Brasil Word

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BrasilContenidoIntroduction....................................................................................................1

Etymology...................................................................................................... 2

History of Brazil..............................................................................................2

Precolonial history.......................................................................................3

Beginnings of Brazil....................................................................................4

The Kingdom and Emire of Brazil..............................................................!

"eu#lic of Brazil........................................................................................ $

The Old Republic (1889–1930).............................................................$

Populism and development (1930–1964).............................................%

ilita!" dictato!ship (1964–8#)............................................................&

"edemocratization to resent '1(&!)Present*............................................(

+eograhy...................................................................................................11

,limate......................................................................................................12

Biodi-ersity...............................................................................................13

En-ironment..............................................................................................13

+o-ernment and olitics..............................................................................14

a/........................................................................................................... 1!

0oreign Policy............................................................................................1$

ilitary......................................................................................................1$

dministrati-e di-isions............................................................................1%Economy...................................................................................................... 1%

Tourism......................................................................................................1(

Infrastructure...............................................................................................1(

,omonents and energy...........................................................................1(

cience and technology............................................................................2

Transort...................................................................................................2

"ecife irort............................................................................................ 21

Health....................................................................................................... 21



Education.................................................................................................. 22

,ommunication.........................................................................................22

5emograhics.............................................................................................. 23

"ace and ethnicity.................................................................................... 24

"eligion..................................................................................................... 2!

6r#anization..............................................................................................2!

anguage..................................................................................................2$

,ulture......................................................................................................... 2%

usic.........................................................................................................2&

iterature..................................................................................................2(

,uisine......................................................................................................2(

orts........................................................................................................3

Introduction

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: RepúblicaFederativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in outh !"ericaand in the #atin !"erica region$ %t is the &orld's fifth largest country, both bygeographical area and by population &ith over * "illion people$ %t is thelargest #usophone country in the &orld, and the only one in the !"ericas$

Bounded by the !tlantic +cean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of ,- ."(-,/00 "i)$ %t is bordered on the north by 1enezuela, 2uyana, urina"e and theFrench overseas region of French 2uiana3 on the north&est by 4olo"bia3 onthe &est by Bolivia and Peru3 on the south&est by !rgentina and Paraguay and

on the south by 5ruguay$ 6u"erous archipelagos for" part of Brazilian territory,such as Fernando de 6oronha, Rocas !toll, aint Peter and Paul Roc.s, and



7rindade and 8arti" 1az$ %t borders all other outh !"erican countries e9ceptcuador and 4hile$

Brazil &as a colony of Portugal fro" the landing of Pedro ;lvares 4abral in0<< until =0, &hen it &as elevated to the ran. of .ingdo" and the 5nited

>ingdo" of Portugal, Brazil and the !lgarves &as for"ed$ 7he colonial bond&as in fact bro.en in =<=, &hen the capital of the Portuguese colonial e"pire&as transferred fro" #isbon to Rio de ?aneiro, after 6apoleon invadedPortugal$ %ndependence &as achieved in =@@ &ith the for"ation of the "pireof Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional "onarchy and aparlia"entary syste"$ 7he country beca"e a presidential republic in ==,&hen a "ilitary coup d'Atat proclai"ed the Republic, although the bica"erallegislature, no& called 4ongress, dates bac. to the ratification of the firstconstitution in =@-$ %ts current 4onstitution, for"ulated in ==, defines Brazilas a federal republic$ 7he Federation is for"ed by the union of the Federal

istrict, the @/ tates, and the 0,0/- 8unicipalities$7he Brazilian econo"y is the &orld's si9th largest by no"inal 2P and theseventh largest by purchasing po&er parity (as of @<)$Brazil is one of the&orld's fastest gro&ing "aCor econo"ies$ cono"ic refor"s have given thecountry ne& international recognition$ Brazil is a founding "e"ber of the 5nited6ations, the 2@<, 4P#P, #atin 5nion, the +rganization of %beroD!"ericantates, the +rganization of !"erican tates, 8ercosul and the 5nion of outh !"erican 6ations, and is one of the BR%4 countries$ Brazil is also one of the "egadiverse countries, ho"e to diverse &ildlife, natural environ"ents, ande9tensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats$

