Brazil is the largest recognized nation in South America. It grows and exports millions of tons of coffee beans; only the coffee industry of Colombia rivals it in according production. The general climate of Brazil is, for the most part, ideal for the growing of coffee, to which entire industries all over the country are devoted. The coffee industry of Brazil is mostly a Portuguese-speaking industry, since Brazil was a New World colony of Portugal for centuries. The crop first arrived in Brazil in the 18th century and the country had become the dominant producer by the 1840s.