Brazil

From Daily Escape

Império do Brasil Empire of Brazil
Flag	Coat of arms
Motto "Independência ou Morte!" (Portuguese) "Independence or Death!"
Anthem Hino da Independência (Anthem of Independence)
Capital Largest city	Rio de Janeiro 22°54′30″S, 43°14′37″W São Paulo
Official languages	Portuguese
Demonym	Brazilian
Government  - Emperor  - Prime Minister	Semi-constitutional monarchy Luís I Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Independence  - Declared  - Recognized	from Portugal September 7, 1822 August 29, 1825
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	8,691,092 km² 3,355,634 sq mi 0.67
Population  - July 2008 estimate  - Density	195,386,376 22.48/km² 58.23/sq mi
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2007 estimate n/a n/a
GDP (nominal)  - Total  - Per capita	2007 estimate n/a n/a
Gini	n/a (n/a) (unranked)
HDI	n/a (n/a) (unranked)
Currency	Real (R$) (BRL)
Time zone  - Summer (DST)	BRT (UTC -3 to -5) BRST (UTC -2 to -5)
Internet TLD	.br
Calling code	+55

The Empire of Brazil (Portuguese: Império do Brasil) is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and one of the largest - in size and population - in the world. Its territory covers 8,691,092 km² between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean, and it is the eastern-most country of the Americas.

It borders Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the department of French Guiana to the north, Colombia to the northwest, Bolivia and Peru to the west, Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest, and Uruguay to the south. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Fernando de Noronha, Trindade e Martim Vaz and Atol das Rocas.

A tropical climate is predominant. In the south of the country, subtropical climate prevails. Brazil is cut through by the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn. It is home to varied fauna and flora and extensive natural resources.

Brazil was colonized by Portugal from 1500 until its independence in 1822.

The Brazilian population tends to concentrate along the coastline in large urban centers. While Brazil has one of the largest populations in the world, population density is low and the inner continental land has large areas of low population. It is a multiracial country composed of European, Amerindian, African and Asian elements. The official language is Portuguese, and it is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. Catholicism is both the state religion and the most widely practiced religion; however, all faiths are tolerated, and the non-Catholic population, particularly the Protestant communities, has experienced significant growth in the last decades. Brazil has the largest Roman Catholic population in the world.

The Brazilian economy is among the largest, most robust, and most powerful in the world. The country is highly developed and industrialized, with a large and rapidly expanding middle class, high standards of living, and one of the highest rates of economic growth in the world.

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Contents 1 Foreign relations 2 Provinces of Brazil 2.1 List of Brazilian provinces 3 Economy 4 Demographics 4.1 Age structure 4.2 Sex ratio 4.3 Infant mortality rate 4.4 Life expectancy at birth 4.5 Total fertility rate 4.6 HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 4.7 Nationality 4.8 Ethnic groups 4.9 Religions 4.10 Languages 4.11 Literacy rate 5 Culture 5.1 Religion 5.2 Sport 5.3 Cuisine 5.4 National holidays

Foreign relations

to be added

Provinces of Brazil

1. Amazonas
2. Pará
3. Maranhão
4. Piauí
5. Ceará
6. Rio Grande do Norte
7. Paraíba
8. Pernambuco
9. Alagoas
10. Sergipe
11. Bahia
12. Espírito Santo
13. Rio de Janeiro
14. Minas Gerais
15. Goiás
16. Mato Grosso
17. São Paulo
18. Paraná
19. Santa Catarina
20. Rio Grande do Sul
21. Cisplatina

