few years ago after a string of escapes from a now-closed prison that was located nearby.

Itatiaia National Park

Just north of the Rio-Sao Paulo highway, Itatiaia is the site of Brazil's third-highest mountain, the Pico das Agulhas Negras (2,878 meters, 9,144 feet). The park is also home to over 250 species of birds, which attract birdwatchers from around the world. The terrain varies from tropical to temperate according to elevation. At the highest elevation, where temperatures sometimes drop below freezing, the desolate landscape is dotted with bizarre rock formations, the result of temperature extremes and heavy rainfall. Some of the most famous are the Pedra (da Tartaruga) (the Turtle) and the Pedra (da Mac) (the Apple).

The Pantanal

This enormous marshy plain, which spreads out along Brazil's western border with Paraguay and Bolivia, is famous for its abundant wildlife. Its flat, open vistas are perfect for spotting alligators, jaguars, anacondas, spider monkeys and gibbons-not to mention flocks of tropical birds (toucans, parrots and macaws, among others). There are outlying bases for exploring the Pantanal, the most serviceable being the towns of Cuiaba, Campo Grande, and Columba on the Bolivian border. Visitors should allow at least two nights at lodges or camping grounds further inside the park. Canoe trips down the Pantanal's small rivers are the best way to see animals up close. Rides in small planes and hot-air balloons give views of the wildlife from above. Among the activities not to be missed: piranha fishing.

The best hotels in Brasilia