Well, I could not keep myself from doing this, alas...
My last feedback post covered a lot of things, but it didn't really touch on locations too deeply. I have felt compelled to do so. As a preamble, I'd like to think of my suggestions here as regional and ancillary - Braziler and FleetingRain both are far more thorough in their offered maps, and I do quite like them. The impetus for this proposal was - chiefly - overeagerness, but also the intent to offer some dynamic location names and my own take on the southern states.
These maps are freehanded and quite messy, which is why I do not suggest relying on them aesthetically or for strict borders too much. Consider them semi-vibes-based maps.
LOCATIONS:
Locations presented in Portuguese or Spanish - Some do have proposals for native names, even if only by taking the name of a nearby river.
The main considerations for locations were:
1. Did it exist as a settlement pre-1836? Bonus points if as a vila or seat of a município; (I did cheat a bit here with some of them)
2. Failing that, is it a river or other geographical descriptor that works?
I also wanted to work on the wastelands a bit. The Serra do Mar could not be ignored as the most obvious physical barrier from the coast. The Serra da Esperança (near Guarapuava) and the Serra do Espigão (in Santa Catarina) are far more fanciful and probably don't warrant being wastelands, though this depends on the approach taken for the rest of the country.
The province proposals are loose, as well, and here's a map with their names:
No proposals for areas, really.
Which conveniently lets me lead into discussing my choices on a per-province basis!
N.B.: For the native name suggestions, multiple spellings may be offered. Your standards for tupi and guarani are unclear in the current map, so go for what you end up going for.
1. Rio Grande:
Roughly based on the original municipality of Rio Grande, and also somewhat resembling the littoral hyrdrographic region of the state. Easily hispanicised as Río Grande, but harder to pin down a native name for. The Cabaquã - or Icabaquã - river might work, though the spelling may have to be adequated, and the location also named after that river isn't part of this province in this proposal.
For the Locations:
- Rio Grande - The first capital of the captaincy/province, if one feels like being long it could be called "Rio Grande de São Pedro". Was a major colonial port, and should be quite a decent harbour as it sits at the estuary of the Lagoa dos Patos, though the sandy, wetland terrain detracts some points, I think.
- São José do Norte - A town at the end of the big, long, sandy peninsula of the Lagoa dos Patos. Despite a theoretically advantageous position, it was outcompeted by it's neighbour due to being at the end of a sandy, floody peninsula. Averages out to meh, in my opinion, but it might just be a bad harbour.
- Pelotas - Despite it's name, not next to the Pelotas river. Includes the river and location of the town of Piratini, which is at least a native-originated name - Piratinin, I should note, is an antiquated spelling. Piratiní, in castillian, if you'd like to take that. I think it should be a wetland, if only due to personal experience. Unremarkable coastline, so unremarkable harbour.
- Jaguarão - Named more for the river rather than the town. Yaguarón in castillian. A literal translation for a tupian name might be Jaguaraçu/Îagûarassu, though guarani would be more like Jaguara-guaçú - literally "big jaguar" in all cases. Might warrant being a wetland, too.
- Bagé - Technically officially mispelled. Name generally held to come from Ybajé, though this is dubious, and it may come from the charruan word baag, instead.
- Canguçu - A river and a town, which is to be the theme, really. Caaguaçu in guarani, give or take the spelling - I'm not sure what the standard would be. Meh port.
2. Campanha:
Started based on the original municipality of Rio Pardo, though it had half of that territory chopped off for two other provinces, more or less. Here, it takes up most of the brazilian pampa, and is consequently quite a good place for livestock - though it probably shouldn't have any at game start - and I'd also argue for at least having one horse-producing potential location, if that's in the cards. Coincides most with the Ibicuí's basin, for possible non-portuguese names - though maybe as Ybyku'y
. In that vein, the castillian could be Ibicuy, though Campaña would be the translation of the portuguese name.
- Sant'Ana do Livramento - officially spelled like that. Border town right next to uruguayan Rivera.
- Rio Pardo - One of the first four municipalities of the province of Rio Grande de São Pedro. Includes site of the San Joaquín reduction, which might serve as a name in castillian.
- São Gabriel - I'd go for the Vacacaí river for a native name, as you already have.