Etymology

7he &ord EBrazilE co"es fro" brazil&ood, a tree that once gre& plentifully alongthe Brazilian coast$ %n Portuguese, brazil&ood is called pauDbrasil, &ith the &ordbrasil co""only given the ety"ology Ered li.e an e"berE, for"ed fro" #atinbrasa (Ee"berE) and the suffi9 Dil (fro" Diculu" or Diliu")$ !s brazil&oodproduces a deep red dye, it &as highly valued by the uropean cloth industryand &as the earliest co""ercially e9ploited product fro" Brazil$ 7hrough the/th century, "assive a"ounts of brazil&ood &ere harvested by indigenouspeoples ("ostly 7upi) along the Brazilian coast, &ho sold the ti"ber touropean traders ("ostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorteduropean consu"er goods$

7he official na"e of the land, in original Portuguese records, &as the E#and ofthe oly 4rossE (7erra da anta 4ruz), but uropean sailors and "erchants

co""only called it si"ply the E#and of BrazilE (7erra do Brasil) on account ofthe brazil&ood trade$ 7he popular appellation eclipsed and eventually



supplanted the official na"e$ arly sailors so"eti"es also called it the E#and ofParrotsE (7erra di Papaga)$

%n the 2uarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is calledEPindora"aE$ 7his &as the na"e the natives gave to the region, "eaning Eland

of the pal" treesE$

History of Brazil

7he history of Brazil starts &ith %ndigenous Peoples of the !"ericas, &ho

arrived thousands of years ago by crossing the Bering land bridge into !las.aand then "oving south$

7he first uropean to e9plore Brazil &as Pedro ;lvares 4abral on !pril @@, 0<<under the sponsorship of Portugal$ Fro" the /th to the th centuries, Brazil&as a colony of Portugal$ +n epte"ber , =@@, the country declared itsindependence fro" Portugal and beca"e a constitutional "onarchy, the "pireof Brazil$ ! "ilitary coup in == established a republican govern"ent$ 7hecountry has seen a dictatorship (*<G*- and *G-0) and a period of"ilitary rule (/-G=0)$

Precolonial historyHhen Portuguese e9plorers arrived in Brazil, the region &as inhabited byhundreds of different native tribes, Ethe earliest going bac. at least <,<<< yearsin the highlands of 8inas 2erais$E 7he dating of the origins of the firstinhabitants, &ho &ere called E%ndiansE (Indios) by the Portuguese, are still a"atter of dispute a"ong archaeologists$ 7he current "ost &idely accepted vie&of anthropologists, linguists and geneticists is that they &ere part of the first

&ave of "igrant hunters &ho ca"e into the !"ericas fro" !sia, either by land,across the Bering trait, or by coastal sea routes along the Pacific, or both$

7he !ndes and the "ountain ranges of northern outh !"erica created a rather sharp cultural boundary bet&een the settled agrarian civilizations of the &estcoast and the se"iDno"adic tribes of the east, &ho never developed &rittenrecords or per"anent "onu"ental architecture$ For this reason, very little is.no&n about the history of Brazil before 0<<$ !rchaeological re"ains ("ainlypottery) indicate a co"ple9 pattern of regional cultural develop"ents, internal"igrations, and occasional large stateDli.e federations$

!t the ti"e of uropean discovery, the territory of current day Brazil had as"any as @,<<< tribes$ 7he indigenous peoples &ere traditionally "ostly se"iD



no"adic tribes &ho subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and "igrantagriculture$ Hhen the Portuguese arrived in 0<<, the 6atives &ere living"ainly on the coast and along the ban.s of "aCor rivers$ %nitially, the uropeanssa& the natives as noble savages, and "iscegenation of the population beganright a&ay$

