Colonial Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the
Portuguese, until 1815, when
Brazil was elevated to a kingdom alongside
Portugal as the
United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. During the early 300 years of Brazilian colonial history, the economic exploitation of the territory was based first on
brazilwood extraction (16th century),
sugar production (16th–18th centuries), and finally on
gold and
diamond mining (18th century).
Slaves, especially those brought from
Africa, provided most of the working force of the Brazilian economy.