Brazil

Federative Republic of Brazil
República Federativa do Brasil (Portuguese)
Motto: Ordem e Progresso (Portuguese)
"Order and Progress"
Anthem: Hino Nacional Brasileiro (Portuguese)
"Brazilian National Anthem"
Flag anthem: Hino à Bandeira Nacional (Portuguese)[1]
"National Flag Anthem"
National Seal
Location of Brazil
CapitalBrasília
15°47′S 47°52′W / 15.783°S 47.867°W / -15.783; -47.867
Largest citySão Paulo
23°33′S 46°38′W / 23.550°S 46.633°W / -23.550; -46.633
Official language
and national language
Portuguese
Recognized regional languages21 languages
Ethnic groups
(2022)[2]
Religion
(2022)[3]
Demonym(s)Brazilian
GovernmentFederal presidential republic
• President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Geraldo Alckmin
Arthur Lira
Rodrigo Pacheco
Luís Roberto Barroso
LegislatureNational Congress
Federal Senate
Chamber of Deputies
Independence 
• Declared
7 September 1822
29 August 1825
• Republic
15 November 1889
5 October 1988
Area
• Total
8,515,767 km2 (3,287,956 sq mi) (5th)
• Water (%)
0.65
Population
• 2022 census
Neutral increase 203,062,512[4]
• Density
23.8[5]/km2 (61.6/sq mi) (193rd)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $4.101 trillion[6] (8th)
• Per capita
Increase $20,079[6] (78th)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $2.279 trillion[6] (9th)
• Per capita
Increase $11,178[6] (78th)
Gini (2020)Positive decrease 48.9[7]
high
HDI (2022)Increase 0.760[8]
high (89th)
CurrencyReal (R$) (BRL)
Time zoneUTC−2 to −5 (BRT)
DST is not observed.
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy (CE)
Driving sideright
Calling code+55
ISO 3166 codeBR
Internet TLD.br

Brazil,[b] officially the Federative Republic of Brazil,[c] is the largest and easternmost country in South America and in Latin America. Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language.[10][11] Brazil is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world.[12]

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).[13] It borders all other countries and territories in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers roughly half of the continent's land area.[14] Its Amazon basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats.[13] This unique environmental heritage positions Brazil at number one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest, as environmental degradation through processes like deforestation has direct impacts on global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.

The territory which would become known as Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the discovered land for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. Slavery was abolished in 1888. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military dictatorship emerged in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.[15] Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[16]

Brazil is a regional and middle power[17][18][19] that is an emerging power[20][21][22][23] and a major non-NATO ally of the United States.[24] Categorised as a developing country with a high Human Development Index,[25] Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy,[26] having the ninth largest GDP in the world by nominal, and eighth by PPP measures, the largest in Latin America.[6][27] As an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank[28] and a newly industrialized country,[29] Brazil has the largest share of global wealth in South America and is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.[30] However, the country retains noticeable corruption, crime and social inequality. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, G4, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Brazil is also an observer state of the Arab League.[31]

  1. ^ Exército Brasileiro. "Hino à Bandeira Nacional" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Censo 2022: Pela 1ª vez, Brasil se declara mais pardo que branco; populações preta e indígena também crescem". 22 December 2023. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  3. ^ "2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Brazil". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ Araujo, Gabriel (28 June 2023). Grattan, Steven; Rumney, Emma (eds.). "Brazil census shows population growth at its slowest since 1872". Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023.
  5. ^ "País tem 90 milhões de domicílios, 34% a mais que em 2010 | Agência de Notícias". Agência de Notícias - IBGE (in Brazilian Portuguese). 28 June 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Brazil)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Brazil". World Bank. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. p. 289. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ José María Bello (1966). A History of Modern Brazil: 1889–1964. Stanford University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8047-0238-6.
  10. ^ Philander, S. George (2012). Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, Second Edition. Vol. 1 (Second ed.). Los Angeles: Princeton University. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-4129-9261-9. OCLC 970592418. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  11. ^ Vallance, Monique M. (2012). "Preface and Observations on Contemporary Brazil". In Crocitti, John J. (ed.). Brazil Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic. Contributing editor Monique M. Vallance. ABC-CLIO. p. xxiii. ISBN 978-0-313-34672-9. OCLC 787850982. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Os migrantes de hoje". BBC Brasil. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Brazil § geography". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 4 May 2018. (Archived 2018 edition)
  14. ^ "Brazil – Land". Permanent Missions. United Nations. Geography. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Brazilian Federal Constitution" (in Portuguese). Presidency of the Republic. 1988. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008. "Brazilian Federal Constitution". v-brazil.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2008. Unofficial translate
  16. ^ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre — World Heritage List". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  17. ^ M. Schaefer; J. Poffenbarger (2014). The Formation of the BRICS and its Implication for the United States: Emerging Together. Springer. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-137-38794-3. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  18. ^ Sean W. Burges (2016). Latin America and the Shifting Sands of Globalization. Routledge. pp. 114–15. ISBN 978-1-317-69658-2. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  19. ^ Gardini, Gian Luca (2016). "Brazil: What Rise of What Power?". Bulletin of Latin American Research. 35: 5–19. doi:10.1111/blar.12417.
  20. ^ Gratius, Susanne (April 2008). "The international arena and emerging powers: stabilising or destabilising forces?" (PDF). FRIDE. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2016.
  21. ^ Peter Collecott (29 October 2011). "Brazil's Quest for Superpower Status". The Diplomatic Courier. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  22. ^ Clendenning, Alan (17 April 2008). "Booming Brazil could be world power soon". USA Today. The Associated Press. p. 2. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  23. ^ Jorge Dominguez; Byung Kook Kim (2013). Between Compliance and Conflict: East Asia Latin America and the New Pax Americana. Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-1-136-76983-2.
  24. ^ Vandiver, John (9 May 2019). "Trump bumps up Brazil to 'major non-NATO' ally". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Human Development Insights". United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  26. ^ "FTSE Country Classification" (PDF). FTSE Group. September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  27. ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – Country Comparisons – GDP (purchasing power parity)". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  28. ^ "Country and Lending Groups". World Bank. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011. Uppermiddle Income defined as a per capita income between $3,976 – $12,275
  29. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Neilson102 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ "Brazil must be a 'facilitator' in the Middle East, says VP". 14 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.


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