7ribal &arfare, cannibalis" and the pursuit of !"azonian brazil&ood (see #ist of "eanings of countries' na"es) for its treasured red dye convinced thePortuguese that they should civilize the 6atives$ But the Portuguese, li.e thepanish in their outh !"erican possessions, had un.no&ingly broughtdiseases &ith the", against &hich "any 6atives &ere helpless due to lac. ofi""unity$ 8easles, s"allpo9, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and influenza .illed tensof thousands$ 7he diseases spread Juic.ly along the indigenous trade routes,and &hole tribes &ere li.ely annihilated &ithout ever co"ing in direct contact&ith uropeans$

Beginnings of Brazil

7here are several theories regarding &ho first set foot on the land no& calledBrazil (the origin of &hose na"e is disputed)$ Besides the &idely accepted vie&of 4abral's discovery, so"e defend that it &as uarte Pacheco Pereira bet&een6ove"ber and ece"ber of -= and so"e others say that it &as first

discovered by 1icente KLMez PinzNn, a panish navigator that hadacco"panied 4olo"bus in his first trip to the !"erican continent havingsupposedly arrived to today's Perna"buco region on @/ ?anuary 0<<$Ocitationneeded %n !pril 0<<, ho&ever, Brazil &as clai"ed by Portugal on the arrival ofthe Portuguese fleet co""anded by Pedro ;lvares 4abral$ 7he Portugueseencountered stoneDusing natives divided into several tribes, "any of &ho"shared the sa"e 7upiG2uarani language fa"ily, and fought a"ong the"selves$

5ntil 0@ Portugal had very little interest in Brazil, "ainly due to the highprofits gained through co""erce &ith %ndia, 4hina, and %ndonesia$ 7his lac. ofinterest led to several EinvasionsE by different countries, and the Portuguese

4ro&n devised a syste" to effectively occupy Brazil, &ithout paying the costs$7hrough the ereditary 4aptaincies syste", Brazil &as divided into strips ofland that &ere donated to Portuguese noble"en, &ho &ere in turn responsiblefor the occupation of the land and ans&ered to the .ing$

#ater, the Portuguese realized the syste" &as a failure, only t&o lots &eresuccessfully occupied (Perna"buco and Qo 1icente, in the current state ofQo Paulo), and too. control of the country after its uropean discovery, theland's "aCor e9portgiving its na"e to Brazil (another contested hypothesis)&as brazil&ood, a large tree (4aesalpinia echinata) &hose trun. contains a

prized red dye, and &hich &as nearly &iped out as a result of overe9ploitation$



tarting in the th century, sugarcane culture, gro&n in plantation's propertycalled engenhos (EfactoriesE) along the northeast coast (Brazil's 6ordeste)beca"e the base of Brazilian econo"y and society, &ith the use of blac. slaveson large plantations to "a.e sugar production for e9port to urope$ !t first,settlers tried to enslave the 6atives as labor to &or. the fields$ (7he initial

e9ploration of Brazil's interior &as largely due to paraD"ilitary adventurers, thebandeirantes, &ho entered the Cungle in search of gold and 6ative slaves$)o&ever the 6atives &ere found to be unsuitable as slaves, and so thePortuguese land o&ners turned to !frica, &hence they i"ported "illions ofslaves$

uring the first t&o centuries of the colonial period, attracted by the vast naturalresources and untapped land, other uropean po&ers tried to establishcolonies in several parts of Brazilian territory, in defiance of the papal bull ( %nter caetera ) and the 7reaty of 7ordesillas, &hich had divided the 6e& Horld into

t&o parts bet&een Portugal and pain$ French colonists tried to settle inpresentDday Rio de ?aneiro, fro" 000 to 0/ (the soDcalled France !ntarctiJue episode), and in presentDday Qo #uIs, fro" /@ to /- (the soDcalled France SJuino9iale)$ ?esuits arrived early and established ao Paulo,evangelising the natives$ 7hese native allies of the ?esuits assisted thePortuguese in driving out the French$