List of Brazilian provinces

State	Abbreviation	Capital	Area	Population (2005)	Density
Alagaos	AL	Maceió	27,767.7 km² (20th)	3,015,912 (18th)	108.61 (3rd)
Amazonas	AM	Manaus	1,947,626.1 km² (1st)	4,279,690 (15th)	2.2 (21st)
Bahia	BA	Salvador	564,692.7 km² (6th)	13,815,334 (4th)	24.46 (14th)
Ceará	CE	Fortazela	148,825.6 km² (13th)	8,097,276 (9th)	54.40 (10th)
Cisplatina	CI	Montevidéu	176,215 km² (12th)	3,323,906 (17th)	19 (15th)
Espírito Santo	ES	Vitória	46,077.5 km² (18th)	3,408,365 (16th)	73.97 (6th)
Goiás	GO	Goiânia	623,529.7 km² (4th)	9,258,753 (7th)	14.85 (17th)
Maranhão	MA	São Luís	331,983.3 km² (7th)	6,103,327 (12th)	18.38 (16th)
Mato Grosso	MT	Cuiabá	1,498,059.1 km² (2nd)	6,602,336 (11th)	4.4 (20th)
Minas Gerais	MG	Belo Horizonte	586,528.3 km² (5th)	19,237,450 (2nd)	32.79 (13th)
Pará	PA	Belém	1,390,504.1 km² (3rd)	7,565,173 (10th)	5.44 (19th)
Paraíba	PB	João Pessoa	56,439.8 km² (16th)	3,595,886 (14th)	63.71 (7th)
Paraná	PR	Curitiba	199,314.9 km² (11th)	10,261,856 (6th)	51.48 (11th)
Pernambuco	PE	Recife	98,311.6 km² (14th)	8,413,593 (8th)	85.58 (5th)
Piauí	PI	Teresina	251,529.2 km² (9th)	3,006,885 (19th)	11.95 (18th)
Rio de Janeiro	RJ	Rio de Janeiro	43,696.1km² (19th)	15,383,407 (3rd)	352.05 (1st)
Rio Grande do Norte	RN	Natal	52,796.8 km² (17th)	3,003,087 (20th)	56.88 (9th)
Rio Grande do Sul	RS	Porto Alegre	281,748.5 km² (8th)	10,845,087 (5th)	38.49 (12th)
Santa Catarina	SC	Florianópolis	95,346.2 km² (15th)	5,866,568 (13th)	61.53 (8th)
São Paulo	SP	São Paulo	248,209.4 km² (10th)	40,442,795 (1st)	162.93 (2nd)
Sergipe	SE	Aracaju	21,910.3 km² (21st)	1,967,761 (21st)	89.81 (4th)

Economy

to be added

Demographics

Age structure

0-14 years = 25.3%
15-64 years = 68.4%
65 years and over = 6.3%

Sex ratio

At birth = 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years = 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years = 0.983 male(s)/female
65 years and over = 0.697 male(s)/female
Total population = 0.976 male(s)/female

Infant mortality rate

Total = 3.92 deaths/1,000 live births
Male = 4.38 deaths/1,000 live births
Female = 3.42 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth

Total population = 78.87 years
Male = 75.6 years
Female = 82.36 years

Total fertility rate

2.13 children born/woman

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.3%

Nationality

Noun: Brazilian(s)
Adjective: Brazilian

Ethnic groups

White = 50.8%
Mulatto (mixed white and black) = 22.5%
Black = 17.3%
Asian = 5.4%
Middle Eastern = 2.7%
Amerindian = 0.36%
Mestizo = 0.32%
Unspecified = 0.62%

Religions

Roman Catholic = 81.6%
Baptist = 2.6%
Buddhist = 2.11%
Seventh-day Adventist = 1.62%
Lutheran = 1.5%
Calvinist = 1.5%
Jewish = 1.04%
Muslim = 1.01%
Hindu = 0.72%
Shinto = 0.5%
Mormon = 0.41%
Pentecostal = 0.36%
Jehovah's Witness = 0.33%
Traditional African religion = 0.3%
Spiritist = 0.3%
Anglican = 0.05%
Agnostic = 0.545%
Atheist = 0.005%
Other = 3.5%

Languages

Portuguese (official)
Spanish (spoken by 75-80% of the population)
English (spoken by 20% of the population, understood by 40-60%)
Almost 200 indigenous languages

Literacy rate

Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.2%
Male: 99.2%
Female: 99.2%

Culture

A wide variety of elements influenced Brazilian culture. Its major early influence derived from Portuguese culture, because of strong colonial ties with the Portuguese empire. Among other inheritances, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, the Roman-Germanic legal system, and the colonial architectural styles. Other aspects of Brazilian culture are contributions of European and Asian immigrants, Native South American people (such as the Tupi), and African slaves. Thus, Brazil is a multicultural and multiethnic society. Italian, German and other European immigrants came in large numbers and their influences are felt closer to the Southeast and South of Brazil. Amerindian peoples influenced Brazil's language and cuisine and the Africans, brought to Brazil as slaves, influenced Brazil's music, dance, cuisine, religion and language.

