ON TWO SIDES OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

REFLECTIONS ON SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCES FROM THE RURAL AND THE URBAN IN BRAZIL AND BENIN

Abstract

The African continent is still unknown to most professionals in Brazilian geography today. This work aims to expand knowledge about Africa in Brazil, more specifically about Benin, a country whose history is closely related to the history of Brazil. The objective was to present an overview of the rural and the urban in these countries, showing in which aspects both are similar and different. The methodology used was based on literature review and analysis of statistical databases. We note that Benin developed cities and urban networks well before the XV century, when the cultural influence and economic domination of some European countries began to intensify gradually. The influence of Western civilization redesigned the traditional African city model and made it Europeanized. Brazilian cities emerged in the colonial period, when the spatial arrangements of both countries began to suffer greater influence from European mercantile logics. In both countries the countryside has similarities, both in relation to the slavery past, and in relation to the current models of use and occupation of space.