7he unsuccessful utch intrusion into Brazil &as longer lasting and "oretroubleso"e to Portugal ( utch Brazil )$ utch privateers began by plunderingthe coast: they sac.ed Bahia in /<-, and even te"porarily captured the capitalalvador$ Fro" /*< to /0-, the utch set up "ore per"anently in the

6ordeste and controlled a long stretch of the coast "ost accessible to urope,&ithout, ho&ever, penetrating the interior$ But the colonists of the utch Hest%ndia 4o"pany in Brazil &ere in a constant state of siege, in spite of thepresence in Recife of the great ?ohn 8aurice of 6assau as governor$ !fterseveral years of open &arfare, the utch for"ally &ithdre& in //$ #ittleFrench and utch cultural and ethnic influences re"ained of these failedatte"pts$

8ortality rates for slaves in sugar and gold enterprises &ere dra"atic, and there&ere often not enough fe"ales or proper conditions to replenish the slavepopulation indigenously$ o"e slaves escaped fro" the plantations and tried toestablish independent settle"ents (Juilo"bos) in re"ote areas$ 7he "osti"portant of these, the Juilo"bo of Pal"ares, &as the largest slave runa&aysettle"ent in the !"ericas, and &as a consolidated .ingdo" of so"e *<,<<<people at its height in the /<s and =<s$ o&ever these settle"ents &ere"ostly destroyed by govern"ent and private troops, &hich in so"e casesreJuired long sieges and the use of artillery$ till, !fricans beca"e a substantialsection of Brazilian population, and long before the end of slavery (===) theyhad begun to "erge &ith the uropean Brazilian population through"iscegenation and "ulatto &or. rights$



The Kingdom and Empire of

Brazil

5nited >ingdo" of Portugal, Brazil and the !lgarves (=/G=@)8ain articles: 5nited >ingdo" of Portugal, Brazil and the !lgarves, Brazilianeclaration of %ndependence, and "pire of BrazilBrazil &as one of only three "odern states in the !"ericas to have its o&nindigenous "onarchy (the other t&o &ere 8e9ico and aiti) G for a period ofal"ost < years$

%n =<=, the Portuguese court, fleeing fro" 6apoleon's invasion of Portugal

during the Peninsular Har in a large fleet escorted by British "enDofD&ar,"oved the govern"ent apparatus to its thenDcolony, Brazil, establishingthe"selves in the city of Rio de ?aneiro$ Fro" there the Portuguese .ing ruledhis huge e"pire for * years, and there he &ould have re"ained for the rest ofhis life if it &ere not for the tur"oil aroused in Portugal due, a"ong otherreasons, to his long stay in Brazil after the end of 6apoleon's reign$

%n =0 the .ing vested Brazil &ith the dignity of a united .ingdo" &ith Portugaland !lgarves$ Hhen .ing ?oQo 1% of Portugal left Brazil to return to Portugal in=@, his elder son, Pedro, stayed in his stead as regent of Brazil$ +ne yearlater, Pedro stated the reasons for the secession of Brazil fro" Portugal and ledthe %ndependence Har, instituted a constitutional "onarchy in Brazil assu"ingits head as "peror Pedro % of Brazil$

!lso .no&n as Eo" Pedro %E, after his abdication in =* for politicalinco"patibilities (displeased, both by the landed elites, &ho thought hi" tooliberal and by the intellectuals, &ho felt he &as not liberal enough), he left forPortugal leaving behind his fiveDyearDold son as "peror Pedro %%, &hich left thecountry ruled by regents bet&een =* and =-<$ 7his period &as beset by

rebellions of various "otivations, such as the abinada, the Har of theFarrapos, the 8alT Revolt, 4abanage" and Balaiada, a"ong others$ !fter thisperiod, Pedro %% &as declared of age and assu"ed his full prerogatives$ Pedro %%started a "oreDorDless parlia"entary reign &hich lasted until ==, &hen he&as ousted by a coup d'Atat &hich instituted the republic in Brazil$

