Brazil

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Brazil (disambiguation).

Federative Republic of Brazil [República Federativa do Brasil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) Template:Pt icon
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Ordem e Progresso" Template:Pt icon "Order and Progress"
Anthem: Hino Nacional Brasileiro Template:Pt icon "Brazilian National Anthem"
National seal Selo Nacional do Brasil Template:Pt icon "National Seal of Brazil"
Capital	Brasília
Largest city	São Paulo
Official languages	Portuguese (see Languages of Brazil)
Ethnic groups	49.4% White 42.3% Pardo (Brown) 7.4% Black 0.5% Asian 0.4% Amerindian
Demonym(s)	Brazilian
Government	Presidential Federal republic
• President	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)
• Vice-President	José Alencar (PRB)
• President of the Chamber of Deputies	Michel Temer (PMDB)
• President of the Senate	José Sarney (PMDB)
• Chief Justice	Gilmar Mendes
Independence  from Portugal
• Declared	September 7, 1822
• Recognized	August 29, 1825
• Republic	November 15, 1889
• Current constitution	October 5, 1988
Area
• Total	8,514,877 km2 (3,287,612 sq mi) (5th)
• Water (%)	0.65
Population
• 2009 estimate	191,241,714 (5th)
• 2007 census	189,987,291
• Density	22/km2 (57.0/sq mi) (182nd)
GDP (PPP)	2008 estimate
• Total	$1.984 trillion (9th)
• Per capita	$10,465 (77th)
GDP (nominal)	2008 estimate
• Total	$1.665 trillion (8th)
• Per capita	$8,295 (63rd)
Gini (2009)	49.3
HDI (2007)	0.813  (75th)
Currency	Real (R$) (BRL)
Time zone	UTC-2 to -4 (BRT )
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2 to -4 (BRST )
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+55
ISO 3166 code	BR
Internet TLD	.br

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) , is the largest country in South America and the only Portuguese-speaking country on that continent. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America and the fifth most populous country in the world.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over Template:Km to mi. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.

Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822. Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified. Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.

Brazil is the world's eighth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest by purchasing power parity. Economic reforms have given the country new international recognition. It is a founding member of the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations. A predominantly Roman Catholic, Portuguese-speaking, and multiethnic society, Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology

The etymology of the name Brazil is not well established. The most accepted is that it was named after the tree brazilwood which in Portuguese is pau-brasil, with the Portuguese word brasil being commonly given the etymology 'red like an ember,' formed from Latin brasa ('ember') plus the suffix -il* (from -iculum or -ilium). Another possibility is the Irish legendary island of Hy-Brazil, known to Western European sailors in the 1500s and popularized in its current spelling by Italian cartographer Angelinus Alorto's 1325 map "L'Isola Brazil." Its origin comes from the celtic word bress, which means 'to bless,' thereby giving the island Hy Brazil the name 'Blessed land.' The "scholars from the 16th century did not doubt that the name Brazil came from the legendary island", but wrongly held the belief that it had been named after the wood came from the sailors who trafficked it.

History

Main article: History of Brazil

Native Brazilians and early Portuguese settlers

Main articles: Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Colonial Brazil

The first Christian mass celebrated in what would later be called Brazil and also the beginning of the Portuguese colonization.

When arriving in April 1500 in the coast of what would later be known as Brazil, the Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral found the primitive people who inhabited it. They were divided in several distinct tribes, that fought among themselves and that shared the same Tupi-Guarani linguistic family. The “men were hunters, fishers and food collectors and the women were encharged of the reduced agricultural activity that was practiced.” Some of the tribes were nomads and other sedentary; they knew the fire but not metal casting and a few were cannibals. The settling was effectively initiated in 1534, when King Dom João III divided the Brazilian territory in twelve hereditary captaincies that would be governed by members of the lesser nobility or proceeding from educated families. The experience revealed itself to be an utter disaster, and in 1549 the king assigned a governor-general to administrate the entire colony.

Around 1530, the Tupiniquim (the same tribe that Cabral met) and their bitter enemies the Tupinambá, the largest and most important tribes in Brazil, allied themselves with the Portuguese and the French, respectively. Between the Portuguese and the Tupiniquim “occurred a certain intermittently pacific inter-racial assimilation.” While the Tupinambás, however, were mostly exterminated in long wars and mainly by European diseases to which they had no immunities. The ones that survived were enslaved by other tribes or by the Portuguese or fled toward the countryside. By the middle of the 16th century, sugar had become the most important item of the Brazilian exportations. Thus, the Portuguese turned to other forms of man power to handle with the increasing international demand. Enslaved Africans were imported and became the “basic pillar of the economy” in the most populous areas of the colony.

Territorial expansion

The Portuguese and their Amerindian and African allies expanded the Brazilian territory through endless wars of conquest.

See also: Bandeirantes

Through wars against the French, the Portuguese slowly expanded their territory to the Southeast, taking Rio de Janeiro in 1567, and to the northwest, São Luís in 1615. They suffered a setback with the Dutch invasions that began in 1630 and that managed to conquer large portions of the Brazilian northeastern coastline. The Dutch domain did not last long and they were expelled definitively in 1649. The Portuguese sent military expeditions to the Amazon rainforest that defeated and conquered British and Dutch strongholds. The Portuguese settlement in the region initiated in 1669, with the foundation of villages and forts. In 1680 they reached the far south and founded Sacramento at the side of the Rio de la Plata, in the Eastern Strip region (current Uruguay). At the end of the 17th century sugar exports entered in decline due to competition with the British and Dutch colonies in the Caribbean and also due to high taxes. The discovery of gold by explorers in the region that would later be called Minas Gerais (General Mines) between 1693 and 1695 saved the colony from its imminent collapse. From all over Brazil, as well from Portugal, thousands of immigrants, from all ethnicities, departed toward the mines. In the following decades other gold mines were found in current Mato Grosso and Goiás, in the Brazilian Central-West.

The Spanish tried to prevent the Portuguese expansion on the territory belonged to them according to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 and succeeded on conquering the Eastern Strip in 1777. All in vain as the Treaty of San Ildefonso signed in the same year confirmed Portuguese domain over all lands proceeding from its territorial expansion, thus creating most of current Brazilian borders. In 1808, the Portuguese Royal family, fleeing from the troops of the French Emperor Napoleon I that were invading Portugal and most of Central Europe, established themselves in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which thus became the seat of the entire Portuguese Empire In 1815 King Dom João VI, then regent on behalf of his incapacitated mother, elevated Brazil from colony to sovereign Kingdom united with Portugal. The Portuguese invaded French Guiana in 1809 (that was returned to France in 1817) and the Eastern Strip in 1816 that was subsequently renamed Cisplatina.

Independence and Empire

Main articles: Brazilian War of Independence and Empire of Brazil

Declaration of the Brazilian independence by Emperor Dom Pedro I in September 7, 1822.

King Dom João VI returned to Europe in 26 April, 1821, leaving his elder son Dom Pedro as regent to rule Brazil. The Portuguese government attempted to turn Brazil into a colony once again, thus depriving it of its achievements since 1808. The Brazilians refused to yield and Prince Pedro stood by their side declaring the country's independence from Portugal in September 7, 1822. On October 12, 1822, Pedro was acclaimed first Emperor of Brazil as Dom Pedro I and crowned on 1 December 1822. In 1822 almost all Brazilians were in favor of a monarchical form of government. Republicanism was an ideal supported by few individuals at that moment of the Brazilian history. The subsequent Brazilian War of Independence expanded through almost its entire territory, with battles that were fought in the northern, northeastern and southern regions of Brazil. The last Portuguese army surrendered in March 8, 1824 and Brazilian independence was recognized by Portugal in November 25, 1825.

The first Brazilian constitution was promulgated in March 25 1824, after its acceptance by the municipal councils across the country. However, the Brazilian defeat in the Argentina-Brazil War resulting in the loss of Cisplatine (nowadays Uruguay), Pedro I incapacity in dealing with a representative system where he would have to take in account the opinion of the parliamentary opposition and the provincial desire for a higher decentralization all contributed for lowering his prestige among the Brazilians. But the main reason for his abdication was due to his continuous interest in the succession crisis in Portugal. The emperor refused the Portuguese crown in favor of his eldest daughter in 1826, but his brother Dom Miguel usurped the throne. For the surprise, and against the will, of the Brazilians, Pedro I abdicated in 7 April 1831 and departed to Europe to reclaim his daughter’s crown leaving behind his son and heir who became Dom Pedro II.

