Fascinating Facts to Know about Brazil – The Land of Brazilwood Trade

The largest country in South America, Brazil also boasts of being the fifth largest nation in the world by both population and geographical area. It has a long coastline on its eastern side that runs for over 7,400 kilometres along the Atlantic Ocean. Sharing a border with every South American country, except Ecuador and Chile, Brazil is a gigantic country covering almost half of the South American continent.

An average number of 6.4 million tourists visit this Portuguese speaking country each year. From 2010 to 2018, the country experienced an upward trend in the number of its foreign arrivals. Tourism is the key to the economic growth of several regions in Brazil. The country offers ample opportunities to go exploring in its stunningly beautiful landscapes for its visitors. Many tourists in the country seek accommodation offered by popular owners and operators of major hotel chains such as the famous Minor Hotels.

It has been recorded that several Nazis have fled to Brazil after the end of the Second World War and hid among the German-Brazillian communities of the country, including Joseph Mengele, also known as the "Angel of Death." He was notorious for his cruel and inhumane experiments performed on twins, always carried on without anaesthesia.

Brazil is hailed as the world's largest exporter of coffee, a position held by the country for well over 150 years. Coffee is mainly grown in the Southeastern states of the country, including Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Paraná, which provide ideal climate and environment for coffee plantations. Coffee was first introduced to Brazil in the 18th century, and the country became the supreme producer of coffee in the world by the early 19th century.

The statue of Christ the Redeemer is a colossal statue of Jesus Christ that is perched on an eight-metre high pedestal on Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro. The statue was completed in 1931 and it towers from a height of 38 metres, including the height of the pedestal, over Brazil's principal port city. The outstretched arms of the statue span for a length of 28 metres. This statue was the result of a collaboration between Paul Landowski, a French sculptor, Gheorghe Leonida, a Romanian sculptor, Heitor da Silva Costa, a Brazilian engineer, and Albert Caquot, a French engineer.

The scenic country of Brazil boasts of 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Out of them, the best-known attraction is the Iguacu National Park, which nestles some of the largest and the most breathtaking waterfalls in the world.