In the 1950s, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, Baden Powell de Aquino, and João Gilberto popularized the Bossa Nova style in music. Later Elis Regina, Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque and Nara Leão had an important role in shaping Música Popular Brasileira (literally translated as "Brazilian Popular Music," often abbreviated to MPB). In the late 1960s, tropicalismo was popularized by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

Brazilian Carnival (Portuguese: Carnaval) is an annual celebration held 40 days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent. Brazilian Carnival has distinct regional characteristics. Other regional festivals include the Boi Bumbá and Festa Junina (June Festivals).

Religion

The most popular religion in Brazil is Roman Catholicism, which is also the state religion (however, all faiths are tolerated). The country has the largest Roman Catholic population in the world. Adepts of Protestantism are rising in number. 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 (although the number of Protestants is still dwarfed by the number of Catholics). Islam in Brazil was first practiced by African slaves. A recent trend has been the increase in conversions to Islam among non-Arab citizens. Around 1,950,000 Muslims live in Brazil as of 2007. The largest population of Buddhists in Latin America lives in Brazil, mostly because the country has the largest Japanese population outside Japan (around 2% of the population is of Japanese descent).

Sport

Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team is currently ranked second 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. In auto racing, Brazilian drivers have won the Formula 1 world championship eight times: Emerson Fittipaldi (1972 and 1974), Nelson Piquet (1981, 1983 and 1987) and Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990 and 1991). The circuit located in São Paulo, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, hosts the annual Grand Prix of Brazil.

In basketball, Brazil’s men’s team has won the Basketball World Championship twice, in 1959 and 1963. The women’s team has won the FIBA World Championship for Women only once, in 1994. Currently though, both national teams have become less competitive; as of June, 2007, FIBA ranks the men's team 17th in the world and the women's team as 4th. volleyball, the country didn’t enjoy much success until the early 1990s, but as of 2006, Brazil’s men’s national team is on top of the FIVB rank, winning multiple titles. The women’s team also won several competitions and is currently ranked second in the world by FIVB. 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.

Cuisine

Brazilian cuisine is a mix of the cuisines of its inhabitants and immigrants: Native Americans, Portuguese, Africans, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Syrians, Lebanese, and others. The country is divided into five main cuisine regions:

1. North (Picadinho de Jacaré, Tacacá, and Açaí)
2. Northeast (Vatapá, Moqueca, and Acarajé)
3. Central-West (Pamonha and Pequi)
4. Southeast (Feijoada)
5. South (Churrasco)

Other popular dishes include:

• Caipirinha
• Pão de Queijo
• Brigadeiro
• Pastel
• Tapioca

National holidays

Date	Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day
moveable	Carnival	Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, although festivities begin on the preceding Friday.
moveable (44 days before Good Friday)	Ash Wednesday	Only the morning is considered a holiday.
moveable	Good Friday
moveable	Easter
April 22	Founding Day	Commemorates the discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500.
moveable (62 days after Good Friday)	Corpus Christi
May 1	Labor Day	Celebrates workers and commemorates the achievements of the labor movement.
Second Sunday in May	Mother's Day
May 13	Emancipation Day	Commemorates the passage of the Golden Law, which ended Brazilian slavery, in 1888.
June 6	Emperor's Birthday
Second Sunday of August	Father's Day
August 25	Soldier's Day	Commemorates Brazilian war hero Luís Alves de Lima e Silva.
September 7	Independence Day
October 12	Our Lady of Aparecida	Also celebrated as Children's Day (Dia das Crianças) on the same date.
November 1	All Saints' Day
November 2	All Souls' Day
December 24	Christmas Eve
December 25	Christmas Day	Commemorates the birth of Christ.