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The Federative Republic of Brazil (República Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America. Spanning a vast area between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean, it borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Named after brazilwood, a local tree, Brazil is home to both extensive agricultural lands and rain forests.
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| National motto: Ordem e Progresso (Portuguese, Order and Progress) | |||||
| Official Language | Portuguese | ||||
| Minority Languages | Indigenous and Immigrant Languages, please see below | ||||
| Capital | Brasília | ||||
| Largest City | São Paulo | ||||
| President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 5th 8,511,965 km² 0.65% | ||||
| Population - Total (2003) - Density | Ranked 5th 182,032,604 22/km² | ||||
| Independence - Declared: - Recognised: | From Portugal September 7, 1822 August 29, 1825 | ||||
| GDP (base PPP) - Total (2002) - GDP/head | Ranked 10th(countries) Ranked 7th(economies) $1.376 trillion $7,800 (2002) | ||||
| Currency | Real | ||||
| Time zone | UTC -2 to -5 | ||||
| National anthem | Hino Nacional Brasileiro | ||||
| Internet TLD | .BR | ||||
| Calling Code | 55 | ||||
Main article: History of Brazil
Brazil had been inhabited for at least 6,000 years by semi-nomadic populations when the first Portuguese explorers, Led by Pedro Álvares Cabral disembarked on 1500. Over the next three centuries it was re-settled by Portuguese and exploited mainly for brazilwood at first, and later for sugarcane agriculture. Work on the colony was based on slavery. In 1808 King João VI of Portugal, fleeing from Napoleon, relocated to Brazil with the royal family , nobles and government. Though they returned in 1821, the interlude led to the opening of commercial Ports to England - at the time isolated from most European ports by Napoleon - and the "elevation" of Brazil to the status of a United Kingdom to Portugal's Crown. In 1822 the then prince-regent Dom Pedro I, declared independence on September 7, 1822, establishing the independent Empire of Brazil. This lasted until the next emperor, Dom Pedro II was deposed and a republican based federation was established in November 15, 1889.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil attracted over 5 million European and Asian immigrants. That period also saw Brazil industrialise and further expand into its interior. Brazilian democracy was replaced by dictatorship three times — 1930–1934 and 1937–1945 under Getulio Vargas, and 1964–1985 under a succession of generals appointed by the military.
Brazil is now undergoing a deep economic and social crisis due to its huge national debt, which consumes a disproportionate fraction of its GNP and is preventing much-needed investment and economic growth.
Main article: Politics of Brazil
The 1988 constitution grants broad powers to the federal government, of which the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The president has extensive executive powers and is both head of state and head of government and he also appoints the cabinet.
The Brazilian legislature, the bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional, consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal of 81 seats, of which three members from each state or federal district are elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period. Beside the Senate there is the Chamber of Deputies or Câmara dos Deputados of 513 seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms.
See also:
Main article: States of Brazil
Brazil consists of 26 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district (distrito federal):
See also: List of cities in Brazil
Main article: Geography of Brazil
Brazil is characterised by the extensive low-lying Amazon Rainforest in the north, and a more open terrain of hills and (low) mountains to the south, home to most of Brazil's population and its agricultural base. Along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean are also found several mountain ranges, amongst which the highest peak is the Pico da Neblina at 3,014 m. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume, the Paraná with its impressive Iguaçu falls, the Rio Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the Tapajós rivers.
Situated along the equator, Brazil's climate is predominantly tropical, with little seasonal variation, though the subtropical south is more temperate and can occasionally experience frost and snow. Precipitation is abundant in the humid Amazon Basin, though more arid landscapes are found as well, in particular in the northeast. Cool.
Main article: Economy of Brazil
Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, as well as a large labour pool, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. Major export products include coffee, soybeans, iron ore, orange juice and steel. After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a USD 41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the Real would no longer be pegged to the US dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998, and the country posted moderate GDP growth.
Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001 - to less than 2% - because of a slowdown in major markets and the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures. Investor confidence was strong at yearend 2001, in part because of the strong recovery in the trade balance. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.
After Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to power in 2003, the government have changed softly the economic policies, but, after a recess of the economy, it is growing again, and it's expected to grow for a long time.
See also:
Main article: Demographics of Brazil
The only clearly separated minority ethnic groups in Brazil are the various non-assimilated indigenous tribes, comprising less than 1% of the population, who live in officially delimited reservations and either avoid contact with "civilized" people, or have assimilated mainstream Brazilian culture to some extent but still constitute separate social and political communities. The rest of the population can be considered a single "Brazilian" ethnic group, with highly varied racial types and backgrounds, some broad regional trends, but without clear ethnic sub-divisions.
Most of the population descends from early European settlers (chiefly Portuguese, but also some French and Dutch), African slaves (Yoruba, Ewe, Bantu, and others), and assimilated indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi and Guarani, but also of many other ethnic groups). Trans-ethnic marriages and concubinates have been common and fairly well accepted ever since the first Portuguese settlers arrived.
Starting in the late 19th century Brazil received substantial immigration from several other countries, mainly Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Lebanon, Japan, China and Korea. The Japanese are the largest Asian group in Brazil, but some Chinese and Koreans also settled Brazil. Most Chinese came from mainland China, but others came from Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and also from Portuguese-speaking Macau. (These Chinese from Macao could speak and understand Portuguese, and it was not hard for them to adjust to Brazilian life.) Those immigrant populations and their descendants still retain some of their original ethnic identity, however they are not closed communities and are rapidly integrating into mainstream Brazilian society: for instance, very few of the third generation can understand their grandparents' languages.
About 74% of all Brazilians claims to be member of the Roman Catholic Church; most of the remaining 26% adhere to various Protestant faiths, Kardecism, Candomblé, Umbanda, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.
According to IBGE 2000 Census, these are the biggest religious denominations in Brazil (only listed those with more than a half million members):
Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, giving it a distinct national culture separate from its Spanish-speaking neighbors.
Portuguese is the only language with full official status in Brazil; it is virtually the only language used in schools, newspapers, radio and TV, and for all business and administrative purposes. However many of the indigenous peoples still speak their native languages. These include Mbyá-Guaraní (or simply Guaraní), Kaingang, Nadëb, Carajá, Caribe, Tucano, Arára, Terêna, Borôro, Apalaí, Canela, Língua Geral (which is now almost extinct but at one time it was the common language used by indigenous and African and African descendent captives throughout the coast of Brazil), and many others. Some of those languages have recently obtained local co-official status — e.g. Nheengatu, Tukano, and Baniwa in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas (2003).
Other languages such as German, Italian, Polish and Japanese are still spoken by 19th and 20th century immigrants and their descendants; however they are rapidly being replaced by Portuguese as those communities are integrating into Brazilian society. Some immigrant communities in southern Brazil, chiefly German and Italians ones, have lasted long enough to develop distinctive languages — for example Hunsrückisch and Pommersch. A Japanese-language newspaper, the São Paulo Shinbun, is still published in São Paulo. The English-language daily Culture of Brazil
Main Article: Sports in Brazil
Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
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