9ternally, apart fro" the %ndependence &ar, stood out decades of pressurefro" the 5nited >ingdo" for the country to end its participation in the !tlanticslave trade, and the &ars fought in the region of #a Plata river: the 4isplatineHar (in @nd half of =@<s), the Platine Har (in =0<s), the 5ruguayan Har andthe Paraguayan Har (in the =/<s)$ 7his last &ar against Paraguay also &asthe bloodiest and "ost e9pensive in outh !"erican history, after &hich the



country entered a period that continues to the present day, averse to e9ternalpolitical and "ilitary interventions$

Republic of Brazil

he Old Republic (1889–1930)

Pedro %% &as deposed on 6ove"ber 0, ==, by a Republican "ilitary coup led

by 2eneral eodoro da Fonseca, &ho beca"e the country's first de factopresident through "ilitary ascension$ 7he country's na"e beca"e the Republicof the 5nited tates of Brazil (&hich in / &as changed to FederativeRepublic of Brazil$)$ 7&o "ilitary presidents ruled through four years ofdictatorship a"id conflicts, a"ong the "ilitary and political elites (t&o 6avalrevolts, follo&ed by an Federalist revolt), and an econo"ic crisis due the effectsof the burst of an financial bubble, the encilha"ento$

Fro" == to *<, although the country &as for"ally a constitutionalde"ocracy, the First Republican 4onstitution, created in =, established that

&o"en and the illiterate (then the "aCority of the population) &ere preventedfro" voting$ 7he presidentialis" &as adopted as the for" of govern"ent andthe tate &as divide into three po&ers (#egislative, 9ecutive and ?udiciary)Ehar"onics and independents of each otherE$ 7he presidencial rule &as fi9ed infour years, and the elections beca"e direct$

!fter =-, the presidence of republic &as occupied by coffee far"ers(oligarchies) fro" Qo Paulo and 8inas 2erais, alternately$ 7his policy &ascalled polItica do cafA co" leite (coffee and "il. policy)$ 7he elections forpresident and governors &as ruled by the PolItica dos 2overnadores(2overnor's policy), in &hich they had "utual support to ensure the elections of

so"e candidates$ 7he e9changes of favors also happened a"ong politiciansand big lando&ners$ 7hey used the po&er to control the votes of population inreturn for favors (this &as called coronelis"o)$

Bet&een =* and @/ several "ove"ents, civilians and "ilitary, shoo. thecountry$ 7he "ilitary "ove"ents had their origins both in the lo&er officers'corps of the !r"y and 6avy (&hich, dissatisfied &ith the regi"e, called forde"ocratic changes) &hile the civilian ones, such 4anudos and 4ontestadoHar, &ere usually led by "essianic leaders, &ithout conventional political goals$

%nternationally, the country &ould stic. to a course of conduct that e9tendedthroughout the t&entieth century: an al"ost isolationist policy, interspersed &ithsporadic auto"atic align"ents &ith "aCor &estern po&ers, its "ain econo"ic



partners, in "o"ents of high turbulence$ tanding out fro" this period: theresolution of the !creanian's Uuestion and the tiny role in the Horld Har %(basically li"ited to the antiDsub"arine &arfare)$

Populism and development (1930–1964)

!fter *<, the successive govern"ents continued industrial and agriculturegro&th and develop"ent of the vast interior of Brazil$ 2etúlio 1argas led a"ilitary Cunta that had ta.en control in *< and &ould re"ain ruling fro" *<to -0 &ith the bac.ing of Brazilian "ilitary, especially the !r"y$ %n this period,he faced internally the 4onstitutionalist Revolt in *@ and t&o separate coupdVAtat atte"pts: by 4o""unists in *0 and by local Fascists in *=$

! de"ocratic regi"e prevailed fro" -0G/-$ %n the 0<s after 1argas' secondperiod (this ti"e, de"ocratically elected), the country e9perienced an econo"icboo" during ?uscelino >ubitsche.'s years, during &hich the capital &as "ovedfro" Rio de ?aneiro to BrasIlia$

