The following discussion focuses on Brazilian history from the
time of European settlement. For a treatment of the country in
its regional context, see Latin America, history of.
Archaeological sites near the Amazonian towns of Santarém and
Monte Alegre and elsewhere in Brazil show that the region has
been inhabited since at least 9000 BC. Mixed communities of
farmers, fishers, and hunters and gatherers developed in the
Amazon lowlands, whereas hunters and gatherers predominated in
the drier savannas and highlands. Between two million and six
million indigenous Indians lived in the region at the time of
European contact in 1500.  Tupian-speaking Indians inhabited the
coastal areas and were among the more significant of the
tropical forest groups. Portuguese explorers of the region first
encountered Tupians and principally dealt with them for many
years. Indeed, Tupians may have been the most important Indian
influence in Brazil’s early colonial period and in the culture
that subsequently developed; however,