|
It is said that Paul Gauguin, a seaman viewing Rio de Janeiro for the first time from the deck of a ship, fell in love and decided to become an artist. There is certainly a lot to love about Brazil's top tourist destination - it's natural beauty, and the beauty of its inhabitants, with their friendly, easy going and flirtatious beach lifestyle.
There is, however, much more to Brazil than that. It's the world's fifth largest country, whether you measure by land area or population. This, together with its history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world, leads to a huge cultural and geographical diversity. In Brazil you can find everything from cool, European style cities surrounded by snow-capped mountains, to the Caribbean lifestyle of the north, not forgetting the huge and mysterious Amazon area which is currently experiencing a boom.
Brazil is also one of the most important economies in the world, highly industrialized and developed. It's an oil rich country, with a world class oil company. Brazil is also famous as a great place to buy precious stones, particularly diamonds and emeralds, and metals such as gold. But perhaps Brazil's most valuable natural resource of all, in a world where many major cities are running perilously close to water shortages, is that more than 20% of the world's entire supply of fresh water lies within Brazilian borders.
In terms of investing in real estate, there are few restrictions on foreign ownership, and Brazil boasts a sophisticated online land registry system. Prices have increased substantially in recent years, so Brazil may not be the bargain it once was. But if you buy right, there are still good deals around. Areas to look at right now might be the Amazon and the northern regions. Recife, for example, is experiencing a tourism boom with more and more direct flights from Europe. Brazil's north is relatively cheap and convenient for European tourists.
|