Emperor Pedro II reign

Main article: Pedro II of Brazil

See also: Slavery in Brazil

Emperor Dom Pedro II at age 27, 1853. For "the longevity of his government and the transformations that occurred in its course, no other Head of State has marked more deeply the history of the country."

As the new emperor, who ascended the crown as a child, could not exert his constitutional prerogatives as emperor until he reached maturity, a regency was created. Disputes between political factions that led to rebellions resulted in an unstable, almost anarchical, regency. The rebellious factions, however, were not in revolt against the monarchy, even though some declared the secession of the provinces as independent republics (but only so long as Pedro II was a minor). Thus, he was prematurely declared of age and “Brazil was to enjoy nearly half a century of internal peace and rapid material progress.” Brazil also won three international wars during his long reign of 58 years (Platine War, Uruguayan War and War of the Triple Alliance.)

The emperor, who never owned slaves, also led the abolitionist campaign that eventually extinguished slavery after a slow but steady process that went from the end of international traffic in 1850 up to the complete abolition in 1888. However, he took longer than expected "to trespass the political obstacles” making Brazil the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery. Slavery had been in decline since the country's independence: in 1823, 29% of the Brazilian population were slaves; it fell to 24% in 1854; then to 15,2% in 1872; and finally to less than 5% in 1887. When the monarchy was overthrown in November 15, 1889. there was no desire in Brazil (at least among the majority of its population) to change the form of government and Pedro II was on the height of his popularity among his subjects. Pedro II, however, “bore prime, perhaps sole, responsibility for his own overthrown.” After the death of his two male sons, he believed that “the imperial regime was destined to end with him.” The emperor did not care about its fate and did nothing (nor allowed anyone) to prevent the military coup that was backed by former slave owners that resented the abolition of slavery. The monarchist reaction after the fall of the empire “was not small and even less was its repression”.

Old Republic and Vargas Era

Main articles: República Velha, Estado Novo (Brazil), and Brazilian Second Republic

The Brazilian coup d'état of 1930 raised Getúlio Vargas (on center with military uniform but no hat) to power. He would rule the country for fifteen years.

The early republican government “was little more than a military dictatorship. The army dominated affairs both at Rio de Janeiro and in the states. Freedom of the press disappeared and elections were controlled by those in power”. In 1894 the republican civilians rose to power, opening a “prolonged cycle of civil war, financial disaster, and government incompetence.” By 1902, the government "began a return to the policies pursued during the Empire, policies that promised peace and order at home and a restoration of Brazil’s prestige abroad.” and was successful in negotiating several treaties that expanded (with the purchase of Acre) and secured the Brazilian boundaries. In the 1920s the country was plagued by several rebellions caused by young military officers. By 1930, the regime was weakened and demoralized, which allowed the defeated presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas to lead a coup d’état and assume the presidency. Vargas was supposed to assume the presidency temporarily, but instead closed the National Congress, extinguished the Constitution, ruled with emergency powers and deposed the states governors and nominated substitutes loyal to him in their places.

In 1935 the Communists rebelled all over the country and tried to take power, but were defeated. The communist threat served as an excuse for him to launch another coup d’Etat in 1937, making Brazil a full dictatorship. The repression against the opposition was brutal, with more than 20,000 people imprisoned, interment camps for political prisoners were created in distant regions of the country, censorship of the press was established and torture by the government's agents of repression became common. Brazil remained neutral at the early years of World War II until the government declared war against the Axis powers in 1942. After that Vargas forced Germans, Japanese and Italians immigrants into concentration camps, and sent troops to the battlefields in Italy in 1944. With the end of the Nazi-fascist regimes in Europe after the allied victory in 1945, Vargas position became unsustainable and he was overthrown by a military coup in the same year. Democracy was reinstated and General Eurico Gaspar Dutra was elected president and took office in 1946. Vargas returned to power in 1951, this time democratically elected, but he was incapable of both governing under a democracy and of dealing with an active opposition and ended up committing suicide in 1953.

Military regime and Contemporary era

Main articles: Military dictatorship (Brazil) and History of Brazil since 1985

File:1964coupRJ.jpg

The Brazilian military regime that lasted from 1964 until 1985 was marked by alternated moments of freedom and implacable repression.

Some brief interim governments succeeded after Vargas‘s suicide. Juscelino Kubitscheck became president in 1956 and assumed a conciliating posture that allowed him to govern without major crises. His economical and industrial policy was highly successful. But his greatest achievement was the construction of Brasília, the new Brazilian capital inaugurated in 1960. His successor was Jânio Quadros who resigned in 1961, less than a year after taking office. His vice-president, João Goulart, assumed the presidency, but suffered large opposition and was deposed in April 1964 by a coup that resulted in a military regime intended to be transitory, but that gradually closed itself until it became a full dictatorship with the promulgation of the Fifth Institutional Act in 1968. The repression against the dictatorship's opponents and also against the communist terrorists (who did not struggle over the return of democracy, but instead over the implantation of a communist dictatorship) was the most severe, but not nearly as brutal as in other Latin American countries. Due to the extraordinary economic growth, that was known as “economic miracle”, the regime reached its highest level of popularity in those years of repression.

General Ernesto Geisel became president in 1974 and began his project of re-democratization through a process that would have to be “slow, gradual and safe”. Geisel ended with the military indiscipline that plagued the country since 1889, as well as with the torture of political prisoners and censorship of the press, and finally, with the dictatorship itself after he extinguished the Fifth Institutional Act. However, the military regime continued under his chosen successor to accomplish the transition to full democracy, General João Figueiredo. The civilians fully returned to power in 1985 when José Sarney assumed the presidency but he ended his term extremely unpopular due to the uncontrollable economic crisis and unusually high inflation. That allowed the election in 1989 of the almost unknown nationwide Fernando Collor, who was impeached by the National Congress in 1992. He was succeeded by his Vice-President Itamar Franco, who called Fernando Henrique Cardoso to assume the Ministry of Finance portfolio. Cardoso was highly successful with his Plano Real (Royal Plan) that granted stability to the Brazilian economy and his efforts were recognized by the Brazilians who elected him president in 1994 and again in 1998. The peaceful and warmly transition from power to Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected in 2002 (and re-elected in 2006), revealed that Brazil had finally succeeded in achieving its long sought political stability.

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Brazil

The National Congress in Brasília, the capital of Brazil.

The Brazilian Federation is based on the union of three autonomous political entities: the States, the Municipalities and the Federal District. A fourth entity originated in the aforementioned association: the Union. There is no hierarchy among the political entities. The Federation is set on six fundamental principles: sovereignty, citizenship, dignity of the people, social value of labor, freedom of enterprise, and political pluralism. The classic tripartite branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial under the checks and balances system), is formally established by the Constitution. The executive and legislative are organized independently in all four political entities, while the judiciary is organized only in the federal and state levels.

All members of the executive and legislative branches are directly elected. Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams. Voting is compulsory for those between 18 and 65 years old. Four political parties stand out among several small ones: Workers' Party (PT), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), and Democrats (formerly Liberal Front Party – PFL). Almost all governmental and administrative functions are exercised by authorities and agencies affiliated to the Executive.

The form of government is that of a democratic republic, with a presidential system. The president is both head of state and head of government of the Union and is elected for a four-year term, with the possibility of re-election for a second successive term. The current president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He was elected on October 27, 2002, and re-elected on October 29, 2006. The President appoints the Ministers of State, who assist in governing. Legislative houses in each political entity are the main source of laws in Brazil. The National Congress is the Federation's bicameral legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Judiciary authorities exercise jurisdictional duties almost exclusively.

Law

Main articles: Law of Brazil and Crime in Brazil

The eleven members of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil and the attorney general.

