Basics Population: 175 million Area: 8,547,403 sq km Currency: Real Capital city: Brasilia History We don't know a lot about the Indians who originally lived in Brazil because they didn't leave much evidence. Maybe they had something to hide. In 1500, 13 ships left Portugal for India and instead landed in Brazil. It is said that they discovered Brazil although about 6 million Brazilian Indians actually beat them to it. Portuguese people started to settle in Brazil and grow sugar cane, using the Indians as slaves to do all the hard work. In the 16th and 17th centuries African slaves were shipped in to replace the Indian ones who were inconsiderately dying of overwork. Some slaves managed to escape and set up their own communities in the forests. When gold was discovered even more slaves were shipped in to mine it. In 1822 Brazil became independent. Farmers and slaves started to switch to growing coffee rather than sugar. When slavery was banned, thousands of European immigrants were brought in to work on the farms. Brazil today is still the most unequal country in the world. Over 50 million Brazilians live in poverty. But things are set to change. In 2002 Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was elected to be the first left-wing president for over 40 years.