History of Brazil

The Native American peoples who were the original inhabitants of what is now Brazil included the Arawak and Carib groups in the north, the Tupí-Guaraní of the east coast and the Amazon River valley, the Ge of eastern and southern Brazil, and the Pano in the west. For the most part these groups were essentially seminomadic peoples, who subsisted by hunting and gathering and simple agriculture. Those groups in the more remote areas of the interior maintained their traditional way of life until the late 20th century, when their existence was threatened by the advancing frontier. See Native Americans.