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The Federative Republic of Brazil (RepÃºblica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and fifth largest in the world. Spanning a vast area between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean, it borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French Guiana) â€” every South American nation except for Ecuador and Chile. Named after brazilwood, a tree highly valued by early colonists, Brazil is home to both extensive agricultural lands and rain forests. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. A former colony of Portugal, Portuguese is its official language.

RepÃºblica Federativa do Brasil

National motto: Order and Progress (Portuguese: Ordem e Progresso)

Official language Portuguese

Capital BrasÃlia

Largest city SÃ£o Paulo

President Luiz InÃ¡cio Lula da Silva

Area - Total - % water Ranked 5th 8,511,965 kmÂ² 0.65%

Population - Total (2004) - Density Ranked 5th 186,112,794 22/kmÂ²

Independence - Declared: - Recognised: From Portugal September 7, 1822 August 29, 1825

GDP (2004) - Total - GDP/head Ranked 10th $1.553 trillion (PPP) $8,344 (PPP)

Currency Real

Time zone UTC -2 to -5 (Official: -3)

National anthem Hino Nacional Brasileiro

Internet TLD .br

Calling code 55

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History

History of Brazil Travel Brazil

Brazil had been inhabited for at least 6,000 years by semi-nomadic populations when the first Portuguese explorers, led by Pedro Ãlvares Cabral disembarked in 1500. Over the next three centuries it was re-settled by the Portuguese and exploited mainly for brazilwood at first, and later for gold mining and sugarcane agriculture. Work in the colony was based on slavery. In 1808 Queen Maria I of Portugal and her son and regent, the future JoÃ£o VI of Portugal, fleeing from Napoleon, relocated to Brazil with the royal family, nobles and government. Though they returned to Portugal in 1821, the interlude led to the opening of commercial ports to England â€” at the time isolated from most European ports by Napoleon â€” and the "elevation" of Brazil to the status of a Kingdom united to Portugal's Crown. Then prince-regent Dom Pedro I declared independence on 7 September 1822, establishing the independent Empire of Brazil. This lasted until the next emperor, Dom Pedro II was deposed and a federal republic was established on 15 November 1889.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil attracted over 5 million European and Japanese immigrants. That period also saw Brazil industrialise and further colonize and develop its interior. Brazilian democracy was replaced by dictatorship three times â€” 1930â€“1934 and 1937â€“1945 under GetÃºlio Vargas, and 1964â€“1985 under a succession of generals appointed by the military. Today Brazil is a democracy.

(The current detailed articles in pedia are premised on an narrow economic class-based analysis of Brazilian history.)

Politics

Politics of Brazil

National Congress 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: he appoints the Cabinet, and he is also both head of state and head of government.

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 CÃ¢mara dos Deputados of 513 seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms.

CangaÃ§o (criminal hinterland bands in the first years of the 20th century)
CafÃ© com leite (reference to Brazil's domination by the "coffee oligarchs" in the first years of the 20th century)
Coronelismo (reference to machine politics in the first years of the 20th century, still present on a lesser scale in modern days)
Integralismo (influential Brazilian fascist movement in the 1930s)

States

States of Brazil

Brazil consists of 26 states (estados, singular estado) and 1 federal district (distrito federal):

Brazil and its 26 states and Federal District are divided by IBGE into 5 distinctive regions: North, Northeast, Center-West, Southeast and South (Division by Regions).

List of cities in Brazil (all cities and municipalities)
List of major cities in Brazil (metropolitan areas and major regional cities)

Geography

Map of Brazil

Geography of Brazil

Brazil is characterized 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, which can reach roughly 2,900m high. However, the highest peak is the Pico da Neblina at 3,014 m, in Guiana's highlands. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume, and considered by many specialists also the longest of the world; the ParanÃ¡ and its major tributary, the IguaÃ§u River, where the impressive IguaÃ§u falls are located; the Rio Negro, SÃ£o Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the TapajÃ³s 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.