- Santa Maria - No notes.
- Alegrete - Take the river Ibirapuitã for tupi-guarani - Y'mbîra'pîtã (?).
- Uruguaiana - Another border town - Uruguayana in castillian, and the river Quaraí offers a possible native name - Quarahy/Kûara'y (?).
- Itaqui - Or Itaquí in castillian. This one can also be Ibicuí/Ibicuhy/Ybyku'y (?), like the province.
3. Missiones Orientales:
The land of the reductions - the seven famous ones, at least. Unsurprisingly, that means the portuguese would be
Sete Povos das Missões, whilst the Ijuí/Ijuhy river offers a convenient option for a native name. Only four of the seven made my cut.
- San Borje - Or São Borja, in portuguese.
- San Nicolás - Or São Nicolau, in portuguese. Perhaps Ijuí/Ijuhy, for a native name.
- San Miguel - the one with the cool ruins. São Miguel, in Portuguese.
- San Ángel - Santo Ângelo.
4. Porto dos Casais:
Based off of the two 1809 municipalities of Porto Alegre and Santo Antônio da Patrulha. Also half-lines up with the Guaíba's basin.
- Porto dos Casais - Right, this is Porto Alegre, but it was known by this name during most of the colonial period. Unsurprisingly, the river/lake/lagoon/water thing Guaíba's estuary is a damn good place for a port. Although it requires significant work for modern day ships to keep transiting into the lagoon, this was less of a concern back then. It's suboptimal position for a commercial port in an underpopulated region that traded it's goods primarily overland to the rest of the colony limited it's growth a fair bit, but it should still be a pretty damn good natural harbour.
- Viamão - A neighbouring town to Porto Alegre. It was the transitionary capital between Rio Grande and Porto dos Casais and is also older than PA, which is why it's even here. Definitely livestock, when that comes in. Allegedly, the name comes from "ibiamon", though there's controversy. A better native name may thus be simply taking lake Capivari's for it. Although the Lagoa dos Casados may at first glance look like a decent harbour, it's far sandier, shallower, and siltier than it's immediately neighbouring Guaíba, so it's never been really used for that. I'd argue it doesn't really make for much of a natural harbour, consequently, though a bit is fine.
- Guaíba - Both a (far later) town, and the body of water. It's side wasn't historically used much for port things, but I don't see why it couldn't still be a decent natural harbour. The coastal stretch from the river Jacuí - about the northern edge of this location - down to around Pelotas saw much cattle ranching and little else throughout the game's period. The name should actually fit for portuguese, castillian, and guarani, though one might still go for a spelling like Guahyba for guarani, or something.
- Camaquã - Another town named after a river. Meh harbour. Might go by the name of the Icabaquã river for guarani.
- Caí - Named after the river. A later period might make this Caxias do Sul or something else, but for this I think it fits. Even if you'd rather take a settlement's name for it in portuguese or castillian, Ka'y should remain an adequate pick for guarani at least.
- Mostardas - Possibly named after mustard, yeah. Existed as a military outpost, at least. Awful harbour, as it's utterly unprotected and very sandy either side of the peninsula. Might have potential for rice.
- Conceição do Arroio - Modern Osório. Might fit as Santo Antônio da Patrulha, if you stretch it a bit west and want all four original municipalities of the state named on the map. Regardless, might be named after the Tramandaí/Tramandahy river in guarani, and it does include the small estuary of that river, for what it's worth as a harbour.
5. Planalto Gaúcho:
Composed of the southern reaches of the brazilian highlands - though, really, it shares the riograndense part of it with the Missiones Orientales. More livestock, probably. It's remarkable how much cow and sheep people felt like having on this land - mind, the sheep more for the meat than the wool, though some RGOs of wool might not be amiss still. Awkward to pick alternative names for, unfortunately.
- Passo Fundo - Remember how I said a cheated a little with some of these? Passo fundo definitely existed as a link on the south-to-north trading of cattle, though it really wouldn't come into it's own until the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, there just isn't much else to go off of in that corner of the state in the period, and Passo Fundo is recognisable. For a native kaingang name, at least, one could be cheeky and use Erechim - as Rêsĩ - for it. The town certainly wasn't originally native or anything, but the direct translation as "small field" doesn't strike me as out of place.