Interior of the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Brazilian law is based on Roman-Germanic traditions. Thus, civil law concepts prevail over common law practices. Most of Brazilian law is codified, although non-codified statutes also represent a substantial part of the system, playing a complementary role. Court decisions set out interpretive guidelines; however, they are not binding on other specific cases except in a few situations. Doctrinal works and the works of academic jurists have strong influence in law creation and in law cases. The legal system is based on the Federal Constitution, which was promulgated on 5 October 1988, and is the fundamental law of Brazil. All other legislation and court decisions must conform to its rules. As of April 2007, there have been 53 amendments. States have their own constitutions, which must not contradict the Federal Constitution. Municipalities and the Federal District do not have their own constitutions; instead, they have "organic laws" ([leis orgânicas] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). Legislative entities are the main source of statutes, although in certain matters judiciary and executive bodies may enact legal norms.

Jurisdiction is administered by the judiciary entities, although in rare situations the Federal Constitution allows the Federal Senate to pass on legal judgments. There are also specialized military, labor, and electoral courts. The highest court is the Supreme Federal Tribunal. This system has been criticised over the last decades due to the slow pace at which final decisions are issued. Lawsuits on appeal may take several years to resolve, and in some cases more than a decade elapses before definitive rulings are made. Nevertheless, Supreme Federal Tribunal is the first court in the world to transmit its sessions on television, and more recently also in Youtube.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Brazil

States hosting a diplomatic mission of Brazil.

Brazil is a political and economic leader in Latin America. However, social and economic problems prevent it from becoming an effective global power. Between World War II and 1990, both democratic and military governments sought to expand Brazil's influence in the world by pursuing a state-led industrial policy and an independent foreign policy. More recently, the country has aimed to strengthen ties with other South American countries, engage in multilateral diplomacy through the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Brazil's current foreign policy is based on the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power. In general current Brazilian foreign policy reflects multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and nonintervention in the affairs of other countries. The Brazilian Constitution also determines the country shall seek the economic, political, social and cultural integration of the nations of Latin America.

Military

Main article: Brazilian Armed Forces

File:AirplanesFAB123182.jpg

AMX ground attack aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force.

Special Forces of the Brazilian Army.

Aircraft carrier NAE São Paulo
of the Brazilian Navy.

The Armed forces of Brazil consist of the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Navy, and the Brazilian Air Force. The Brazilian military numbers about 300,000 men and women and has a budget of 2.6 percent of the national economy in 2009 or about $52 billion US dollars. The Military Police (States' Military Police) is described as an ancillary force of the Army by the constitution, but is under the control of each state's governor. The Brazilian armed forces are the largest in Latin America. The Brazilian Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Brazilian armed forces, the largest air force in Latin America, with about 700 manned aircraft in service. The Brazilian Navy is responsible for naval operations and for guarding Brazilian territorial waters. It is the oldest of the Brazilian Armed forces and the only navy in Latin America to operate an aircraft carrier, the NAe São Paulo (formerly FS Foch of the French Navy). The Brazilian Army is responsible for land-based military operations, with a strength of approximately 190,000 soldiers. In 2008 the Brazilian minister of defense has formulated the “Estratégia Nacional de Defesa” (National defense Strategy), that claims to build a strong national industry and make strategic partnerships with allied nations to develop technology together.

Recently, Brazil has began to emerge as a major world power and a potential superpower; thus Brazil has begun to develop as a major military power. In 2008, Brazil has signed a strategic partnership with France and Russia to trade military technology. Brazil has also begun negotiations with France to have Brazil build 120 Rafale aircraft locally by Embraer. Also in 2008 the Brazilian company Embraer showcased the Brazilian transport aircraft, Embraer KC-390, and some countries already have shown interest in the aircraft, with France even placing orders. In 2009 Brazil purchased 4 Scorpène submarines for US $9.9 billion with a massive technology transfer agreement. In a second agreement, France will provide technical assistance to Brazil so that Brazil can design and produce indigenous nuclear powered submarines, to be completely built in Brazil. The Brazilian government has announced that a Helibras factory in Itajubá, Minas Gerais, will initially produce 50 units of the EC 725 and up to 1,300 new helicopters for the Brazilian military. Helibras will now also produce Eurocopter's full line of products, with the first units to be operational in 2010.

The Department of Defense of Brazil, in 2009 also asked the Brazilian Navy to develop a plan for the next 30 years. To carry out the plans of power projection that Brazil wants to run, the expenditure will cost more than $138 billion US dollars, within the Navy alone. The program is called PEAMB. The strategy is to buy or build 2 aircraft carriers (40 000 tonnes), 4 Amphibious assault ships (20 000 tonnes), 30 escort ships, 15 submarines, 5 nuclear submarines and 62 (patrol ships). In July 2009, the minister of defense, Nelson Jobim, said that Brazil will expend about 0.7% ($13 billion USD) of the GDP per year to modernize the forces in addition to the 2.6% yearly defense budget. He stated, "We are raising a study to make the financial schedule of the entire project. It will be a 20 year plan, including modernization and expansion of the elements for defense of the Brazilian territory.

Subdivisions

According to the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, Brazil is a federation of 26 states, one federal district and also the municipalities. None of these units has the right to secede from the Federation.

States

Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean North Northeast Central-West Southeast South Acre Amazonas Pará Roraima Amapá Rondônia Tocantins Maranhão Bahia Piauí Ceará Rio Grande do Norte Paraíba Pernambuco Alagoas Sergipe Mato Grosso Mato Grosso do Sul Federal District Goiás Minas Gerais São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Espírito Santo Paraná Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela

Main article: States of Brazil

States (estados) are based on historical, conventional borders and have developed throughout the centuries, though some boundaries are arbitrary. The states can be split or joined together in new states if their people express a desire to do so in a plebiscite. States have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Federal government. They have a governor and a unicameral legislative body (Assembleia Legislativa) elected directly by their voters. They also have independent Courts of Law for common justice. Despite that, in Brazil states have much less autonomy to create their own laws than in the United States. For example, criminal and civil laws can only be voted by the federal bicameral Congress and are uniform throughout the country.

In 1977, Mato Grosso state was split into two. The northern new state retained the name Mato Grosso and the old capital, Cuiabá, while the southern area became the new state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with Campo Grande as its capital. In 1988, the northern portion of Goiás state became the new state of Tocantins. Initially, the capital of Tocantins was the small city of Miracema do Norte (now called Miracema do Tocantins), but it was later moved to the new city of Palmas.

The equator cuts through the states of Amapá, Pará, Roraima and Amazonas in the North, and the Tropic of Capricorn cuts through the states of São Paulo, northern Paraná and southern Mato Grosso do Sul. Acre is in the far west side of the country, covered by the Amazonian forest. Paraíba is the easternmost state of Brazil; Ponta do Seixas, in the city of João Pessoa, is the easternmost point of continental Brazil and of the Americas. In contrast to the tropical climate of most of Brazil, the southern states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina all have a temperate subtropical climate.

The state of Amazonas is the largest in area, comparable in size to Alaska. The state of São Paulo has the largest population and is the economic center of Brazil. Its agriculture, industry, commerce, and services are the most diversified in the nation. Although a large part of its production is exported to other states and other countries, the consumer market of the state is also the biggest in Brazil. In contrast to most of the Brazilian states, the economy of São Paulo is strong even in noncoastal cities.

Today the city of Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the homonymous state, but it has not always been so. Until 1960, the city was the national capital, and its territory was Brazil's Federal District. This led to the strange and confusing situation that the city of Rio de Janeiro was not located in the surrounding state with the same name (whose capital was then Niterói). In 1960, Brasília became the new national capital, and a new Federal District was carved out of Goiás state to contain it. Then the city of Rio de Janeiro became a new state, named Guanabara (after the large bay on which the city sits), as one can still find in old books. Comprising only one city, Guanabara was the only Brazilian state that had no municipalities: the city was directly administered by the state government. All these anomalies disappeared in 1975, when the states of Guanabara and Rio de Janeiro merged, retaining the name of Rio de Janeiro. The city of Rio de Janeiro then became a new municipality and the capital of the new combined state.

