Brazil was first sighted by Europeans in 1500 and developed as a Portuguese commercial colony, based to a large extent on slavery. The Portuguese royal family and government fled Portugal from Napoleon in 1808 and relocated to Brazil. Though they returned in 1821, the interlude led to a growing desire for independence amongst Brazilians and in 1822 the then prince-regent Dom Pedro I established the independent Empire of Brazil. This lasted until the next emperor, Dom Pedro II was deposed in 1889 and a republican based federation was adopted.

Brazil received an influx of over 5 million immigrants in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, a period that also saw Brazil industrialise and further expand into its interior. Brazil became a dictatorship in 1937 under Getulio Vargas, returned to popular elections in 1945, but following a military coup d'état in 1964 saw a succession of generals as president, until 1985. Brazil has since returned to a popularly elected government and is pursuing further development of its economic standing, both domestically and internationally.

See also: Discoverer of the Americas

Politics

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The 1988 constitution grants broad powers to the federal government, of which the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The president has extensive executive powers and is both head of state and head of government and he also appoints the cabinet.

The Brazilian legislature, the bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional, consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal of 81 seats, of which three members from each state or federal district are elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period. Beside the Senate there is the Chamber of Deputies or Câmara dos Deputados of 513 seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms.

Some Brazilians have advocated a parliamentary, rather than presidential, system of government, while some have even advocated restoring the monarchy as a symbol of national unity and political stability. (Brazil was briefly a parliamentary republic, similar to India and Germany, during the mid-1960s.) However, a national plebiscite was held on both issues in April 1993, but both options were rejected, and voters chose instead to remain a presidential republic.

See also:

• Cangaço (criminal hinterland bands)
• Café com leite (reference to Brazil's domination by the "coffee oligarchs")
• Coronelismo (reference to machine politics)
• Integralism (influential Brazilian fascist movement in the 1930s)

States

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

• Acre
• Alagoas
• Amapá
• Amazonas
• Bahia
• Ceará
• Federal District
• Espírito Santo
• Goiás
• Maranhão
• Mato Grosso
• Mato Grosso do Sul
• Minas Gerais
• Pará
• Paraíba
• Paraná
• Pernambuco
• Piauí
• Rio de Janeiro
• Rio Grande do Norte
• Rio Grande do Sul
• Rondônia
• Roraima
• Santa Catarina
• São Paulo
• Sergipe
• Tocantins

Brazil is characterised by the extensive low-lying Amazon Rainforest in the north, and a more open terrain of hills and (low) mountains to the south, home to most of Brazil's population and its agricultural base. Along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean are also found several mountain ranges, amongst which the highest peak is the Pico da Neblina at 3,014 m. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume, the Paraná with its impressive Iguaçu falls, the Rio Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the Tapajós rivers.

Situated along the equator, Brazil's climate is predominantly tropical, with little seasonal variation, though the subtropical south is more temperate and can occasionally experience frost and snow. Precipitation is abundant in the humid Amazon Basin, though more arid landscapes are found as well, in particular in the northeast.

• National parks (Brazil)
• List of Brazilian National Forests

Economy

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Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, as well as a large labour pool, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. Major export products include coffee, soybeans, iron ore, orange juice and steel.

After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a USD 41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the Real would no longer be pegged to the US dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998, and the country posted moderate GDP growth.

Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001 - to less than 2% - because of a slowdown in major markets and the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures. Investor confidence was strong at yearend 2001, in part because of the strong recovery in the trade balance. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

After Lula da Silva came to power in 2003, the government continued to run the same former president Cardoso's policies, attending to market pressures and international agencies - such as IMF and World Bank - demands. As people were expecting swift changes in the social agenda, this fact has caused a measurable electoral disappointment.

See also:

• Communications in Brazil
• Transportation in Brazil

Demographics

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Four major groups make up the Brazilian population: the Portuguese, the original colonisers; Africans brought to Brazil as slaves; various other European, Middle Eastern, and Asian immigrant groups who have settled in Brazil since the mid-19th century; and indigenous people of Tupi and Guarani language stock. In Brazil's early years, a significant amount of Africans brought over as slaves populated the northern part of Brazil, where many worked on the sugar cane plantations, while the Portuguese tend to occupy southern Brazil in the industrialized part of the country. Today, there are still signs of this population trend. Intermarriage between the Portuguese and indigenous people or slaves was common. Although the major European ethnic stock of Brazil was once Portuguese, subsequent waves of immigration have contributed to a diverse ethnic and cultural heritage.

Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas. About 80% of all Brazilians belong to the Roman Catholic Church; most others adhere to various Protestant faiths or follow practices derived from African religions.

Since late 2003, the languages Nheengatu, Tukano and Baniwa are locally co-official in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira in Amazonas.

Culture

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

Sports

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• Brazil national football team
• Brazilian Football League Teams

Miscellaneous topics

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• Military of Brazil
• Foreign relations of Brazil

Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

External links

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• Brasil.gov.br - Official governmental portal (in Portuguese)
• Presidência - Official presidential site (in Portuguese)
• Câmara - Official Chamber of Deputies site (in Portuguese)
• Senado - Official senatorial site (in Portuguese)
• Presidência - Official presidential site about all federal legislation for your consult (in Portuguese)
• IBGE - Maps and statistics about Brazil (in English)
• Virtual - Information about Brazilian culture, economy and tourism (in English)
• Fortaleza - Ceará and Fortaleza tourism information (in Portuguese)
• Mapa ("Easy Map")- Online maps of more than 5000 Brazilian cities (in Portuguese)
• Ethnologue - Languages of Brazil

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