How did Brazil get its name?

The first decade after Portuguese discovery of this land was spent developing the brazilwood trade. This tree was valuable to explorers and colonists due to its bright red color, which could be used as a dye. This red dye was much cheaper to obtain than other red dyes, which originally came from India. In fact, harvesting brazilwood became the main commercial activity in this new land.

In 1502, a cartographer created a more detailed map of the area and named one of the rivers Rio D Brasil. Located near Porto Seguro, this area is believed to have been home to a heavy concentration of brazilwood, hence the name given to the river. From this moment, the name was continually repeated. It was republished in several maps and over time, came to be used for the land itself. The first reference of the land as Brazil dates back to between 1506 and 1509 when an explorer referred to the area as Terra do Brasil (land of the Brazil).