Municipalities

Main article: Municipalities of Brazil

Municipalities (municípios) can be split or joined together in new municipalities if their people express a desire to do so in a plebiscite, following some rules of the Federal Constitution and keeping their borders within the former state; forming exclaves is also expressly forbidden. Municipalities have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Union and state government. They have a mayor and a legislative body elected directly by their people, but they have no separate Courts of Law. Indeed, a Court of Law organized by the state can encompass many municipalities in a single justice administrative division called comarca.

The Federal District

Brasília, capital of Brazil.

The Federal District (Distrito Federal) contains the national capital city, Brasília. The Federal District is not a state in its own right, but shares some characteristics of a state and some of a municipality, while also having some special provisions of its own, intended for the local administration not to conflict with the federal government seat that it hosts. It cannot be divided into municipalities, and its Courts of Law are part of the Federal Judiciary System.

Former territories

The Brazilian Constitution allows for the existence of incorporated territories (territórios), ruled directly by the federal government and with less autonomy than states, but no territory currently exists. The first territory to be created was Acre, in 1904, when that former Bolivian region became Brazilian. In 1943, when Brazil went to the Second World War, for strategic reasons the Getúlio Vargas regime detached six further territories from border and outlying areas of the country, in order to administer them directly: Amapá, Rio Branco, Guaporé, Ponta Porã, Iguaçu, and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

In 1946, two of the seven territories became extinct, reverting to the original states they had been split from: Mato Grosso state incorporated the territory of Ponta Porã and the northern part of Iguaçu, while central Iguaçu went to the state of Paraná, and southern Iguaçu went to the state of Santa Catarina.

As for the other territories (Acre, Amapá, Guaporé, Rio Branco, and Fernando de Noronha), they remained as such for many years more. In 1956, the name of Guaporé territory was changed to Rondônia, and in 1962 Rio Branco territory was renamed Roraima. Also in 1962, Acre became a state.

In 1988, with the new Constitution, Amapá, Rondônia and Roraima became states as well, while Fernando de Noronha became part of the state of Pernambuco, thus leaving no more territories remaining in Brazil.

Regions

Main article: Regions of Brazil

Brazilian regions.

The Brazilian regions are merely geographical, not political or administrative divisions, and do not have any specific form of government. Although defined by law, Brazilian regions are useful mainly for statistical purposes, and sometimes to define the application of federal funds in development projects.

The national territory was divided in 1969 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), for demographic and statistical purposes, into five main regions: North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South.

The North region covers 45.27% of the land area of Brazil, but has the lowest number of inhabitants. With the exception of Manaus, which hosts a tax-free industrial zone, and Belém, the biggest metropolitan area of the region, it is fairly unindustrialized and undeveloped. It accommodates most of the Amazon rainforest and many indigenous tribes.

The Northeast region is inhabited by about 30% of Brazil's population. It is culturally diverse, with roots set in the Portuguese colonial period and in Amerindian and Afro-Brazilian elements. It is also the poorest region of Brazil, and suffers from long periods of drought. The largest cities are Salvador, Recife, and Fortaleza.

The Central-West region has low demographic density when compared to the other regions, being only more densely populated than the North region. Part of its territory is covered by the world's largest wetland area, the Pantanal as well as a small part of the Amazon Rainforest in the northwest. However, most of the region is covered by the Cerrado, the world's largest savanna. The Central-West region contributes significantly towards the nation's agricultural output.

The Southeast region is by far the richest in terms of total economic output, and also the most densely populated region. It has a larger population than any South American country except Brazil itself, and hosts one of the largest megalopolises of the world, extending between the country's two largest cities: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The region is very diverse, including the major business center of São Paulo, the historical cities of Minas Gerais and its capital Belo Horizonte, the third-largest metropolitan area in Brazil, the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, and the coast of Espírito Santo.

The South region is the wealthiest by GDP per capita and has the highest standard of living among the country's regions. It is also the coldest region of Brazil, with occasional frost and snow in some of the higher-altitude areas. It has been settled mainly by European immigrants, mostly of Italian, German and Portuguese ancestry, being clearly influenced by these cultures.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Brazil

See also: List of countries and outlying territories by total area

Topography map of Brazil.

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior region, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the French overseas department of French Guiana to the north. Brazil shares a border with every country in South America, except for Ecuador and Chile. The factors of size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world—after Russia, Canada, China and the United States—and third largest in the Americas; with a total area of Template:Km2 to mi2, including Template:Km2 to mi2 of water. It spans three time zones; from UTC-4, in the western states; to UTC-3, in the eastern states, the official time of Brazil, and UTC-2, in the Atlantic islands.

Brazilian topography is also diverse, including hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of Brazil lies between 200 metres (660 ft) and 800 metres (2,600 ft) in elevation. The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country. The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills. The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). These ranges include the Mantiqueira Mountains, the Espinhaço Mountains, and the Serra do Mar. In north, the Guiana Highlands form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the Amazon Basin from rivers that empty into the Orinoco River system, in Venezuela, to the north. The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at 3,014 metres (9,888 ft), and the lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in terms of volume of water, and the second-longest in the world; the Paraná and its major tributary, the Iguaçu River, where the Iguazu Falls are located; the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the Tapajós rivers.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Brazil

Amazon Rainforest, the largest tropical forest in the world.

The climate of Brazil comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large geographic scale and varied topography, but the largest part of the country is tropical. Analysed according to the Köppen system, Brazil hosts five major climatic subtypes: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and temperate; ranging from equatorial rainforests in the north and semiarid deserts in the northeast, to temperate coniferous forests in the south and tropical savannas in central Brazil. Many regions have starkly different microclimates.

An equatorial climate characterizes much of northern Brazil. There is no real dry season, but there are some variations in the period of the year when most rain falls. Temperatures average 25 °C (77 °F), with more significant temperature variations between night and day than between seasons. Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate. This region is as large and extensive as the Amazon basin but, lying farther south and being at a moderate altitude, it has a very different climate. In the interior northeast, seasonal rainfall is even more extreme. The semiarid climate region generally receives less than 800 millimetres (31 in) of rain, most of which falls in a period of three to five months and occasionally even more insufficiently, creating long periods of drought. From south of Bahia, near São Paulo, the distribution of rainfall changes, where some appreciable rainfall occurs in all months. The south has temperate conditions, with average temperatures below 18 °C (64 °F) and cool winters; frosts are quite common, with occasional snowfalls in the higher areas.

Wildlife

Main articles: Wildlife of Brazil and Deforestation in Brazil

The Macaw is a typical animal of Brazil. The country has one of the world's most diverse populations of birds and amphibians.

Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems, such as the Amazon Rainforest, recognized as having the greatest biological diversity in the world; the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, which together sustain some of the world's greatest biodiversity. In the south, the Araucaria pine forest grows under temperate conditions. The rich wildlife of Brazil reflects the variety of natural habitats. Much of it, however, remains largely unknown, and new species are found on nearly a daily basis.

Scientists estimate that the total number of plant and animal species in Brazil could approach four million. Larger mammals include pumas, jaguars, ocelots, rare bush dogs, and foxes. Peccaries, tapirs, anteaters, sloths, opossums, and armadillos are abundant. Deer are plentiful in the south, and monkeys of many species abound in the northern rain forests. Concern for the environment in Brazil has grown in response to global interest in environmental issues.

Its natural heritage is extremely threatened by cattle ranching and agriculture, logging, mining, resettlement, oil and gas extraction, over-fishing, expansion of urban centres, wildlife trade, fire, climate change, dams and infrastructure, water contamination, and invasive species. In many areas of the country, the natural environment is threatened by development. Construction of highways has opened up previously remote areas for agriculture and settlement; dams have flooded valleys and inundated wildlife habitats; and mines have scarred and polluted the landscape.

