If You Thought Brazil Was A Poverty Stricken, Despicable Land In The 1950s, You Probably Should See This

Brazil is a beautiful country, and not for the samba alone. It is indeed a scenic nation with a surging economy and amazing culture. But many believe that the popularity of Brazil as a tourist destination is a latest phenomenon and whatever progress the South American country has made has been in the recent decades. No doubt it is a wrong assumption as the images below prove.

1. The lights of 50s

2. Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1957

3. 1904 wood burner on the Belem-Braganca in the 1950s

4. Amazon rain forest and the Manaus river

5. Brazil, 1957

6. Another scene in Brazil, 1957

7. Peixoto, a dam, was built on Rio Grande

8. Children watching a fishing net, 1957

9. Rio beach, 1957

10. The Brazil of 1957

11. Old Capital of Salvador, north of Rio

12. Picking cotton, 1957

13. Territory of the state of Parana

14. Brasilia

15. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1957

Source: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images