Before the arrival of Europeans, Brazil was inhabited by many Native American tribes. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral sailed from Lisbon  and arrived to Porto Seguro, in Bahia. Brazil got its name from a kind of redish tree, native of this land, that  was sold in Europe. Salvador da Bahia was founded in 1549 and became the capital city of the new portuguese colony. Portuguese settlers started to produce sugar and the northeast of Brazil became a wealthy corner of the world. During that time, Portugal brought millions of black slaves to work in its sugar refineries. However, Dutchs started to produce sugar in the Caribbean islands too and the brazilian monopoly declined. After that, the portuguese crown centered its interest in the south portion of Brazil. The southern regions had been settled by missionaires and Native American culture was still strong in many aspects. In the 18 th century, many Portuguese started to explore the remote areas that were far away from the coastal cities. Gold was discovered in Minas Gerais and Vila Rica (Ouro Preto's former name) became one of the richest cities in the world. Rio de Janeiro became the port from which gold was transported to Portugal. In 1763 the Portuguese decided to move Brazil's capital city from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. In the 19 th century, when Napoleon invaded Portugal, the royal family moved to Brazil and Rio became the capital city of the Portuguese Empire. When the king returned to Portugal, Brazilians didn't want their land to be a colony anymore and declared their independence in 1822. The country became an Empire for 67 years, when the last Emperor abdicated after many years of old-fashioned, unprogressive government. During the imperial era, many brazilian families made a fortune out of their coffee plantations. At the same time, slavery was coming to an end and lots of European immigrants were crossing the ocean to find a job in the coffee market. In 1889 Brazil became a Republic. During the 20 th century many presidencies and dictatorships took place in the country. In 1960 Brazilians moved the national government from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília, a modern planned city that was built to be the capital of Brazil. Nowadays Brazil is the most powerful country in South America and one of the most important nations in the world. In spite of its growing economy, the country experiences many social problems, such as crime and poverty, that are nothing but far from being solved in the short term.