Southeast Region (Brasil)

How is the land laid out?

Most of the Southeast¹ Region² of Brasil³ is on the Central Highlands. A narrow and intermittent coastal plain covers the balance, widening only in northern Espírito Santo.⁴ The highlands include two systems roughly parallel to the coast. Near and sometimes on the coast is the Sierra do⁵ Mar⁶ toward the north, and the Sierra dos Órgãos further north. Further inland the Sierra do Espinhaço⁷ crosses the center of Minas Gerais. South of it and much closer to the coast are the Sierra do Mantiquiera which rise to nearly 3000 meters. These continue to near the city of São Paulo.⁸ Beyond there, the second system--the Sierra Geral--continue as the the Sierra do Paranapiacaba into the South⁹ Region.

Two great river systems drain the western majority of the region, and shorter rivers in the east flow coastward.

The Paraná¹⁰ is formed by the Grande¹¹ and the Paranaíba. The Paranaíba starts from west central Minas Gerais and flows along the state border. The Grande flows from the Sierra da Mantiqueira through the Furnas Reservoir¹² and then along the Minas Gerais/ São Paulo border. From their confluence the Paraná flows southwest along the western border of São Paulo and continues beyond this area. Along the way it receives the Tietê, which arises near the city of São Paulo, and the Paranapanema which bounds southwest São Paulo State.

The São Francisco¹³ and its tributaries cover most of northwestern Minas Gerais, behind the Sierra do Espinahaço, and exits northward into Bahia.

The Doce and the Paraíbo do Sul¹⁴ are the only two rivers to break through the Sierra do Mar, both arising from the Sierra Geral. Further north the Tequitinhonha flows through northeast Minas Gerais, exiting into Bahia.

Map

Who lives there?

This area shares Portuguese and Roman Catholic Christianity with the rest of Brazil.

There are six metropolitan areas with over a million people: see Southeastern Brasil Cities.

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Who was there before?

All Pre-Columbian groups would be considered Amerindian by Joseph Greenberg. That said, the languages-extant or known, but extinct, represent the Tupi-Guarani and Macro-Ge groups plus an unclassified language.

Tupinamba, spoken near today's city of Rio de Janeiro, was the source of the simplified language, Tupi, that became a colonial lingua franca for the entire coast northward to the Amazon's mouth, particularly for children of mixed marriages.

Portuguese speakers began arriving in the 16th century and indiginous populations dwindled from disease and slavery. Large numbers of slaves were brought from Africa. Most indiginous and Afro-Brazilian people adopted Roman Catholic Christianity, and many indiginous and all Afro-Brazilian people switched their family language to Portuguese. The Afro-Brazilian version of Catholicism includes elements of the Vodun Religion of west Africa but its adherants regard themselves as pure Catholics.

Around the area

north
east and southeast
southwest
northwest

Footnotes

1. Officially Brasil since the late 19th century, it is still called Brazil in English.
2. Sudeste in Portuguese.
3. Consists of the states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janerio, Minas Gerais and São Paulo.
4. Translates from the Portuguese as 'Holy Spirit.'
5. Sierra (da or do or dos) translates from Portuguese as 'mountains of (the)'
6. Translates from Portuguese as 'sea.'
7. Translates from Portuguese as 'Backbone.'
8. Translates from the Portuguese as Saint Paul.
9. Sul in Portuguese.
10. South America's second longest river, the world's ninth.
11. Translates as 'Big' from Portuguese.
12. One of South America's largest lakes.
13. South America's fifth longest river.
14. Do Sul translates as southern from Portuguese.