9ternally, after a relative isolation during the first half of the *<s due to theeffects of the @ 4risis, in the second half of the *<s there &as arapproche"ent &ith the fascist regi"es of %taly and 2er"any$ o&ever, afterthe fascist coup atte"pt in *= and the naval bloc.ade i"posed on these t&ocountries by the British navy fro" the beginning of Horld Har %%, in the decade

of -< there &as a return to the old foreign policy of the previous period$

uring the early -<s, Brazil Coined the allied forces in the Battle of !tlanticand the %talian 4a"paign3 in the 0<s the country began its participation in the5nited 6ations' peace.eeping "issions &ith uez 4anal in 0/ and in thebeginning of the /<s, during the presidency of ?anio Uuadros, its firstatte"pts to brea. the auto"atic align"ent (that had started in the -<s) &iththe 5$$!$

7he institutional crisis of succession for the presidency, triggered &ith theUuadros' resignation, coupled &ith other factors, &ould lead to the "ilitary coup

of /- and to the end of this period$

ilita!" dictato!ship (1964–8#)

By the late 0<s and early /<s, the success of revolutionary &arfaretechniJues against conventional ar"ies in 4hina, %ndochina, !lgeria, and 4uba

led the conventional ar"ies in the developed and underdeveloped &orlds toconcentrate on finding "ilitary and political strategies to fight do"estic



revolutionary &arfare$ 7his led to an adoption of &hat tepan called, in *,W6e& Professionalis"$X 7he 6e& Professionalis" &as for"ulated andpropagated in Brazil through the scola uperior de 2uerra, &hich had beenestablished in -$ By /* 6e& Professionalis" had co"e to do"inate theschool, &hen it declared its pri"ary "ission to be preparing Wcivilians and the

"ilitary to perfor" e9ecutive and advisory functions (ecreto #ei 6o$ 0*,<=<ece"ber -, /*)$X 7his ne& attitude to&ards professionalis" did not ariseout of no&here$ 7hough its do"ination of the 2 &as co"pleted by /*, ithad begun to penetrate the college "uch earlier than that assisted by the5nited tates and its policy of encouraging #atin !"erican "ilitaries to assu"eas their pri"ary role in counterDguerrilla and counterDinsurgency &arfareprogra"s, civic action and nationDbuilding tas.s$

By /-, at the sa"e ti"e that the "ilitary elite &ere unsatisfied &ith the naturaldelay, transfers and acco""odation, characteristics of the negotiation

processes in de"ocratic regi"es and &as also eager to i"pose theirdevelop"ent proCect, sa& a leftist revolution as a real possibility (through theparadig" of internal &arfare doctrines of the ne& professionalis")$ vents li.ethe rising stri.e levels, the inflation rate, e"braced de"ands by the #eft forbroaden political process, land refor" and the gro&ing clai"s of the enlisted"en &ere seen as EevidenceE that Brazil &as facing the serious possibility of aleftist internal insurgency$

By early /- i"portant sections of the "ilitary had developed a consensusthat intervention in the political process &as necessary$ 7he develop"ent of thisconsensus &as li.ely helped by i"portant civilian politicians, such as ?osA de

8agalhQes Pinto, governor of 8inas 2erais, and the 5nited tates govern"ent$7hough "any in the right of the political spectru" clai" the coup &asErevolutionary,E "ost historians agree that is not so, since there &as no realtransition of po&er3 "ilitary dictatorship &as the fastest &ay to i"ple"entneoliberal econo"ic policies in the country &hile suppressing gro&ing populardiscontent, and the coup &as thus a &ay for Brazil's alreadyDruling elite tosecure its po&er$

!t first, there &as intense econo"ic gro&th, due to neoliberal econo"icrefor"s, but in the later years of the dictatorship, the refor"s had left the

econo"y in sha"bles, &ith soaring ineJuality and national debt, and thousandsof Brazilians &ere deported, i"prisoned, tortured, or "urdered$ Politically"otivated deaths nu"bered in the hundreds, "ostly related to the guerrillaDantiguerrilla &arfare in the /=G* period3 official censorship also led "anyartists into e9il$