- Jacuí - As usual, the river rather than the town named after it. Yacuí in castillian. Jacuhy/Îaku'y in tupi.
- Taquari - Another river. Ta'kwar'y (?) in tupi.
- Campos de Vacaria - Not Vacaria itself - which would've existed as a little settlement - but the fields around it. Very much cattle-rearing places. Campos de Cima da Serra might be more fitting, but is longer. Known to the spanish as Vaquería de los Pinares.
- Apuaê (misspelled as "Apunhaê" on the map, my bad) - Yet another river. Also known as the Ligeiro river.
The four original municipalities of RS defined in 1809.
Rivers and basins of RS.
1751 map with settlements, chapels, forts and native groups.
I'd offer a map of indigenous peoples, but you seem to have your sources very straight there and there really don't seem to be any particularly useful or detailed ones, either
6. Planalto Catarinense:
The highlands of Santa Catarina, now. This is really a state that sees next to no inland settlement in the period, so several rivers were appealed to. Here we run into Jê peoples more, and figuring out names became trickier - the tupi-guarani toponyms are generally better preserved and easier to find. As a show of hands, I've relied on a
1938 work on Kaingang toponyms and have attempted to adapt their spelling
with an ortography guide or
two. I'll readily admit this is rather slap-dash and that I can't claim they are fully reliable or properly spelled, but I didn't want to have nothing to propose. For the Xokleng, I'm afraid I just truly don't have anything. Again, my linguistic chops are not great, and I'd urge a search for better sources.
- Lages - An important inland city and, like many others, founded due to the tropeiros. The Serra do Mar is called Krinjijimbé in Kaingang, which might serve as an option of last resort for a dynamic name here or for other locations that include it. That spelling is almost certainly portuguesified, however. As as stretch, Urubysy - from, well, Urubici - might work for tupi, though it's a separate town. Edit: It may make sense to have a corridor between Araranguá and Lages.
- Curitibanos - You'll never guess where the guy who named this city came from.
- Canoas - The river, to be clear. Speaking of rivers, the Uruguay river starts roughly in this location, so it could use the Kaingang name for that river - Ngoi-ên.
- Rio do Peixe - Another river, though fully presented as such so people don't giggle at the proud location of "Fish" as much. The Kaingang name is known for this one - Ngoi-kupri.
7. Santa Catarina:
Nothing much fancy to note on this one.
- Desterro - The cool, old name of Florianópolis. Also stands in for the non-island settlements that eventually were absorbed into Greater Floripa. The island of Santa Catarina - where the city started - was apparently called Meiembipe by the local Carijós. The island offers a bay, justifying a decent natural harbour score, I'd say. Oh, and island - it's quite close to the shore and has been bridged to thoroughly, but it'd be nice for the island to not be connected to the continent on the map.
- Laguna - One of the oldest settlements in southern Brazil, and by far the most important city with the most significant reduction in importance in this proposal. From it, settlers and explorers would found many other settlements, - especially in Rio Grande do Sul - but it's mostly just a quaint, small historical coastal city these days, even if it's a really nice place to live in. It sits by a small lagoon, surrounded by hills - a geographical condition which justifies a good harbour score, in my opinion. The river Tubarão flows into the lagoon and was named Tubá-nharô by the local guarani, which could serve as a name for the location. The actual city of Tubarão, though extant as a settlement during the period, wouldn't be of much note at all 'til after the game ends.
- Araranguá - River and settlement, once more. Meh harbour. The settlement itself was called Campinas do Sul during the period. For a native dynamic name, it might be spelled as A'rarãguá, and probably a half dozen other ways.
8. Vale do Itajaí:
The valley for the river Itajaí, it represents a relatively accesible range of the Serra do Mar, though it only really saw inland settling in the 1800s. Just Itajaí/Itajahy/Itaîa'y, or maybe Tajahy/Taîa'y might work for a native name. The etymology of the name is not entirely clear.
- Itajaí - The settlement, this time. Similar deal to the province in regards to naming - I recommend being consistent with it, regardless of ortographic standard choice. The city is (originally) on the southern bank of the Itajaí-Açu's mouth. That should justify some harbour score, at least.
