Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" / Volume 4, Slice 4

by Various

Population.—The first explorers of Brazil reported a numerous Indian population, but, as the sea-coast afforded a larger and more easily acquired food supply than did the interior, the Indian population was probably numerous only in a comparatively small part of this immense territory, along the sea-coast. Modern explorations have shown that the unsettled inland regions of Brazil are populated by Indians only where the conditions are favourable. They are to be found in wooded districts near rivers, and are rarely found on the elevated campos. The immediate result of European colonization was the enslavement and extermination of the Indians along the coast and in all those favoured inland localities where the whites came into contact with them. The southern districts and the Amazon and its tributaries were often raided by slave-hunting expeditions, and their Indian populations were either decimated, or driven farther into the inaccessible forests. But there is no record that the inland districts of western and north-western Brazil were treated in this manner, and their present population may be assumed to represent approximately what it was when the Europeans first came. According to the census of 1890 the Indian population was 1,295,796, but so far as the migratory tribes are concerned the figures are only guesswork. A considerable number of these Indians have been gathered together in aldeas under the charge of government tutors, but the larger part still live in their own villages or as nomads.

Down to the beginning of the 19th century the white colonists were almost exclusively Portuguese. The immigration from countries other than Portugal during the first half of that century was small, but before its close it increased rapidly, particularly from Italy. Fully nine-tenths of these immigrants, including those from the mother country, were of the Latin race. The introduction of African slaves followed closely upon the development of agricultural industries, and continued nominally until 1850, actually until 1854, and according to some authors until 1860. About 1826 it was estimated that the negro population numbered 2,500,000 or three times the white population of that period. The unrestricted intermixture of these three races forms the principal basis of the Brazilian population at the beginning of the 20th century. Brazil has never had a “colour line,” and there has never been any popular prejudice against race mixtures. According to the census of 1872 the total population was 9,930,478, of which 1,510,806 were slaves; the race enumeration gave 3,787,289 whites, 1,959,452 Africans, 386,955 Indians, and 3,801,782 mixed bloods. The Indian population certainly exceeded the total given, and the white population must have included many of mixed blood, the habit of so describing themselves being common among the better classes of South American mestizos. The census of 1890 increased the total population to 14,333,915, which, according to an unofficial analysis (Statesman’s Year Book, 1905), was made up of 6,302,198 whites, 4,638,495 mixed bloods, 2,097,426 Africans, and 1,295,796 Indians. This analysis, if correct, indicates that the vegetative increase of the whites has been greater than that of the Africans and mixed races. This is not the conclusion of many observers, but it may be due to the excessive infant mortality among the lower classes, where an observance of the simplest sanitary laws is practically unknown. The census of the 31st of December 1900 was strikingly defective; it was wholly discarded for the city of Rio de Janeiro, and had to be completed by office computations in the returns from several states. The compilation of the returns was not completed and published until May 1908, according to which the total population was 17,318,556, of which 8,825,636 were males and 8,492,920 females. Not including the city of Rio de Janeiro, whose population was estimated at 691,565 in conformity with a special municipal census of 1906, the total population was 16,626,991, of which 15,572,671 were Roman Catholics, 177,727 Protestants, 876,593 of other faiths. The returns also show a total of 3,038,500 domiciles outside the federal capital, which gives an average of 5.472 to the domicile. These returns will serve to correct the exaggerated estimate of 22,315,000 for 1900 which was published in Brazil and accepted by many foreign publications.