Economy

Main articles: Economy of Brazil and Economic history of Brazil

Economy of Brazil

São Paulo, the wealthiest city of Brazil and the largest financial center in Latin America.
Currency	Brazilian real (BRL, R$)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	Unasul, WTO, Mercosur, G-20 and others
Statistics
GDP	US$ 1.994 trillion (2008)
GDP growth	5.7% (2008)
GDP per capita	US$ 12,105 (2008)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 5.5% industry: 28.7% services: 65,8% (2007)
Inflation (CPI)	4.46% (2008)
Population below poverty line	15.5% (2009)
Gini coefficient	49.3 (2009)
Labour force	134.6 million (2009 est.)
Unemployment	7.6% (2008)
Main industries	airplanes, steel; iron ore, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; electronics; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites, real state, brewing, tourism
External
Exports	US$ 197.9 billion (2008)
Export goods	transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos, automotive parts, machinery, airplanes
Main export partners	United States 15.8%, Argentina 9.9%, China 7.9%, Netherlands 5.4%, Germany 4.7% (2008*)
Imports	US$ 173.2 billion (2008)
Import goods	machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil, automotive parts, electronics
Main import partners	United States 11.9%, China 10.6%, Argentina 9,0%, Germany 7,5%, Nigeria 4.5%, Japan 4.0% (2008)
Public finances
Government debt	US$ 103.2 billion; 6.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
Credit rating	BBB-
Foreign reserves	US$ 287.5 billion (2009 est.)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with leaders of other nations in the BRIC economic group.

Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; with large and developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors, as well as a large labor pool. Brazilian exports are booming, creating a new generation of tycoons. Major export products include aircraft, coffee, automobiles, soybean, iron ore, orange juice, steel, ethanol, textiles, footwear, corned beef and electrical equipment. The country has been expanding its presence in international financial and commodities markets, and is regarded as one of the group of four emerging economies called BRIC. The biggest investment boom in history is under way; in 2007, Brazil launched a four-year plan to spend $300 billion to modernize its road network, power plants and ports.

Brazil had pegged its currency, the real, to the U.S. dollar in 1994. However, after the East Asian financial crisis, the Russian default in 1998 and the series of adverse financial events that followed it, the Brazilian central bank temporarily changed its monetary policy to a managed-float scheme while undergoing a currency crisis, until definitively changing the exchange regime to free-float in January 1999. Brazil received an International Monetary Fund rescue package in mid-2002 in the amount of $30.4 billion, a record sum at that time. The IMF loan was paid off early by Brazil's central bank in 2005 (the due date was scheduled for 2006). One of the issues the Brazilian central bank is currently dealing with is the excess of speculative short-term capital inflows to the country in the past few months, which might explain in part the recent downfall of the U.S. dollar against the real in the period. Nonetheless, foreign direct investment (FDI), related to long-term, less speculative investment in production, is estimated to be $193.8 billion for 2007. Inflation monitoring and control currently plays a major role in Brazil's Central Bank activity in setting out short-term interest rates as a monetary policy measure.

Components and energy

Main articles: Agriculture in Brazil, Industry in Brazil, and Energy policy of Brazil

Itaipu Dam, the world's second largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation.

Brazil's economy is diverse, encompassing agriculture, industry, and a multitude of services. The recent economic strength has been due in part to a global boom in commodities prices with exports from beef to soybeans soaring. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 5.1% of the gross domestic product in 2007. A performance that puts agribusiness in a position of distinction in terms of Brazil's trade balance, in spite of trade barriers and subsidizing policies adopted by the developed countries. The industry; from automobiles, steel and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft, and consumer durables; accounted for 30.8% of the gross domestic product. Industry is highly concentrated geographically, with the leading concentrations in metropolitan São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte. Technologically advanced industries are also highly concentrated in these locations.

Brazil is the world's tenth largest energy consumer. Its energy comes from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol; and nonrenewable sources, mainly oil and natural gas. A global power in agriculture and natural resources, Brazil witnessed tremendous economic growth over the past three decades. Brazil is expected to become a major oil producer and exporter, having recently made huge oil discoveries. The governmental agencies responsible for the energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Council for Energy Policy, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, and the National Agency of Electricity.

Science and technology

Main article: Brazilian science and technology

An Embraer E-95 international airliner. Airplanes are one of the sophisticated products exported by Brazil.

Brazilian science effectively began in the first decades of the 19th century, when the Portuguese Royal Family, headed by John VI, arrived in Rio de Janeiro, escaping from the Napoleon's army invasion of Portugal in 1807. Until then, Brazil was a Portuguese colony, without universities, and a lack of cultural and scientific organizations, in stark contrast to the former American colonies of the Spanish Empire, which although having a largely illiterate population like Brazil and Portugal, had, however, a number of universities since the 16th century.

Technological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities and research institutes. Nonetheless, more than 73% of funding for basic research still comes from government sources. Some of Brazil's most notable technological hubs are the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the Butantan Institute, the Air Force's Aerospace Technical Center, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the INPE. The Brazilian Space Agency has the most advanced space program in Latin America, with significant capabilities to launch vehicles, launch sites and satellite manufacturing.

File:Alcantara Base 5.PNG

A VLS model satellite launch vehicle entirely designed and produced in Brazil.

On 14 October 1997, the Brazilian Space Agency signed an agreement with NASA to provide parts for the ISS. Uranium is enriched at the Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory to fuel the country's energy demands. Plans are on the way to build the country's first nuclear submarine. Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America with an operational Synchrotron Laboratory, a research facility on physics, chemistry, material science and life sciences.

Brazil has today a well developed organization of science and technology.

Basic research is largely carried out in public universities and research centers and institutes, and some in private institutions, particularly in non-profit non-governmental organizations. Thanks to governmental regulations and incentives, however, since the 1990s is has been growing in the private universities and companies, as well. Accordingly, more than 90% of funding for basic research comes from governmental sources.

Applied research, technology and engineering is also largely carried out in the university and research centers system, contrary-wise to other countries such as the United States, South Korea, Germany, Japan, etc. Companies such as Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and IBM have established large R&D&I centers in Brazil, starting with IBM, which had established an IBM Research Center in Brazil since the 1970s. One of the incentive factors for this, besides the relatively lower cost and high sophistication and skills of Brazilian technical manpower, has been the so-called Informatics Law, which exempts from certain taxes up to 5% of the gross revenue of high technology manufacturing companies in the fields of telecommunications, computers, digital electronics, etc. The Law has attracted annually more than 15 billion dollars of investment in Brazilian R&D&I. Multinational companies have also discovered that some products and technologies designed and developed by Brazilians have a nice competitivity and are appreciated by other countries, such as automobiles, aircraft, software, fiber optics, electronics, games, personal computers and so on.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Brazil and Immigration to Brazil

The Brazilian people has a diversified ethnic origin. First roll from left to right: White (Portuguese, German, Italian and Arab, respectively) and Asian Brazilians. Second roll from left to right: African, Pardo (Cafuzo, Mulatto and Caboclo, respectively) and Native Brazilians.

The Brazilian people is made up of many racial and ethnic groups. The last National Research for Sample of Domiciles (PNAD) census revealed the following: 49.4% of the population self-declared White, about 93 million; 42.3% self-declared Pardo (brown), about 80 million; 7.4% self-declared Black, about 13 million; 0.5% self-declared Asian, about 1 million; and 0.4% self-declared Amerindian, about 519,000. Also, in 2007, the National Indian Foundation reported the presence of 67 different tribes yet living without contact with civilization, up from 40 in 2005. With this figure, now Brazil has the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world, even more than the island of New Guinea.

In over three centuries of Portuguese colonization, Brazil received more than 700,000 Portuguese settlers and 4 million African slaves. The country has both the largest white population in the Tropics and population of African descent outside of Africa. Most Brazilians can trace their ancestry to the country's indigenous peoples, Portuguese settlers, and African slaves. Since 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, miscegenation between these three groups took place. The Mestizo population (or Pardo as it is officialy called) is a broader multiracial category that includes Caboclos (descendants of Whites and Indians), Mulattos (of Whites and Blacks) and Cafuzos (of Blacks and Indians). The Caboclos forms the majority of the population in the Northern, Northeastern and Central-Western regions. Bahia and Maranhão are the exception, as there is a large Mulatto population in both states.

