that defined the transition in recent years from an authoritarian to a democratic political regime. Brazilian territorial unity and national identity were forged throughout the nineteenth century, after the proclamation of independence in 1822, resulting in a nation with one common language and wide ethnic and racial variety. Remarkable in this respect, the country nevertheless faces problems of social and ethnic disparity as well as of preservation and adequate use of its natural resources. This book emphasizes topics that have deeply influenced the historical formation of Brazil and affected its existence to the present day, such as the destruction of Indian civilizations, slavery and massive immigration throughout the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century.

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