The racial character of the people is not uniform throughout the republic, the whites predominating in the southern states, the Indians in Amazonas and, probably, Matto Grosso, and the mixed races in the central and northern coast states. The excess of whites over the coloured races in the southern states is due to their smaller slave population and to the large number of immigrants attracted to them. Slavery was not abolished until the 13th of May 1888, but a number of successful colonies had already been founded in these states. Other colonies were founded in Bahia, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro during the same period, but they were unsuccessful, partly because of the competition of slave labour. Since the abolition of slavery immigration has poured a large number of labourers into the coffee-producing states, and with beneficial results. This strengthening of the white population of the South with fresh European blood must eventually divide Brazil into two distinct sections: the white states of the south, and the mixed or coloured states of the north. The introduction of European immigrants dates from 1818 when a Swiss colony was located at Nova Friburgo, near Rio de Janeiro, and it was continued under the direction and with the aid of the imperial government down to the creation of the republic. Since then the state governments have assumed charge of immigration, and some of them are spending large sums in the acquisition of labourers. The old system of locating immigrants in colonies, or colonial nuclei, which involved an enormous outlay of money with but slight benefit to the country, has been superseded by a system of locating the immigrants on the large plantations under formal contracts. In some of the coffee districts these contracts have resulted very profitably to the Italian labourers. The total number of colonists and immigrants entering Brazil between 1804 and 1902, inclusive, according to official returns, was 2,208,353. The arrivals fluctuate greatly in number from year to year, influenced by the prevailing economic conditions in the country. At first the Portuguese outnumbered all other nationalities in the immigration returns, but since the abolition of slavery the Italians have passed all competitors and number more than one-half the total arrivals. Of the 700,211 immigrants located in the state of São Paulo from 1827 to the end of 1896, no less than 493,535 were Italians, and their aggregate throughout the republic was estimated in 1906 at more than 1,100,000. The German immigration, of which so much has been written for political ends, has been greatly over-estimated; trustworthy estimates in 1906 made the German contingent in the population vary from 350,000 to 500,000. They are settled chiefly in colonies in the southern states, and form a most desirable body of settlers.

Divisions and Towns.—The republic is divided into twenty states and one federal district, which are the same as the provinces and “municipio neutro” of the empire. Their names also remain unchanged, except that of the federalized district in which the national capital is located, which is called the “districto federal.” The republic has no territories, although Amazonas, Matto Grosso, Pará and Goyaz cover an immense region of uninhabited and only partially explored territory. The states are subdivided into comarcas, or judicial districts, and into municipios, or townships, which is the smallest autonomous division. The constitution provides for the autonomy of the municipalities in order to safeguard the permanence of representative institutions. The parochia, or parish, an ecclesiastical division, is often used for administrative purposes, but it has no political organization. The names, areas, and populations of the states, together with the names and populations of their capitals, are as follows:—

States.	Area,[1] Sq. miles.	Population[2]		State Capitals.	Population,[3] Census 1890.
		Census 1890.	Census 1900.
Alagôas	22,584	511,440	649,273	Maceió	31,498
Amazonas	742,123	147,915	249,756	Manáos	38,720
Bahia	164,650	1,919,802	2,117,956	São Salvador[4]	174,412
Ceará	40,253	805,687	849,127	Fortaleza	40,902
Espirito Santo	17,313	135,997	209,783	Victoria	16,887
Federal District	538	522,651	691,565	Rio de Janeiro	522,651
Goyaz	288,549	227,572	255,284	Goyaz[4]	17,181
Maranhão	177,569	430,854	499,308	S. Luiz do Maranhão[4]	29,308
Matto Grosso	532,370	92,827	118,025	Cuyabá	17,815
Minas Geraes	221,961	3,184,099	3,594,471	Ouro Preto[5]	59,249
Pará	443,922	328,455	445,356	Belem[4]	50,064
Parahyba	28,855	457,232	490,784	Parahyba	18,645
Paraná	85,455	249,491	327,136	Curityba	24,553
Pernambuco	49,575	1,030,224	1,178,150	Recife[4]	111,556
Piauhy	116,529	267,609	334,328	Therezina	31,523
Rio de Janeiro	26,635	276,884|	274,317	Nictheroy	34,269
Rio Grande do Norte	22,196	268,273	1,149,070	Natal	13,725
Rio Grande do Sul	91,337	897,455	926,035	Porto Alegre	52,421
Santa Catharina	28,633	283,769	320,289	Desterro[6]	30,637
São Paulo	112,312	1,384,753	2,282,279	São Paulo	64,934
Sergipe	15,093	310,926	356,264	Ararajú	16,336
Brazil	3,228,452	14,333,915	17,318,556

