On July 12, 1909, after a month and a half of journey, King Pedro III of Brazil arrived near Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso state.
"Oh, dear, we finally arrived at the plain." Mary said in a brisk tone.
After hearing what his wife Mary said, Tangning also laughed.
"Haha, it's true that there are nothing but mountains. There is no railway network. It's quite uncomfortable to ride in a carriage for a long time."
Although the Brazilian Plateau is a high-quality representative of the plateau world, with the flattest terrain in the world, as a mountainous area there are still some rugged places. Since entering the plateau from Rio de Janeiro, although Tang Ning and the others were riding in a shock-absorbing carriage, they were still on the plateau.
The comfort level is certainly not as good as that on the plains.
"Tangning, I have never seen so many mountains. I have seen enough in the past month."
Mary said with emotion: "Luxembourg, where I grew up, is a place dominated by mountains. I didn't expect that the mountains in Brazil are wider than people imagine. Although the scenery along the way is indeed beautiful, it is still very annoying to see too much."
The original terrain of Brazil was a vast Brazilian plateau in the middle, surrounded by plains. Now Brazil has gone through a round of expansion and its territory has been extended to the Pacific Ocean. The current terrain is low hills and the Paraguay River plain basin to the west of the Brazilian plateau.
Further west is the Andean plateau, and finally the Pacific coast is a small coastal plain.
"Mary, you can rest assured for the following journey. In the next period of time, we will mainly take boats and go south along the Paraguay River to Paraguay."
When she heard that the next step was to take a boat ride, Mary felt even more happy. "That's great. It's annoying to sit in a carriage for so long."
Thinking of this one-month tour, Mary couldn't help but feel sad about the backwardness of the Brazilian mainland!
"Dear, our population in the interior of Brazil is really small. Since I left Belo Horizonte in Miras State and traveled along the way, I haven't seen many large-scale urban gathering places.
Except for the state of Milas, which has a pretty good population, I feel that the two large states of Gilas and Goiás have very small populations. Even their state capitals only have a population of 10,000 or 20,000 people.
Not only are there fewer people, the living standards of the people here are much worse than along the coast, and the prices of many daily necessities are very high. Now I finally understand why you want to immigrate inland, build transportation, and set up light factories in the five-year plan.
."
Along the way, Mary realized deeply why her husband Tang Ning always talked about the sparse population and poverty in the interior.
The population here is really so small that as the royal family, because there are few populated towns in the interior, they have to camp for many days during the advance.
The level of Brazil's inland towns is also far behind that of the coastal areas. When she stayed in the towns, although local officials provided the best accommodation, Mary still felt a little uncomfortable.
The living standards of people in the inland are really not very good, because the roads are imperfect and light industrial products are missing. Their quality of life is much worse along the coast.
There is really a lot of land in the mainland, but because of the lack of population base, it is difficult to develop it.
Mary now understood why her husband directed a large number of immigrants from the East and Southern Europe to the interior. The reason for doing so was actually to develop the interior.
Without enough population, the hinterland cannot develop.
"Your Majesty and Queen, we are still two kilometers away from the city of Cuiaba."
A reconnaissance knight rode over at this time to report to the respected King of Brazil and his wife the latest progress.
"Yes, I understand." Tangning smiled and said, "John, you knights have worked hard on this journey. I thank you very much."
"It is our honor to serve His Majesty!"
Cuiaba is a city with excellent development in the interior of Brazil. Although it has a population of only 20,000 to 30,000, its excellent geographical conditions and transportation are much better than others. The quality of life of the people and the development of the city are considered to be of high quality in the interior of Brazil.
of.
Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, is located on the left bank of the Cuiaba River, the upper source of the Paraguay River. It is 165 meters above sea level and is the geometric center of South America. It was built in 1719 for gold mining and was established as a city in 1818. It is nearby
It is the trade center of agricultural and pastoral areas and the distribution center of rubber and coconut in the north. It exports cattle, dry beef, sugar, leather and wine, etc.
Although the railway has not yet been built, the Cuiaba waterway leads to Colomba, and with the Paraguay River as a golden waterway, Paraguay's external transportation is very convenient.
The Paraguay River Water Conservancy Project is a large-scale plan in Brazil's first five-year plan, as famous as the São Francisco River Water Conservancy Project. It is also the only large-scale water conservancy project in Brazil's five-year plan.
The Paraguay River project, which runs from Cuiaba to Ascension in Paraguay, has used 30,000 manpower, and the manpower is still increasing. A large part of the immigrants from the East and Southern Europe are distributed inland here.
In the plan set by Downing, the Paraguay River Basin located in the middle of the country is positioned as one of Brazil's three core engines. The Paraguay River Industrial Zone will support Brazil together with Brazil's coastal industrial zones and the Orinoco River Industrial Zone.
nation.
The natural endowments of the Paraguay River Basin are great. The natural conditions are excellent. It is mainly hills and plains. It has natural development potential and high agricultural potential. To the east is the Brazilian Plateau and to the west is the Andis Plateau. These two areas
The plateau is a place rich in resources. In fact, the Paraguay River Basin itself is not bad either. It is also rich in mineral resources, and its iron ore and gold reserves are also world-class.
There are four major rivers in Brazil: the Parana River, the Amazon River, the São Francisco River, and the Orinoco River.
The Paraná River is a wide basin. The upper reaches of its main basin are very flat and the height difference is too great. However, its important tributary, the Paraguay River, is a golden basin.
The Paraguay River, a golden river basin, was actually considered a main road for a long time. However, the river has a long source and eventually lost its claim. Considering the fact that Brazil is developing, if the upper reaches of the Paraná River cannot do it, of course it will focus on the future.
On the Paraguay River.
The Amazon River is a world-famous river and the largest river in Brazil. Although it has excellent navigation conditions, due to environmental reasons, its ceiling in the tropical rainforest area is too low. It is destined to only develop mainly in economic agriculture, with various bananas, rubber, cocoa, etc.
Developing light industry and food industry is the best choice. It cannot serve as an industrial center at all. It is a pity that shipping conditions are wasted.
The shipping conditions of the São Francisco River are too poor. Although the precipitation is good, the spatial and temporal distribution is uneven, so that Brazil needs to carry out a major project. It is simply unrealistic to rely on this river basin to establish a national core base. Industrial development areas are mainly in
Downstream of the river, the main development in this area is agriculture.
Orinoco River, the natural endowment of this river basin is not bad, and it is rich in iron ore, copper mine, gold mine and other resources. The climate of this basin has a part of tropical rain forest, but in fact it is dominated by savanna climate.
The natural shipping conditions in this basin are excellent, but the delta archipelago at the mouth of the sea blocks traffic and limits shipping tonnage. However, this level of transformation is not difficult. Brazil can simply transform it. Canals and dredges can be dug, so it is also positioned as the core
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This chapter has been completed!