- São Francisco - Another old coastal city. It sits on the northern bit of the homonymous barely-island, facing the Babitonga Bay, the largest navigable bay of the state. That both should give it some Good Harbour Points™, and offers a possible native name, give or take the spelling as usual. A later period game might just call this location Joinville instead, for the curious.
- Itajaí-Açú - The river. Depending on how you'd rather translate Itajaí it may come out as Itajaí-Açú/Taîa'y'assu/Itaîa'ygûasu, though that wouldn't really fit the Xokleng or Kaingang. Blumenau is probably the most notable city that'd emerge in this location later.
- Canoinhas - The little Canoas river. For a Kaingang name at least, one might take the Iguaçú river, as the location is largely in it's drainage basin, as the base. That'd turn out as Ngoi-kovó, probably. Many other locations throughout the course of the river could justifiably take that name, however.
1872 municipality map of SC. They're coloured by what municipality they were dismembered from/were originally part of, to be clear. I believe Joinville is about the only settlement here that wouldn't already exist by 1837.
Rivers and basins of SC.
9. Paranaguá:
Representing the littoral of Paraná . The bay and city's name comes from Paranãguá/Paranãkûá -
"Sea Cove". An important locus of settlement in southern Brazil.
- Paranaguá - The city itself, as well as the fellow coastal town of Antonina, also on the cove. The naming is covered, and I hope the harbour suitability is obvious enough - it's a large bay, surrounded by hills and site of one of the largest ports in the country these days. The port would see some growth as a center for processing and shipping off gold during the time that was big around Curitiba, and would later grow with the state as the obvious exit point for products.
- Guaratuba - Another early coastal settlement. Though known mostly for the beaches these days, it does have a port and was settled on a small bay, for what that's worth. Guarátyba in guarani, I think.
- Morretes - Squeezed in there, but it's the main town on the historical route to Curitiba, which I found noteworthy enough to include it. A single-location passage between the coast and Curitiba through the Serra must be preserved regardless of it's inclusion, in my opinion. Early littoral gold mining could be represented here, though it'd be fair enough to just have the one location in Curitiba for gold if you believe it'd be too much.
10. Curitiba:
Roughly equivalent to the first plateau of Paraná in extension, this is was the main inland region of the state to see settlement in the period, primarily due to gold mining. Curitiba's name is probably from the guarani Kuri'ytyba.
- Curitiba - The city of pines itself. This was easily the most bemusing of the wastelanded locations in the south, given it's importance. As I've already noted, I believe it should be a gold-producing location. The native name is already covered.
- Arraial Queimado - Early name of the settlement that'd give rise to Bocaiúva do Sul. Something of a people-sparse corner of the state even today. Though definitely a stretch, Bocaiúva comes from the tupi mokaie'yba, and is also the name of a palm.
- Castro - Another tropeiro town. The region of the city is said to have been inhabited by guarapiaba tupis, so there's something of a possible name there.
- Vila Nova do Príncipe (somehow misspelled as "Vale Novo" do Príncipe on the map, dear lord) - This is the modern city of Lapa, though it wouldn't get that name during the game's period. A notable center of mate harvesting during the period, and yet another tropeiro pitstop.
11. Ponta Grossa:
Congruent with the second plateau, and an area of sparser interest during the period. Still, there are some settlements around, though this really is about as far as it got before the 1800s. It also covers the paranaense Campos Gerais, if naming the province after a city bothers you.
- Ponta Grossa - The Princess of the Fields and a city with a real funny name to people not from it. Like most inland cities in the region, I'm sure you can guess who's to blame for it starting - tropeiros.
- Tibagi - Another river-settlement name situation, Tibagi is interesting due to diamond mining - so, I'd argue for gems as the goods here. Tibajy/Tybaî'y in tupi-guarani, I think. The river by this name is known as Venh Róg to the Kaingang. The river's banks were also the site of a massacre (PT).
- Jaguariaíva - Again, the river and the town. Jaguaryahiba/Îagûar'yaíba in tupi.
