Brazil consists of five major regions, based on physical features. The Guiana Highlands are full of forestland and mountains. The Amazon Basin is a large area that is home to the Amazon River and its tributaries, its solid land is mostly sloping hills. The Pantanal is a large marshy are that is mostly inhabitable. The Brazilian highlands make up over half of the countries landmass and have steep cliffs, plateaus, ravines, and hills. The costal lowlands are made of swamps, lagoons, dunes, and sandy beaches, which are home to the former Capital city of Rio de Janeiro. As the largest country on the continent, it borders every country except for Chile and Ecuador. The majority of its population is concentrated in the costal lowland and the Brazilian Highlands that are home to the current Capital city of Brasilia. Brazil has a climate that is mostly tropical and sub-tropical. The weather is usually warm and humid all year with a lot of rainfall; however, there are areas as far west as the Pantanal that can receive snow and cold temperatures during …show more content…
Despite their position as a growing economic power in South America, Brazil has one of the highest levels of wealth inequality in the world due to a largely land owning based wealth system. While many in government push for land redistribution, the landowners claim state appropriation and use excessive force and intimidation to ensure the status quo remains unchanged.
This creates an environment where most citizens fall into one of two categories, landowners and farm workers. The greatest source of employment relates to the exportation of sugarcane and ethanol made from sugarcane. The emancipation of manumission in 1888 led to the abolishment of slavery and indentured servitude; however, wages for field labor remain