Redemocratization to present

(!"#$Present%



7ancredo 6eves &as elected president in an indirect election in =0 as thenation returned to civilian rule$ e died before being s&orn in, and the electedvice president, ?osA arney, &as s&orn in as president in his place$

Fernando 4ollor de 8ello &as the first elected president by popular vote afterthe "ilitary regi"e in ece"ber = defeating #uiz %nLcio #ula da ilva in at&o round presidential race and *0 "illion votes$ 4ollor &on in the state of QoPaulo against "any pro"inent political figures$ 7he first de"ocratically electedPresident of Brazil in @ years, 4ollor spent "uch of the early years of hisgovern"ent battling hyperDinflation, &hich at ti"es reached rates of @0Y per"onth$

4ollor's neoliberal progra" &as also follo&ed by his successor FernandoenriJue 4ardoso &ho "aintained free trade and privatization progra"s$

4ollor's ad"inistration began the process of privatization of a nu"ber ofgovern"entDo&ned enterprises such as !cesita, "braer, 7elebrLs and4o"panhia 1ale do Rio oce$Hith the e9ception of !cesita, the privatizations&ere all co"pleted during the ter" of Fernando enriJue 4ardoso$

Follo&ing 4ollor's i"peach"ent, acting president, %ta"ar Franco, &as s&orn inas president$ %n elections held on +ctober *, -, Fernando enriJue4ardoso, his finance "inister, defeated leftD&ing #ula da ilva again$ e &aselected president due to the success of the soDcalled Plano Real$ Reelected in=, he guided Brazil through a &ave of financial crises$ %n @<<<, 4ardosoordered the declassifying of so"e "ilitary files concerning +peration 4ondor, anet&or. of outh !"erican "ilitary dictatorships that .idnapped andassassinated political opponents$

Brazil's "ost severe proble" today is arguably its highly uneJual distribution of&ealth and inco"e, one of the "ost e9tre"e in the &orld$ By the <s, "orethan one out of four Brazilians continued to survive on less than one dollar aday$ 7hese socioDecono"ic contradictions helped elect #uiz %nLcio #ula da ilvaof the Partido dos 7rabalhadores (P7) in @<<@$

%n the fe& "onths before the election, investors &ere scared by #ula'sca"paign platfor" for social change, and his past identification &ith laborunions and leftist ideology$ !s his victory beca"e "ore certain, the Realdevalued and Brazil's invest"ent ris. rating plu""eted (the causes of theseevents are disputed, since 4ardoso left a very s"all foreign reserve)$ !fterta.ing office, ho&ever, #ula "aintained 4ardoso's econo"ic policies, &arningthat social refor"s &ould ta.e years and that Brazil had no alternative but toe9tend fiscal austerity policies$ 7he Real and the nation's ris. rating soonrecovered$

#ula, ho&ever, has given a substantial increase to the "ini"u" &age (raising

fro" RZ@<< to RZ*0< in four years)$ #ula also spearheaded legislation todrastically cut retire"ent benefits for public servants$ is pri"ary significant



social initiative, on the other hand, &as the Fo"e [ero ([ero unger) progra",designed to give each Brazilian three "eals a day$

%n @<<0 #ula's govern"ent suffered a serious blo& &ith several accusations ofcorruption and "isuse of authority against his cabinet, forcing so"e of its

"e"bers to resign$ 8ost political analysts at the ti"e &ere certain that #ula'spolitical career &as doo"ed, but he "anaged to hold onto po&er, partly byhighlighting the achieve"ents of his ter" (e$g$, reduction in poverty,une"ploy"ent and dependence on e9ternal resources, such as oil), and todistance hi"self fro" the scandal$ #ula &as reDelected President in the generalelections of +ctober @<</$

aving served t&o ter"s as president, #ula &as forbidden by the Brazilian4onstitution fro" standing again$ %n the @<< presidential election, the P7candidate &as il"a Rousseff$ Rousseff &on and assu"ed office on ?anuary ,@<$