- Palmeira - Capão da Palmeira, after the tropeiro cow-stop, may be more appropriate, given the town hardly saw itself reach the rank of vila 'til 1870.
- Villa Rica del Espíritu Santo - here named after the incipient spanish settlement. Just Vila Rica may work for portuguese, though the actual municipality that now sits over it's ruins is, fittingly enough, Fênix.
12. Paranapanema:
Named after the river between São Paulo and Paraná, this one was a pain to find things for, so I appealed to jesuit reductions. I cannot stress how little people cared about this bit of country until the coffee boom. The "Great, Useless/Unlucky River" truly is a fitting name, given how troubling it was to find locations for it.
- San José - Jesuit reduction. Maybe just call it Paranapanema if not in the hands of the perfidious spaniards?
- Nuestra Señora de Loreto - This one's name is quite fun, at least. Closest to Londrina, for modern cities.
- Jesus Maria - Another one. Closest to Maringá, I believe.
13. Guayrá:
Named after the spanish colonial territory, it contains the western edge of the state, closely tied to the Paraná river itself. In portuguese, it'd be Guaíra, and the spelling of Guahyrá might serve for a native term depending on the standard you use. Otherwise, Paranã - the possible original term for the river in guarani - may well work. Much of this side of the state would've seen plenty of
mate harvesting,
*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*.
- Guayrá - Which is to say, the Ciudad Real del Guayrá, - what a name! - the capital settlement of the governorate. Like most of the things in the territory, it was somewhat destroyed by bandeirantes during the Iberian Union, and it's exact location is unclear. As presented, it overlaps with modern Guaíra and, although that city is not named after this city, they share a spelling and that works as a period name for a location otherwise not really touched by the portuguese or brazilians with constructive intent at that time.
- Ivaí - This time especially not the town, - it'd be way over next to Guarapuava! - but rather the river that enters the big Paraná at that location. The modern city of Umuarama is in there, too, though just the river name works. You've got your pick of castillianifications, - Ibahy/Ybahy/Huybay - with the spelling of Yva'y probably fitting for guarani.
- Ontiveros - Another spanish settlement of unclear position, but it could've been there and is a name to give to a place. For portuguese, just Iguaçu would work, though Foz do Iguaçu, whilst also a later settlement from an imperial military colony, is also a delightfully descriptive term for what that river does at that place. This, of any Brazilian location, feels the most deserving for getting named after that river. Ngoi-kovó in Kaingang again, and Ygûasu in tupi-guarani.
- Santa Maria - another jesuit reduction. Bit of a space-filler, I'll admit - the most notable modern feature of that location is the Iguaçu national park.
14. Campos de Guarapuava:
We're getting to the end. The most notable settlement here is the one that lends it's name to the province, though it barely existed in the time frame. At the start of the 1800s a whole campaign was launched to pacify the region, and it became a receptacle for
degredados in a bid to quickly colonise and get a hold of the place. Predominantly inhabited by the Kaingang. Those people, incidentally, called these lands Koranmbângrê, while the Língua Geral
Agûarápuaba could also serve for tupi and guarani.
- Guarapuava - The only real settlement here. Similar names from the province as a whole may be used.
- Piquiri - A river, once more. Pikyr'y, in tupi. The Kaingang territories west of Guarapuava were called Nerinhé - almost certainly portuguesified, again - which may work as a dynamic name here with some work.
- Campos do Mourão - Not Campo Mourão the city, though the name there is very much related. Term used for the region before it was really settled.
15. Campos de Palmas:
In a very similar spirit to the previous province, this is an undersettled inland territory during the period, this time south of the Iguaçu. Takes territory that was once contested between the modern states of Santa Catarina and Paraná. The Kaingang called these fields Kreiembângrê.
- Palmas - Another late settlement, but the name fit well enough. Like the province, Kreiembângrê should work.
- Chopim - As in the river. The name may have come from the Kaingang Sopĩ.
- Chapecó - Again, the river, although the city would be in the location there too. The name of the river is known to be from Kaingang, though I could annoyingly not locate a proper spelling of it - it might be Esapekó, or something like it, but I'm not sure. The settlement itself, though anachronistic, started from the military colony of Xanxerê, which is also from Kaingang - as Sãsãrê - and may be an alternative.
