Learn more about the background and habits of the country and people you want to do business with
The country
During the history of the Country, Brazil has been a Colony, an Empire, a Republic and has been under the Military rule. Today it is a politically stable democratic nation, with historically friendly relations with all western countries.
Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world, in terms of area (about 8,547,404 square kilometers), about half of the South American territory, as well as population (just over 190 million people). It is the 15th largest world economy. And Brazil is without a doubt the most dominant South American country.
Sao Paulo is a modern business center and the business capital of South America. Most of the industry and commerce is centered in Sao Paulo and the South of Brazil. Other important business centers are: Rio de Janeiro, important in the services sector and where most Brazilian (state and private) companies have their headquarters; Belo Horizonte, the capital of the biggest mining state (Minas Gerais) and is an important industrial center; and Brasilia, the Federal district, where the government seat.
The people
The people of Brazil are open, kind and tolerant. They receive foreigners with open arms. They are genuinely interested to learn about the background of the ‘newcomer’ and about life, the customs and culture of the country that the person is coming from. A reason for this is the diverse heritage and roots of the Brazilian people. As a result of this, most people feel a strong desire to travel and to explore the world but many haven’t had the financial conditions to do so.
Another strong point is the following: The diversity of races living together created a certain natural tolerance and respect for the individual. Until today, religion is widely and actively practiced and in the country in many different varieties. But religion never has stood between people, and never has been an issue or even point of discussion in friendships between people of different beliefs. It is a unique place in the world, a stable democracy where the vast variety of religions never has caused conflicts.
The language - Brazilian Portuguese
The Portuguese language spoken in Brazil is different from Portugal. The difference can be found in all kids of levels, from grammatical to different expressions and words with completely different meanings. Here is just one of many, many examples: The word “fresca” means fresh is Brazil, while in Portuguese it means “cold”. To the question; “Is this food freshly made” you can expect the following answer: “No, be careful, it is hot!”. The differences can easily lead to confusion among foreigners.
Within Brazil, the pronunciation differs from region to region and from city to city. In some areas the differences are so big, that the language spoken can be considered a dialect. The historical, colonial, background of the area has a big influence on this. There is quite some rivalry between the big cities in Brazil. Besides soccer, an important reason for this is the language. In general, the pronunciation of the Carioca’s (people from Rio de Janeiro) is the least appreciated in the rest of the country. It comes closest to the pronunciation of the people from Portugal, who founded the city. Sao Paulo is mostly founded by Italian ancestors and has a more neutral pronunciation.
Brazil is the only country in Latin America that is not Hispanic. As the Portuguese language is quite different from Spanish it is easy to meet people who do not speak it, or do not like to speak it. In case you want to speak in Spanish it is better to ask if you may speak it, before.
Nowadays people are more aware of the importance of speaking other languages, mostly English. Although the language programs in the country is focused on American English, many people like and prefer British English. The English taught in Brazil is not of a very high level. Outside the two biggest cities there are not a lot of ‘native’ English teachers. Most (private) English teachers in Brazil have learned the language from a ‘non-native’ teacher and have not been abroad. And for people who have a level in English it is very hard to practice it, while they don’t have people in their circle of friends and family to have a conversation with. Until today almost all foreign programs on TV are synchronized.
Religion
The Brazilian people are religious people. About 75% of the population is Roman Catholic, or practice a related form of the Catholic religion. Other main religions are: Protestant 15% and Spiritualist 2%. Like in many other regions of the world, practicing religion is mostly popular with the lower educated part of the population, while higher educated people tend to need less religious guidance in their life. You can find churches on every corner of the street in Brazil, many of them are housed in very small garage-box-like buildings. It seems to be a good business for religious people to start their own church, an easy way to make money.
As you can read in "The People"-part on this page, religion is no barrier in friendships.