Race/Ethnicity (2007)
White	49.4%
Pardo (Multiracial)	42.3%
Black	7.4%
Yellow (Asian)	0.5%
Native Brazilian	0.4%

Beginning in the 19th century, Brazil opened its borders to immigration: people from over 60 countries migrated to Brazil. About 5 million European and Asian immigrants arrived between 1870 and 1953, most of them from Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Germany. In the early 20th century, people from Japan and the Middle-East also arrived. The immigrants and their descendants had an important impact in the ethnic make-up of the Brazilian population, and many diasporas are present in the country. Brazil has the largest population of Lebanese in the world, it has even more Lebanese people than Lebanon, estimates range from 7-10 million. Brazil has the largest population of Italians outside Italy, with over 25 million Italian Brazilians, the largest population of Japanese outside Japan, with 1.6 million Japanese Brazilians, as well as the second largest population of Germans outside of Germany (after only the United States), with 12 million German Brazilians. A characteristic of Brazil is the race mixing. Genetically, most Brazilians have some degree of European, African, and Amerindian ancestry. The entire population has highly varied racial types and backgrounds, but without clear ethnic sub-divisions.

The largest metropolitan areas in Brazil are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte, with 19.7, 11.4, and 5.4 million inhabitants respectively. Almost all the capitals are the largest city in their corresponding state, except for Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina. There are also non-capital metropolitan areas in the states of São Paulo (Campinas, Santos and the Paraíba Valley), Minas Gerais (Steel Valley), Rio Grande do Sul (Sinos Valley), and Santa Catarina (Itajaí Valley).

Largest urban agglomerations in Brazil 2017 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimates
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
São Paulo Rio de Janeiro	1	São Paulo	São Paulo	21,314,716	11	Belém	Pará	2,157,180	Belo Horizonte Recife
	2	Rio de Janeiro	Rio de Janeiro	12,389,775	12	Manaus	Amazonas	2,130,264
	3	Belo Horizonte	Minas Gerais	5,142,260	13	Campinas	São Paulo	2,105,600
	4	Recife	Pernambuco	4,021,641	14	Vitória	Espírito Santo	1,837,047
	5	Brasília	Federal District	3,986,425	15	Baixada Santista	São Paulo	1,702,343
	6	Porto Alegre	Rio Grande do Sul	3,894,232	16	São José dos Campos	São Paulo	1,572,943
	7	Salvador	Bahia	3,863,154	17	São Luís	Maranhão	1,421,569
	8	Fortaleza	Ceará	3,594,924	18	Natal	Rio Grande do Norte	1,349,743
	9	Curitiba	Paraná	3,387,985	19	Maceió	Alagoas	1,231,965
	10	Goiânia	Goiás	2,347,557	20	João Pessoa	Paraíba	1,168,941

Language

Main articles: Languages of Brazil, Portuguese language, and Brazilian Portuguese

Museum of the Portuguese Language in São Paulo, the first language museum in the world.

Portuguese is the official language of Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the population and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for all business and administrative purposes, with the exception of Nheengatu, an indigenous language of South America which was granted co-official status alongside Portuguese in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira. Moreover, Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from its Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, influenced by the Amerindian and African languages. Due to this, the language is somewhat different from that spoken in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries, mainly for phonological and orthographic differences. These differences are somewhat greater than those of American and British English. As of 2008, the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) got to an agreement in the reform of Portuguese as one international language, as opposed to two diverged dialects of the same language, in which participated all countries that have Portuguese as its official language. All CPLP countries were given a certain period of time to adjust to the necessary changes, between 2009 and 2014.

Minority languages are spoken throughout the vast national territory. Some of these are spoken by indigenous peoples: 180 Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas. Others are spoken by immigrants and their descendants. There are important communities of speakers of German (mostly the Hunsrückisch, part of the High German languages) and Italian (mostly the Talian dialect, of Venetian origin) in the south of the country, both largely influenced by the Portuguese language.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Brazil

Christ the Redeemer, selected as one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" and symbol of Brazilian Christianity.

Religion is very diversified in Brazil, the constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. The Roman Catholic Church is dominant, making Brazil the largest Catholic nation in the world. The formal link between the state and the Roman Catholicism was severed in the late 19th century; however, the Catholic Church has continued to exert an influence on national affairs.

The number of Protestants is rising. Until 1970, the majority of Brazilian Protestants were members of "traditional churches", mostly Lutherans, Presbyterians and Baptists. Since then, numbers of Pentecostal and Neopentecostal members have increased significantly. Traditional African beliefs, brought by slaves, have blended with Catholicism to create Afro-Brazilian religions such as Macumba, Candomblé, and Umbanda. Amerindians practice a wide variety of indigenous religions that vary from group to group.

According to the 2000 Demographic Census: 73.89% of the population follow Roman Catholicism; 15.41% - Protestantism; 0.907% - other Christian denominations; 1.332% - Kardecist spiritism; 0.309% - traditional African religions; 0.126% - Buddhism; 0.051% - Judaism; 0.016% - Islam; 0.01% - Amerindian religions; 0.6% - other religions; 7.354% - Agnosticism, Atheism or without a religion.

Education and health

Main articles: Education in Brazil and Health in Brazil

Federal University of Paraná, in Curitiba, is regarded as one of the oldest Brazilian university.

The Federal Constitution and the 1996 General Law of Education in Brazil (LDB) determine how the Federal Government, States, Federal District, and Municipalities will manage and organize their respective education systems. Each of these public educational systems is responsible for their own maintenance, which manage funds as well as mechanisms and sources for financial resources. The new Constitution reserves 25% of state and municipal taxes and 18% of federal taxes for education.

Private school programs are available to complement the public school system. In 2003, the literacy rate was 88% of the population, and the youth literacy rate (ages 15–19) was 93.2%. Illiteracy is highest in the Northeast, around 27%, which has a high proportion of rural poor. Although in the same year, Brazil's education had low levels of efficiency by 15-year-old students, particularly in the public school network. Higher education starts with undergraduate or sequential courses, which may offer different specialist choices such as academic or vocational paths. Depending on choice, students may improve their educational background with Stricto Sensu or Lato Sensu postgraduate courses.

The public health system is managed and provided by all levels of government, whilst private healthcare fulfils a complementary role. There are several problems in the Brazilian health system. In 2006, these were infant mortality, child mortality, maternal mortality, mortality by non-transmissible illness and mortality caused by external causes: transportation, violence and suicide. In 2006 nearly 50,000 people were murdered in Brazil. More than 500,000 people have been killed by firearms in Brazil between 1979 and 2003, according to the UN report.

Society

People and festivals

Main article: Brazilian people

Brazilian Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the greatest shows on Earth.

A wide variety of elements create a society with considerable ethnic complexity. The core culture of Brazil derived from Portuguese culture, because of strong colonial ties with the Portuguese empire. Among other inheritances, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, the Catholic religion and the colonial architectural styles. This culture, however, was strongly influenced by African, Indigenous cultures and traditions, and other non-Portuguese European people. Some aspects of Brazilian culture are contributions of Italian, German and other European immigrants; came in large numbers and their influences are felt closer to the South and Southeast of Brazil. Amerindian peoples influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans, brought to Brazil as slaves, influenced language, cuisine, music, dance and religion. Darcy Ribeiro, in his O Povo Brasileiro, wrote that "Brazil emerges thus as a bud mutant, rescheduled from its own characteristics, but tied to the genetic Portuguese matrix, which unsuspected potential to grow and to be full were only realized here."

Brazil has a social positive reputation around the globe. (Gisele Bündchen, model)

Brazilian people spends much of his time in meetings with other people. "Papo" (chit-chat) and the offering of teas and coffees in the cities are commons. Many of these meetings happen in traditional festivals: Brazil's cultural tradition extends to its music styles which include samba, bossa nova, forró, frevo, pagode and many others. The festival of Carnival (Portuguese: Carnaval), with its spectacular street parades and vibrant music, has become one of the most potent images of Brazil; an annual celebration held forty days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent. Carnival is celebrated throughout Brazil, with distinct regional characteristics, but the most spectacular celebrations outside Rio de Janeiro take place in Salvador, Recife, and Olinda, although the nature of the events varies. For its magical and historical sense to have originated with the pagans and Greeks, often the Brazilian carnival is called "Tamed Dionysus." Other regional festivals include the Boi Bumbá and Festa Junina (June Festivals).