- Peperi-Guaçu - A river in western Santa Catarina, known in castillian as Peperí Guazú. Includes what would be the city of Campo Erê, a field the Kaingang called Kempe-rê.
The three plateaus, Serra do Mar, and coastal plains of Paraná.
1876 map of the province. Yeah, it's a little wonky.
Rivers and basins of PR.
That's all.
I hope it helps!
Edit (20/02/2025): but that was actually not all...
An additional note on...
RAW GOODS/RGOs:
Right, this is just a quick, off-the-cuff addendum because I've spent a while thinking on them and I felt I may as well jot that down somewhere. I might come back and source or map out these ideas more later, but for now this is just my words. As the rest of this post, this is for Southern Brazil.
2.1 Livestock:
Southern Brazil was
the cattle-rearing corner of the colony during this period, serving as a beefbasket especially for what would come to be the Southeastern region of the country. Indeed, cattle ranching would be a cornerstone of
Gaúcho culture. With that in mind...
- Livestock should be a predominant potential good in much of the southern plains, up through the highlands along the Serra do Mar, as was historically the case. This is the economic pursuit that was by far the foremost for the period and after it. That established, I'd like to comment on...
- Sheep/Wool - By and large, colonial Brazil was not intended to offer much in the way of manufacturing for the Crown of Portugal, however, people do like to not be naked and to have textiles for other purposes as well. The dominant local textile throughout the period was cotton, which I expect to show as well, though not really in this region. Still, sheep did exist in Brazil during the period, - having been introduced early on by portuguese settlers - and that would've consequently meant some production of wool. Most of Brazil is ill-fitting for proper woolen sheep, climactically speaking, and indeed current production is hilariously skewed towards the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Whilst I was unable to find sources on the colonial period specifically talking about wool production, I think, given the nature of the craft and it's ubiquity pretty much everywhere where sheep are raisable, it'd be fair to offer a similar range as the livestock potential here to have some wool potential, too. It was certainly very minor in comparison to both cattle-rearing and cotton-planting, overall, but it was present.
- Horses - Not unlike in North America, some spaniards let some horses loose when they came and went and those ungulates found a big open plain with essentially no natural predators around the Platine Basin to eat grass on. Consequently, essentially wild horse populations were established and adopted by natives as well. I think that dynamic justifies some locations producing horses with the advent of the Columbian Exchange, and the Pampas were certainly a region quite friendly to horses.
2.2 Minerals:
Though not exactly a major mining hub, there are worthwhile things to consider here.
- Gold - As repeteadly noted by now, the region around the coast of Paraná and the highlands of Curitiba were where some of the earliest gold mining in Brazil took place. Again, they were overshadowed by sources elsewhere but, again, it certainly existed and was important for the early settling of the region. One or two gold locations should do.
- Gems - Ah, shiny rocks... The basin of the river Tibagi would be explored in the pursuit of diamonds in the mid-1700s, being the first find of the precious stone in Brazil outside of Minas Gerais (PT). This technically makes this the third ever discovered source of diamonds in the world, as it happens. Though, once more, this was an economic activity operating under the shadow of other regions, it was important in motivating the settlement further inland. Otherwise, far later, the extraction of amethyst and agate would become important throughout the highlands of Rio Grande do Sul and southern Santa Catarina, though this development is well outside the time scope of the game, occuring in the mid-20th Century.
- Sand - Absolutely no one seems to care about the history of sand production in Brazil, for some reason, but I do know it probably happened, and sand extraction currently happens as well. It's a bit confounding, really, and I'm ashamed and frustrated I couldn't find much of help. Regardless, if the Salt locations are meant to be just stand-in coastal resources, replace them with sand - there doesn't appear to have been any significant salt production during the period in the region, which imported it's salt from Northeastern Brazil, nor is there currently much of any, either. I don't get why there are salt R.G.Os there, though I could simply be missing something.
- Coal - I don't think there should really be any coal locations, considering there was no meaningful extraction of it during the period, but given that the vast majority of brazilian coal is mined just in Rio Grande do Sul, it felt wrong not to note.
2.3 Erva Mate/Yerba Mate and Lumber:
They were both primarily extracted from naturally-grown trees during the period, so, why not put them together?
