14  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

largest  country  in  the  world,  and  is  widest  between ­
  the  Equator  and  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn, ­
  covering  an  area  of  3,292,000  square
miles.
The  population  has  been  variously  estimated
at  from  20,000,000  to  24,000,000,  of  whom  less
than  1,000,000  are  aborigines,  thus  giving  it
about  one-fifth  of  the  population  per  square
mile  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  of
America.  Its  inhabitants  are  white,  black,
mulattoes,  Indians  and  mixed  breeds,  a  heavy
percentage  being  descendants  from  the  slaves
imported  originally  from  Africa,  slavery  in
Brazil  having  been  abolished  in  188S.
The  language  of  Brazil  is  Portuguese  except ­
  among  the  Indian  tribes,  each  one  of
which  has  its  own  dialect.  These  Indians  are
to  be  found  in  the  interior  and  the  remote  districts, ­
  and  are  a  negligible  quantity  as  far  as
trade  is  concerned,  living  primitive  lives  and
having  few  wants  that  the  rich  country  and
rivers  cannot  supply.
Brazil  was  discovered  April  22,  1500,  by
Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral,  a  Portuguese  explorer,