The Brazilian people is known as socially happy. Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, one of the most important historian of the country, wrote that the Brazilians had a friendly character and this was one of its greatest virtues (which he developed the theory of "cordial man"). Gilberto Freyre praised the adaptability of the Portuguese in Brazil, while Buarque denounced the laxity with which they left the country for three centuries. Brazil is also known for its sports stars and their top models. Models like Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio and the Brazil women's national football team make that Brazil has good international reputation. These Brazilian reputation also have an impact worldwide. In Nation branding 2008, people in 20 different states were asked to assess the country's reputation in terms of culture, politics, exports, its people and its attractiveness to tourists, immigrants and investments. Brazil was placed in tenth position in the category Culture & Heritage among 15 countries; in category Tourism Brand, the country was in thirteenth place, and in the general category, was siding in the twenty-first, among 50 countries and above countries such as Russia, Iceland, Argentina and Mexico.

Leisure in Brazil

Characterized by political populism and the national development project, the period from 1946 until 1964 in Brazil, witness, among other important changes, the rise of the automobile industry, the construction of roads throughout the country, the inauguration of the capital Brasilia, the adoption labor policies and the creation of a basic industry such as mining, oil extraction and steel. Threatened by foreign cultural invasion, the field of culture tries to make the issues in Brazil. Through the construction of "companies-clubs", economic development and industrial drives changes that allow greater access to arts and entertainment. The "companies-clubs" creates the sports development, the creation of theaters and musicals. During this period, the urban class grows, and therefore stands out as sports clubs, trips by car on the road network expands, holiday retreat in the fields or homes on the coast. During the military dictatorship (1964-1985), urban growth, censorship, police repression and the practice of street changes the previous frame. The popularization of TV helped to disintegrate the artistic events that sought to achieve the popular sectors and the military coup of 64 ensured the continuation of capitalist development in Brazil on a increasingly larger, increasing the concentration of income, choosing a conservative modernization from a coalition of classes that "playing ground the hypothesis of an antagonism between the Brazilian bourgeoisie on the one hand, and the international bourgeoisie and agrarian oligarchy of another."

In the 70s, there is an increase in the number of families typical of the middle class who could buy televisions and cars, go to the movies, enjoy weekends in the field or beach and gradually replace the street trading by going to the mall. With the military regime are inhibited the popular terms, the traditional festivals of some regions, the friendship with neighbors, play street children and leisure typical of the country. The military know that the popular demonstrations and entertainment served as propaganda against the government and therefore initiated an extensive investment in sport, promoting and encouraging participation in Olympic and world football championships, building stadiums, fields and flooded public parks; this practice, according to some Brazilian scholars, served to show the evolution of the nation before the totalitarian regime. In the 90s and following, globalization offers shops, entertainment, leisure and tourism to the detriment of the secondary sector (industry) and the Brazilians are giving greater importance to language learning and technology.

Brazilian women

Main article: Women in Brazil

For a long time, the historiography considered the history of Brazil as a result almost exclusively from the actions of men, but this is changing. Brazilian scholars, influenced by Jacques Le Goff, Fernand Braudel and Georges Duby, among others, went to work with the notion that "History" can also be studied through the biography of ordinary people. In this context, the role of the Brazilian woman has acquired a new dimension, showing rich, poor, slaves, free, literate or illiterate, women were present in all the important moments of Brazil. Through this reconstruction of historiography, scholars emphasize the importance of women who fought in the War of Paraguay; who were from the street demanding the abolition of slavery; black women who for centuries have taken care of the kitchen, the houses and plantations of the whites; that of midwives helped in the birth of several children; the Indigeous women, as Kaigang Vanuire that helped end the constant conflicts between the people of his tribe] and the whites at the beginning of the twentieth century, that invaded Indigeous territory to build the Northwest Railroad.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Brazil

Cuisine

Main articles: Brazilian cuisine and List of Brazilian dishes

The national dish of Brazil, feijoada, contains black beans cooked with pork and many other elements.

Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region. This diversity reflects the country's mix of native and immigrants. This has created a national cooking style marked by the preservation of regional differences. Since the colonial period, the Feijoada, directly linked to the presence of blacks in Brazilian land, has been the country's national dish. Luís da Câmara Cascudo wrote that, having been revised and adapted in each region of the country, it is no longer just a dish but has become a complete food. Rice and beans, also present in the feijoada, and that are considered basic at Brazilians table, is highly regarded as healthy because it contains almost all amino acids, fiber and starches needed for our body.

A Beijinho with its traditional clove, candy very popular in birthday parties in Brazil.

Brazil has a variety of candies that are traditionally used for birthdays, like brigadeiros ("brigadiers") and beijinhos ("kissies"). Other foods typically consumed in Brazilian parties are Coxinhas, Churrasco, Sfihas, Empanadas, Pinion (in Festa Junina). Specially in the state of Minas Gerais, are produced and consumed the famous cheese bun. The typical northern food is pato no tucupi tacacá, caruru, vatapá and maniçoba; the Northeast is known for moqueca (having seafood and palm oil), and acarajé (the salted muffin made with white beans, onion and fried in oil palm (dendê) which is filled with dried shrimp, red pepper), manioc, diz, hominy, dumpling and Quibebe. In the Southeast, it is common to eat Minas cheese, pizza, tutu, sushi, stew, polenta, and masses as macaroni, lasagna, gnocchi. In the South, these foods are also popular, but the churrasco is the typical meal of Rio Grande do Sul. Cachaça is the Brazil's native liquor, distilled from sugar cane, and it is the main ingredient in the national drink, the Caipirinha. Brazil is the world leader in production of green coffee (café); because the Brazilian fertile soil, the country could produce and expand its market maker and often establish its economy with coffee since the Brazilian slavery, whick created a whole culture around this national drink, which became known as the "fever of coffee" — and satirized in the novelty song "The Coffee Song" sung by Frank Sinatra and with lyrics by Bob Hilliard, interpreted as an analysis of the coffee industry, and of the Brazilian economy and culture.

Arts

Main articles: Brazilian art and Academic art in Brazil

Arrufos (Temporary resentments), by Almeida Júnior, symbol of Brazilian realism.

The oldest known examples of Brazilian art are cave paintings in Serra da Capivara National Park in the state of Piauí, dating back to c. 13,000 BC. In Minas Gerais and Goiás have been found more recent examples showing geometric patterns and animal forms. One of the most sophisticated kinds of Pre-Columbian artifact found in Brazil is the sophisticated Marajoara pottery (c. 800–1400 AD), from cultures flourishing on Marajó Island and around the region of Santarém, and statuettes and cult objects, such as the small carved-stone amulets called muiraquitãs, also belong to these cultures. Many of the Jesuits worked in Brazil under the influence of the Baroque, the dominant style in Brazil until the early 19th century. The Baroque in Brazil flourished in Bahia and Pernambuco and Minas Gerais, generating valuable artists like Manuel da Costa Ataíde and especially the sculptor-architect Aleijadinho.

Ismael Nery, Nude woman crouching , modernist work undated.

In 1816, the Missão Artística Francesa on Brazil created the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and imposed a new concept of artistic education and was the basis for a revolution in Brazilian painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic arts, and crafts. A few decades later, under the personal patronage of Emperor Dom Pedro II, who was engaged in an ambitious national project of modernization, the Academy reached its golden age, fostering the emergence of the first generation of Romantic painters, whence Victor Meirelles and Pedro Américo, that, among others, produced lasting visual symbols of national identity. It must be said that in Brazil Romanticism in painting took a peculiar shape, not showing the overwhelming dramaticism, fantasy, violence, or interest in death and the bizarre commonly seen in the European version, and because of its academic and palatial nature all excesses were eschewed.