- Lumber - You see the places where this type of forest was a thing? That's the lumber zone. More seriously, the Araucaria pines were favoured as a source of softwood, but the forests in general were widely logged. During the period, the relative disinterest in the region would preserve most of them through it, but late-19th to late-20th Century settlement and agricultural growth would devastate these ecosystems. Still, for the game's purposes, it certainly is a good source of lumber.
- Erva Mate/Yerba Mate - However you feel like representing it, it should be present from the get-go as it was used by the natives, and it should be fairly widespread throughout the region, especially further inland closer to the Paraná river and it's tributaries. Jesuit settlements would seek to extract and even try to grow the stuff, and later settlements would also depend on it for their early economies, especially in the state of Paraná.
2.4 Wild Game and Fish:
A quick and easy one before we hit the
big one, these have a fairly simple observation in that, yeah, they'd definitely start as representatives of native subsistence, but they should remain to some extent. Especially during this period, hunting never went away as a source of food, and fishing obviously didn't disappear either.
2.5 Agriculture:
Oh, boy. There's a lot to possibly observe here, so let's get to it.
- Rice - The State of Rio Grande do Sul (I swear the other states in the region do things as well) is the biggest producer of rice in Brazil these days, though it did not actually see much production in the period. Of course, this was very much disputed territory for a long while, and rice wouldn't see proper growth in the colony as a whole until the late 1700s, which didn't help. Still, there was rice cultivation in Brazil during the period, this colony was one of the first places to see rice cultivation in the New World at all, and the region's potential for the product is apparent nowadays. I'd argue for at least offering the possibility, though I understand if the argument is unconvincing.
- Wheat - Introduced by the portuguese early on, to their dismay their staple cereal really didn't like the brazilian climate. The production of it thus would move more and more southwards, where it remains an important agricultural product. Whilst far less expressive in the period than today - so much so it almost was decimated by a blight in the 1800s - I think it should still be possible and somewhat present.
- Maize - Natives already cultivated maize in Brazil well before the europeans set foot on the continent. It has remained an important crop, even if it looks rather different nowadays. Should clearly exist in some capacity to begin with, and should obviously not be extirpated from the region by the Exchange.
- Cassava - Regardless of how you opt to represent it (I still favour merging it with the potato trade good), it was in the same boat as maize, and has the same considerations.
- Fruit - Again, presumably starting as a representative of native gathering/farming, they should remain present to some degree, especially because the most valuable and glorious of fruits happens to come from this particular corner of the world.
- Legumes - Can represent a lot of things, really, but the common bean happens to have the distinction of being not only a staple of modern brazilian cuisine, but also of having been cultivated by the natives already. Should certainly be present at the start and remain so. (As an aside, not distinguishing beans from cassava is part of the reason I dislike representing the latter as legumes, it equivocates two very important staples of not only native, but later brazilian nutrition, too)
- Wine - There was a lot more base to this than I though there'd be at first, I'll admit (PT). Another early introductee, because it was the portuguese who colonised this land, after all. For Southern Brazil, in particular, the spanish played an important role in it's introduction through the jesuit missions. It has a troubled history, facing restrictions by the Crown, difficulties adapting the crop to the local climate, and limited demand, but it did exist. It's presence in this region is lesser than in São Paulo in the period - which sounds absurd nowadays - but I still think it should exist as a potential crop.
- Sugar - Was far more important elsewhere in the colony, but it's so synonymous with Brazil at this time it's hard to not at least note it. It was, to a limited degree, grown in Southern Brazil. I would not be mad if it was absent, however, so limited regionally that it was.
- Cotton - As noted previously, it was the predominant textile in the colony, and even saw a boom in the late period of the game's timeframe. Not really a notable crop in Southern Brazil, but I wanted to note it should replace all of the Fibre Crops in colonised locations - those presumably represent native species of cotton, which the europeans mostly didn't bother with. Brazil also saw no significant production of flax or hemp, which I think rules out that trade good quite thoroughly post-Exchange.
Alright.
Now I think that's all.
Thank you for reading this. Please, do tell if I'm wrong or elaborate on my points if you have more information and sources.
