Brasil

Introduction: A little about Brazil and Fortaleza, my hometown.

Fortaleza: Personal photos of my hometown.

Links: Selected links about Brazil and Brazilian music.

 

 

Introduction

 

Brazil is known for many things, most notably for soccer, coffee, samba, Bossa Nova and Carnaval. What a lot of people do not know is that Portuguese is its official language (not Spanish), and that the country land area is larger than the 48 U.S. contiguous states (8,547,404 sq km or 3,300,171 sq mi) with a population of over 160 million people. The capital city is Brasília. Oh, we spell the country name with an "S."

  Brazil map

I grew up on the northeast coast of Brazil in Fortaleza, state of Ceará. The city is a thriving metropolis of nearly two million people - the fifth largest city in Brazil.

Azorean explorer Pero Coelho de Souza was the first colonizer to reach Ceará. In 1603, by the river Siriá, he founded the fortress of São Thiago. However, the 1606 draught prevented the city from developing. Then, in 1612, Martins Soares Moreno came back and built the fortress of São Sebastião (St. Sebastian) on the same location of the previous fortress. Although Moreno is considered the conqueror of Ceará, Dutchman Mathias Beck is indeed the founder of Fortaleza. Beck built the fortress of Shoonenborch in 1654. That same year, Shoonenborch was renamed Forte de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Fortress of Our Lady of Assumption). In 1712, it was elevated to the category of Vila de Nossa Senhora de Assunção. The village that grew around that fortress gave birth to the city of Fortaleza de Pequena Bragança, or simply Fortaleza, by a Royal Decree in 1725.

The state's nickname of Terra da Luz (Land of Light) was given to Ceará because it was the first state to abolish slavery in Brazil on March 25, 1884. The rest of the country would follow Ceará's lead on May 13, 1888.

     
 
rainbow line

 

 

Fortaleza

 
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Fortaleza is well known for its handicraft, beaches and seafood. Tourism is a strong business, especially during the month of July, when Fortal (a Carnaval-like celebration) hits the streets of Fortaleza for 4 days. Below you will see some photos I have taken of Fortaleza as well as some postcard shots. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

 

 
Iracema beach
Iracema beach and pier
Iracema beach
Iracema beach
Náutico beach
Náutico beach
Cumbuco beach
Cumbuco beach
Estoril boardwalk
Estoril boardwalk
Fortaleza at night
Fortaleza at night
Centro Cultural Dragão do Mar
Centro Cultural Dragão do Mar
Cumbuco beach
Cumbuco beach
Shoreline highrises
Shoreline highrises
Náutico beach
Náutico beach
Lagoinha beach
Lagoinha beach
Morro Branco beach
Morro Branco beach
       
 
rainbow line

 

 

Links

 
Here are some links about Brazil and Brazilian music. You can virtually take a trip in Brazil by visiting some of these sites.

Brazil

The Institute of Latin American Studies at The University of Texas has gathered a long list of resources, including academic topics, discussion groups, economics and finance, news media, science and technology, travel and tourism, and more.

Brazilian Music Links

List of artists' home pages (official and non-official) and other Brazilian music related sites.

Ceará Turismo

Just about everything related to tourism in Ceará.
 
A wonderful resource for those planning to visit my hometown, Fortaleza. Author Philip Blazdell describes Fortaleza and surrounding areas in vivid detail -- and often with superb humor!

Meu Brasil

Sergio Koreisha has assembled a great site with information on news and weather, economic and business development, culture, history, sports,references, and social issues among other topics.
 

MúsicaBrasileira.org

Brazilian music reviews and interviews.

Niedja's Bookmarks

Niedja Fedrigo's site is also well organized by categories: from Anthropology to Work. She manages to keep her links updated often.
 

A guide with various links about history, people, food, arts & culture, government, etc.

Viva Brazil

Walter Morales's Brazil site is awesome. Not only is it comprehensive, but it is also very well designed.

Yahoo Brazil

What to expect from a Yahoo site? Here are Yahoo links on Brazil.
 
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REVISED OCtober 7, 2010
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