The beginning of the 20th century saw a struggle between old schools and modernist trends. Important modern artists Anita Malfatti and Tarsila do Amaral were both early pioneers in Brazilian art. Both participated of The Week of Modern Art festival, held in São Paulo in 1922, that renewed the artistic and cultural environment of the city and also presented artists such as Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, and Victor Brecheret. Based on Brazilian folklore, many artists have committed themselves to mix it with the proposals of the European Expressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. From Surrealism, arises Ismael Nery, concerned with metaphysical subjects where their pictures appear on imaginary scenarios and averse to any recognizable reference. In the next generation, the modernist ideas of the Week of Modern Art have affected a moderate modernism that could enjoy the freedom of the strict academic agenda, with more features conventional method, best exemplified by the artist Candido Portinari, which was the official artist of the government in mid-century. In our times, names such as Oscar Araripe, Beatriz Milhazes and Romero Britto are well acclaimed.

Literature and poetry

Main article: Brazilian literature

Machado de Assis, poet and novelist whose work extends for almost all literary genre, is widely regarded as the greatest Brazilian writer.

Literature in Brazil dates back to the 16th century, to the writings of the first Portuguese explorers in Brazil, such as Pêro Vaz de Caminha, filled with descriptions of fauna, flora and natives that amazed Europeans that arrived in Brazil. When Brazil became a colony of Portugal, there was the "Jesuit Literature", whose main name was father António Vieira, a Portuguese Jesuit who became one of the most celebrated Baroque writers of the Portuguese language. A few more explicitly literary examples survive from this period, José Basílio da Gama's epic poem celebrating the conquest of the Missions by the Portuguese, and the work of Gregório de Matos Guerra, who produced a sizable amount of satirical, religious, and secular poetry. Neoclassicism was widespread in Brazil during the mid-18th century, following the Italian style.

Brazil produced significant works in Romanticism — novelists like Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and José de Alencar wrote novels about love and pain. Alencar, in his long career, also treated Indigenous people as heroes in the Indigenist novels O Guarany, Iracema, Ubirajara. The French Mal du siècle was also introduced in Brazil by the likes of Alvares de Azevedo, whose Lira dos Vinte Anos and Noite na Taverna are national symbols of the Ultra-romanticism. Gonçalves Dias, considered one of the national poets, sang the Brazilian people and the Brazilian land on the famous Song of the Exile (1843), known to every Brazilian schoolchild. Also dates from this period, although his work has hatched in Realism, Machado de Assis, whose works include Helena, Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas, O alienista, Dom Casmurro, and who is widely regarded as the most important writer of Brazilian literature. Assis is also highly respected around the world.

My land has palm trees, Where the Thrush sings; The birds, that sing here, Do not sing as they do there.

Gonçalves Dias.

Monteiro Lobato, of the Pré-Modernism (literary moviment essentially Brazilian), wrote mainly for children, often bringing Greek mythology and didacticism with Brazilian folklore, as we see in his short stories about Saci Pererê. Some authors of this time, like Lima Barreto and Simões Lopes Neto and Olavo Bilac, already show a distinctly modern character; Augusto dos Anjos, whose works combine Symbolistic, Parnasian and even pre-modernist elements has a "paralytic language". Mário de Andrade and Oswald de Andrade, from Modernism, combined nationalist tendencies with an interest in European modernism and created the Modern Art Week of 1922. João Cabral de Melo Neto and Carlos Drummond de Andrade are placed among the greatest Brazilian poets; the first, post-modernist, concerned with the aesthetics and created a concise and elliptical and lean poetic, against sentimentality; Drummond, in turn, was a supporter of "anti-poetic" where the language was born with the poem. In Post-Modernism, João Guimarães Rosa wrote the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas, about Sertão, with a highly original style and almost a grammar of his own, while Clarice Lispector wrote with an introspective and psychological probing of her characters. Nowadays, Rubem Fonseca and Sérgio Sant'Anna, next to Nélida Piñon and Lygia Fagundes Telles, both members of Academia Brasileira de Letras, are important authors who write about contemporary issues sometimes with erotic or political tones. Ferreira Gullar and Manoel de Barros are two highly admired poets and the former has also been nominated for the Nobel Prize.

Popular media

Main articles: Cinema of Brazil, Television in Brazil, and Music of Brazil

The Cinema has a long tradition in Brazil, reaching back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century, and gained a new level of international acclaim in recent years. Bus 174 (2002), by José Padilha, about a bus hijacking, is the highest rated foreign film at Rotten Tomatoes. O Pagador de Promessas (1962), directed by Anselmo Duarte, is one of the most acclaimed Brazilian film critics and the first (and only, to date) Brazilian film to won the Palme d'Or at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Fernando Meirelles' City of God (2002), is the highest rated Brazilian film on the IMDb Top 250 list, and Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (1964), from Cinema Novo and directed by Glauber Rocha, has been selected by Brazilian critics as the best film of all time several times, such as the 27th edition of Brazilian film magazine Contracampo. The highest-grossing film in Brazilian cinema, taking 12 million viewers to cinemas, is Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976), directed by Bruno Barreto and basead on the novel of the same name by Jorge Amado.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Brazil

Maracanã Stadium, at the Brazilian Championship, highest division of Brazilian football.

Football (Portuguese: futebol) is the most popular sport in Brazil. Many famous Brazilian players such as Pele and Ronaldo are among the most well know players in the sport.The Brazilian national football team (Seleção) is currently ranked first in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings. They have been victorious in the World Cup tournament a record five times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Basketball, volleyball, auto racing, and martial arts also attract large audiences. Though not as regularly followed or practiced as the previously mentioned sports, tennis, team handball, swimming, and gymnastics have found a growing number of enthusiasts over the last decades. Some sport variations have their origins in Brazil. Beach football, futsal (official version of indoor football) and footvolley emerged in the country as variations of football. In martial arts, Brazilians have developed Capoeira, Vale tudo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In auto racing, Brazilian drivers have won the Formula One world championship eight times: Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and 1974; Nelson Piquet in 1981, 1983 and 1987; and Ayrton Senna in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Brazil has undertaken the organization of large-scale sporting events: the country organized and hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup and is chosen to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup event. The circuit located in São Paulo, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, hosts the annual Grand Prix of Brazil. São Paulo organized the IV Pan American Games in 1963, and Rio de Janeiro hosted the XV Pan American Games in 2007. Brazil also tried for the fourth time to host the Summer Olympics with Rio de Janeiro candidature in 2016. On the 2nd of October, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games, which will be the first to be held in South America.

See also

Main article: Outline of Brazil

• Index of Brazil-related articles

Bibliography

References

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• Enciclopédia Barsa. Volume 10: Judô – Merúrio. Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopaedia Britannica do Brasil, 1987. Template:Pt icon

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Further reading

• Alves, Maria Helena Moreira (1985). State and Opposition in Military Brazil. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
• Amann, Edmund (1990). The Illusion of Stability: The Brazilian Economy under Cardoso. World Development (pp. 1805–1819).
• "Background Note: Brazil". US Department of State.
• Bellos, Alex (2003). Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life. London: Bloomsbury Publishing plc.
• Bethell, Leslie (1991). Colonial Brazil. Cambridge: CUP.
• Costa, João Cruz (1964). A History of Ideas in Brazil. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
• Fausto, Boris (1999). A Concise History of Brazil. Cambridge: CUP.
• Furtado, Celso. The Economic Growth of Brazil: A Survey from Colonial to Modern Times. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
• Leal, Victor Nunes (1977). Coronelismo: The Municipality and Representative Government in Brazil. Cambridge: CUP.
• Malathronas, John (2003). Brazil: Life, Blood, Soul. Chichester: Summersdale.
• Martinez-Lara, Javier (1995). Building Democracy in Brazil: The Politics of Constitutional Change. Macmillan.
• Prado Júnior, Caio (1967). The Colonial Background of Modern Brazil. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
• Schneider, Ronald (1995). Brazil: Culture and Politics in a New Economic Powerhouse. Boulder Westview.
• Skidmore, Thomas E. (1974). Black Into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Wagley, Charles (1963). An Introduction to Brazil. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.
• The World Almanac and Book of Facts: Brazil. New York, NY: World Almanac Books. 2006.

External links

• Brazilian Federal Government
• Chief of State and Cabinet Members
• Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
• Information and Pictures Tourism of Brazil
• "Brazil". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• Brazil at UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Brazil at Curlie
• Country Profile from the U.S. Library of Congress (1997)
• Template:Wikitravel