A number of islands in the Atlantic Ocean are part of Brazil:

Saint Peter and Paul Rocks
Rocas Atoll
Fernando de Noronha
Trindade and Martim Vaz

National parks (Brazil)
List of Brazilian National Forests
List of mountains in Brazil

Economy

Economy of Brazil Mike In Brazil

SÃ£o Paulo

Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, as well as a large labor pool, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other Latin American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. Major export products include coffee, soybeans, iron ore, orange juice, steel and airplanes. 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. [1] 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 â€” to less than 2% â€” because of a slowdown in major markets, the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures, and fears over the economic policies of the new government to be elected. Investor confidence was strong at the end of 2001, in part because of the strong recovery in the trade balance. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

After Luiz InÃ¡cio Lula da Silva came to power 1 January 2003, there was some fear that Brazil would undergo a financial crisis. However, so far these fears turned out to be unfounded, and after a GDP decrease of 0.2% in 2003, Brazil has been enjoying a moderate growth during the following years of his term.

Demographics

Demographics of Brazil

Brazil is populous along the coast, less in the interior. The inhabitants are very diverse with many races and cultures represented (see article above). The population of the Southern states are mainly of European descent, tracing their roots back to the 19th century immigrants from Italy, German, Poland, Spain, Ukraine and Portugal. On the other hand, the majority of the North and Northeastern inhabitants are of mixed ancestry (Indians, Africans and Europeans).

Culture

Culture of Brazil

Brazil Religions
Brazil Skyscrapers
Cuisine of Brazil
List of Brazilians
Literature of Brazil
Music of Brazil

Sports

Sports in Brazil

Brazil national football team
Brazilian Football League Teams

Some fight sports with Brazilian origins have become popular around the world:

Capoeira
Vale tudo
Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Miscellaneous topics

Communications in Brazil
Foreign relations of Brazil
Military of Brazil
Public holidays in Brazil
Transportation 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.

Government, Administration, Economy & Politics

Library of Congress: A Country Study: Brazil
Banco Central do Brasil - Central Bank of Brazil (in Portuguese/English)
Brasil.gov.br - Official governmental portal (in Portuguese) Big Brother Brazil 5
CÃ¢mara dos Deputados - Official Chamber of Deputies site (in Portuguese)
Economic Survey of Brazil 2005
Fome Zero - Official site of Fome Zero (zero hunger) programme (in Portuguese)
PresidÃªncia da RepÃºblica - Official presidential site (in Portuguese)
Senado Federal - Official senatorial site (in Portuguese)
Supremo Tribunal Federal - Supreme Federal Court (in Portuguese)
Superior Tribunal de JustiÃ§a - Superior Court of Justice (in Portuguese)

Information, Media, Statistics

Brasil-Post (in German)
Brazilink - Selected and updated sources by experts (in English)
IBGE - Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (English, EspaÃ±ol, PortuguÃªs)
Jornal do Brasil - Brazilian newspaper (in Portuguese)
Mapa FÃ¡cil - Online maps of more than 5000 Brazilian cities (in Portuguese)
National Library (in Portuguese and English)
O Eco - Journalistic website on the environmental issues of Brazil (in Portuguese)
O Globo- Online version of a famous Brazilian newspaper (in Portuguese)
SÃ£o Paulo Convention & Visitors Bureau (in Portuguese and English)

Society, Social Movements, etc.

Movimento dos trabalhadores rurais sem terra
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International

Art, Cooking, Culture, History, Travel

Alternative Brazil Travel info in English
Brazil Travel Guide (in English)
CearÃ¡ and Fortaleza tourism information (in Portuguese)
Dutch Portuguese Colonial HistoryDutch Portuguese Colonial History: history of the Portuguese and the Dutch in Ceylon, India, Malacca, Bengal, Formosa, Africa, Brazil. Language Heritage, lists of remains, maps.
EasyPortuguese-- Learn the Portuguese spoken in Brazil.
Ethnologue Languages of the World - Languages of Brazil
Maria-Brazil - The first Brazilian pop-culture web site produced in the USA. Note: The section Maria's Cookbook has no equal on the whole World Wide Web as of March 2005 (site in English)
Recife and Porto de Galinhas tourism information (in Portuguese)
Photos of People and Sights
Rio For Partiers - Award winning travel guide to Rio de Janeiro and Salvador
The Brazilian Sound Brazilian music & culture (in English)
Travelling in Brazil (in English)
Porto Seguro Bahia tourism information (in Portuguese)
Virtual Brazil - Information about Brazilian culture, economy and tourism (in English)
Viva Brasil! All about Brazilian Culture

Brazil Girl