March 18, 2025

Brazil was discovered by accident.

Did you ever hear of the explorer Pedro Fabrel? I don’t think Pedro was such a good explorer. On April 22, 1500, he began sailing for India and got just a little off course and ended up in Brazil! As was the custom in those days he planted a flag and claimed it for Portugal even though he had no idea where he was. He thought the massive area of Brazil was an island. Not thinking that the land had any resources he returned to Portugal.

During the 16th century, the Portuguese empire was small but mighty. They had many holdings on the African coast and controlled the spice trade in India. Upset with Portugal’s dominance, France started capturing Portuguese ships. They had the right to trade anywhere that was not officially occupied by the Portuguese. As Pedro Fabrel had left Bazil unattended, France set its sights on Brazil and found gold, silver and diamonds that Fabrel had failed to find. Portugal summoned all its efforts to recapture Brazil from France and after 10 years Brazil became the backbone of the Portuguese empire. (this would not be the last conflict between France and Brazil)

It was in January of 1502 when Portuguese explorers returned to Brazil and landed at an ideal port for shipping that gold, silver and diamonds back to Portugal. Mistaking the entrance of Guanabara Bay for the mouth of a river, they named it “Rio de Janeiro.” (River of January) Sugar cane from Brazil became a rich asset and stabilized Portugal’s economy.

In the early 1800’s, Napolean Bonaparte was conquering Europe for France and had his sights set on Portugal attacking in 1807. The Royal Family of Portugal choose to move to Brazil and made Rio de Janeiro the capital of Portugal. Bonaparte was defeated at The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 ending years of recurrent wars between France and the other powers of Europe, but Rio de Janeiro remained the capital of Portugal until 1821. It was the only city in history to serve as the capital of a nation on a distant soil.

Brazil became a republic in 1889, and Rio de Janeiro remained its capital until 1960. However, in 1960, the Brazilian President at the time, Juscelino Kubistchek, made the ill-advised decision to create a new capital in the center of the country. He used the construction of “Brasília” as a means to promote his government’s modernist and nationalist agenda. In 1960, Brasilia became the capital of Brazil, but most people and even trivia buffs still name Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil. I know many people would love to visit Rio de Janeiro. Brasilia, not so much.

Now you know the back story of the misnamed city that Chongae and I are visiting next.

You also know why Brazil speaks Portuguese while the rest of South America speak Spanish.

Thanks for traveling with us.