As a result of big sales and reduced buying, Brazil in 1915 had a trade balance in her favour of about 440,000 contos of reis (exports 1,022,634 contos and imports 582,996 contos) the equivalent of nearly $140,000,000 in United States currency. This balance appears to have largely remained abroad to help meet Brazilian indebtedness, and helped to steady exchange. This surplus of export values dropped well below 400,000 contos in 1916 and 1917, and to 148,000 in 1918, but rose to the unprecedented height of 845,000 in 1919, when the milreis soared to the rather inconvenient exchange value of 18 pence. The years 1920 and 1921 witnessed adverse balances of trade, with the milreis fallen below 8 pence, 1922 showing trade recoveries practically to pre-war values. Brazil has weathered many a storm commercially and industrially because the world needs her raw material; she has every reason for confidence in the future.
| State | Capital | Area Sq. Kilometers | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alagôas | Maceió | 58,500 | 785,000 |
| Amazonas | Manáos | 1,895,000 | 390,000 |
| Bahia | São Salvador | 427,000 | 2,500,000 |
| Ceará | Fortaleza | 104,250 | 1,000,000 |
| Federal District | Rio de Janeiro (São Sebastião) | 1,116 | 1,200,000 |
| Espirito Santo | Victoria | 45,000 | 400,000 |
| Goyaz | Goyaz | 747,000 | 300,000 |
| Maranhão | São Luiz | 460,000 | 500,000 |
| Matto Grosso | Cuyabá | 1,379,000 | 245,000 |
| Minas Geraes | Bello Horizonte | 575,000 | 4,500,000 |
| Pará | Belem | 1,150,000 | 660,000 |
| Parahyba | Parahyba | 75,000 | 600,000 |
| Paraná | Curityba | 250,000 | 500,000 |
| Pernambuco | Recife | 128,400 | 2,100,000 |
| Piauhy | Therezina | 301,800 | 425,000 |
| Rio de Janeiro | Nictheroy | 69,000 | 1,300,000 |
| Rio Grande do Norte | Natal | 57,500 | 410,000 |
| Rio Grande do Sul | Porto Alegre | 236,500 | 1,500,000 |
| Santa Catharina | Florianopolis | 43,535 | 450,000 |
| São Paulo | São Paulo | 290,876 | 3,000,000 |
| Sergipe | Aracajú | 39,090 | 450,000 |
| Acre Territory | 191,000 | 100,000 | |
The Territory of Acre was legally acquired from Bolivia by the Government of Brazil in 1903 but had been populated and the rubber reserves worked by Brazilian seringueiros for at least ten years previously. Their entry into Bolivian lands was the cause of much friction until the final settlement by the payment by Brazil of £2,000,000 for this rich area.
BRAZILIAN TERMS
Alagôano: native of Alagôas. Native of Amazonas State, amazonense. Native of Bahia, bahiano; of Ceará, cearense; of Espirito Santo, espirito-saniense; of Goyaz, goyano; of Maranhão, maranhense; of Matto Grosso, matto-grossense; of Minas Geraes, mineiro; of Pará, paraense; of Paraná, paranaense; of Piauhy, piauhyense; of Parahyba, parahybano; of Pernambuco, pernambucano; of São Paulo, paulista; of Santa Catharina, catharinense; of Rio Grande do Norte and Rio Grande do Sul, riograndense do norte, or riograndense do sul; of Sergipe, sergipano. A native of the north is a nortista; of the south, a sulista; of Brazil, in general, brasileiro.
Aviador: properly, aviator, but has special meaning on the Amazon; is applied to the dealer who supplies the seringaes with outfit and food for the season, and who purchases the rubber crop. The aviado is the customer of the aviador.
Bateia: bowl for washing out placer gold.
Borracha: any kind of rubber in Brazilian; the term goma is also sometimes used, but applied only to latex of hevea brasiliensis.
Braços: lit. “arms,” that is, labourers; hands.