Friends in Brazil

Jones Freire Dias, 11, sent to the Friend a lovely scrapbook he had made about his country, Brazil. The scrapbook shows Brazil is the largest South American country in both area and population. It covers almost half of South America and is almost as long from north to south as it is wide from east to west.

Included in the scrapbook are maps about the different regions of Brazil—the Amazon Region, the Northeast Region, and the Central and Southern Plateau Region. Pictures of important buildings and places in each region are in this interesting scrapbook, and there are also illustrations of people and events.

The Amazon River flows through the northern and western half of Brazil. The Amazon has more water and drains more land than any other river in the world. Most of the people who live in this area are Indians.

Almost a third of the people in Brazil live in the Northeast Region. Most of these people farm.

Iguaçu Falls, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, is over two miles wide and is most beautiful. Its waters plunge down 237 feet, which is 70 feet farther than the waters of Niagara Falls on the border of the United States and Canada.

Typical fruits grown in Brazil are grapes and oranges. Typical foods are feijoada (black beans served over rice with several kinds of meat) and churrasco (meat cooked like barbecue over a fire).

All the children pictured on these pages live in various parts of Brazil, and some have drawings and verses in this magazine.