Brazil papayas. The industry – from automobiles, steel and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft and consumer durables – accounted for 30.8% of the gross domestic product. Industry is highly concentrated in metropolitan São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte. Brazil has become the fourth largest car market in the world. Major export products include aircraft, electrical equipment, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, footwear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange juice, soybeans and corned beef. In total, Brazil ranks 23rd worldwide in value of exports. Brazil pegged its currency, the real, to the U.S. dollar in 1994. However, after the East Asian
History of Brazil History of Brazil The history of Brazil starts with indigenous people in Brazil. Europeans arrived in Brazil at the opening of the 16th century. The first European to colonize what is now the Federation Republic of Brazil on the continent of South America was Pedro Álvares Cabral (c.1467/1468-c.1520) on April 22, 1500 under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Portugal. From the 16th to the early 19th century, Brazil was a colony and a part of the Portuguese Empire. The country expanded south along the coast and west along the Amazon and other inland rivers from the original 15 donatary