Communications.—Railway construction in Brazil dates from 1852, when work was initiated on the Mauá railway running from the head of the bay of Rio de Janeiro to the foot of the Serra where Petropolis is situated. The road is 10 m. long, and its first section was opened to traffic on April 30, 1854, and its second December 16, 1856. The mountain section, 5½ m. long, which uses the Riggenbach system from the terminal to Petropolis, was constructed between 1881 and 1883. The development of railway construction in Brazil has been impeded to a great extent by two unfavourable conditions—by the chain of mountains or plateau escarpments which follow the coast line and obstruct communication with the interior, and by the detached positions of the settlements along the Atlantic, which compel the building of lines from many widely separated points on the coast into a sparsely populated hinterland. A majority of the ports, from which these roads are built, are small and difficult of access, and the coasting trade is restricted to vessels carrying the Brazilian flag. The only ports having a rich and well-populated country behind them are Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and these are the terminals of long lines of railway which are being slowly extended farther into the interior.

The total mileage under traffic at the beginning of 1905 was 10,600 m., divided into 94 separate lines. There were also 745 m. under construction, 1740 m. under survey, and about 1600 m. projected. Of the 94 lines under traffic, 45 were operating by virtue of national and 49 by provincial and state concessions. They were grouped in the official reports of 1905 as follows:—

Government lines (21):—	Miles.
Administered by the state (6)	2228
Leased to private parties (15)	2174
	——	4402
Private lines (24)—
With national interest guarantees (12)	1290
Without such guarantees (12)	815
	——	2105
Private and state lines operated by virtue of state
concessions, with and without interest guarantees (49)		4093
		———
		10,600
		======

The policy of the national government has been gradually to lease all its lines except the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brazil, which is retained for sentimental reasons. This great railway runs from the city of Rio de Janeiro westward to the city of São Paulo and northward into the interior of Minas Geraes, with a total length at the beginning of 1905 of 1002 m., and an extension of about 104 m. to Pirapora, on the São Francisco river. It was formerly known as the “E. de F. Dom Pedro II.,” in honour of the sovereign who encouraged its construction. The main line has a gauge of 63 in. (1.60 m.) and affords an outlet for a number of inland metre-gauge lines. The first two sections of this great railway, which carry it across the coast range, were opened to traffic in 1858 and 1864. The series of trunk lines terminating at the port of Santos are owned by private companies and are formed by the São Paulo, Paulista and Mogyana lines, the first owned by an English company, and the other two by Brazilian companies. The Mogyana carries the system entirely across the state of São Paulo into the western districts of Minas Geraes. The principal trunk lines (the São Paulo and Paulista) have a broad gauge, while their extensions and feeders have a narrow gauge. The comparatively short lines extending inland from the ports of São Salvador (Bahia), Pernambuco, Maceió, Victoria and Paranaguá serve only a narrow zone along the coast. To encourage the investment of private capital in the construction of railways, the general railway law of 1853 authorized the national government to grant guarantees of interest on the capital invested. Under this law companies were organized in England for building the São Paulo railway, and the lines running from Bahia and Pernambuco toward the São Francisco river. Political considerations also led to the construction of similar lines in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Parahyba, Alagôas, Sergipe, Espirito Santo, Paraná, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul. The result was that the national treasury became burdened with a heavy annual interest charge, payable abroad in gold, which did not tend to diminish, and had a long period to run before the expiration of the contracts. The government finally determined to take over these guaranteed lines from the foreign companies owning them, and a statement issued in October 1902 showed that 1335 m. had been acquired at a cost of £14,605,000 in bonds, the interest on which is £584,200 a year against an aggregate of £831,750 in interest guarantees which the government had been paying. In addition to this economy it was calculated that the lines could be leased for £132,000 a year. The loan finally issued in London to cover the purchase of these railways aggregated £16,619,320. All but three of these lines had been leased in 1905.

The use of tramways for the transportation of passengers in cities dates from 1868, when the first section of the Botanical Garden line of Rio de Janeiro was opened to traffic. The line was completed with its surplus earnings and continued under the control of the American company which built it until 1882, when it was sold to a Brazilian company. Subsequently the tramways of the city have been mostly concentrated in the hands of a single Canadian company. All the large cities of Brazil are liberally provided with tramways, those of the city of São Paulo, where electric traction is used, being noticeably good. The substitution of electricity for animal traction was begun in São Salvador in 1906. Mules are universally employed for animal traction, and narrow gauge lines with single-mule trams are generally used where the traffic is light.