&eography

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of outh !"erica and

includes "uch of the continent's interior, sharing land borders &ith 5ruguay tothe south3 !rgentina and Paraguay to the south&est3 Bolivia and Peru to the&est3 4olo"bia to the north&est3 and 1enezuela, urina"e, 2uyana and theFrench overseas depart"ent of French 2uiana to the north$ %t shares a border&ith every country in outh !"erica e9cept for cuador and 4hile$ %t alsoenco"passes a nu"ber of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de6oronha, Rocas !toll, aint Peter and Paul Roc.s, and 7rindade and 8arti"1az$ %ts size, relief, cli"ate, and natural resources "a.e Brazil geographicallydiverse$ %ncluding its !tlantic islands, Brazil lies bet&een latitudes /\6 and*-\, and longitudes @=\ and -\H$

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the &orld, and third largest in the !"ericas,&ith a total area of =,0-,=/$0 ."@ (*,@=,/@ sJ "i), including 00,-00 ."@(@,- sJ "i) of &ater$ %t spans three ti"e zones3 fro" 574D- in the &esternstates, to 574D* in the eastern states (and the official ti"e of Brazil) and 574D@in the !tlantic islands$ Brazil is the only country in the &orld that lies on theeJuator &hile having contiguous territory outside the tropics$

Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, "ountains, plains,highlands, and scrublands$ 8uch of the terrain lies bet&een @<< "etres (//< ft)and =<< "etres (@,/<< ft) in elevation$ 7he "ain upland area occupies "ost of

the southern half of the country$ 7he north&estern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain bro.en by lo&, rounded hills$



7he southeastern section is "ore rugged, &ith a co"ple9 "ass of ridges and"ountain ranges reaching elevations of up to ,@<< "etres (*,<< ft)$ 7heseranges include the 8antiJueira and spinha]o "ountains and the erra do8ar$ %n the north, the 2uiana ighlands for" a "aCor drainage divide,

separating rivers that flo& south into the !"azon Basin fro" rivers that e"ptyinto the +rinoco River syste", in 1enezuela, to the north$ 7he highest point inBrazil is the Pico da 6eblina at @,- "etres (,=@* ft), and the lo&est is the !tlantic +cean$

Brazil has a dense and co"ple9 syste" of rivers, one of the &orld's "oste9tensive, &ith eight "aCor drainage basins, all of &hich drain into the !tlantic$8aCor rivers include the !"azon (the &orld's secondDlongest river and thelargest in ter"s of volu"e of &ater), the ParanL and its "aCor tributary the%gua]u (&hich includes the %guazu Falls), the 6egro, Qo Francisco, ^ingu,8adeira and 7apaCNs rivers$

Climate

no& in Qo ?oaJui", anta 4atarina (outh) and tropical cli"ate in Fernandode 6oronha, Perna"buco (6ortheast)$7he cli"ate of Brazil co"prises a &ide range of &eather conditions across alarge area and varied topography, but "ost of the country is tropical$ !ccordingto the >_ppen syste", Brazil hosts five "aCor cli"atic subtypes: eJuatorial,tropical, se"iarid, highland tropical, te"perate, and subtropical$ 7he differentcli"atic conditions produce environ"ents ranging fro" eJuatorial rainforests inthe north and se"iarid deserts in the northeast, to te"perate coniferous forestsin the south and tropical savannas in central Brazil$ 8any regions have star.lydifferent "icrocli"ates$

!n eJuatorial cli"ate characterizes "uch of northern Brazil$ 7here is no real dryseason, but there are so"e variations in the period of the year &hen "ost rainfalls$ 7e"peratures average @0 \4 ( \F), &ith "ore significant te"perature

variation bet&een night and day than bet&een seasons$

+ver central Brazil rainfall is "ore seasonal, characteristic of a savannacli"ate$7his region is as e9tensive as the !"azon basin but has a very differentcli"ate as it lies farther south at a higher altitude$ %n the interior northeast,seasonal rainfall is even "ore e9tre"e$ 7he se"iarid cli"atic region generallyreceives less than =<< "illi"etres (*$0 in) of rain, "ost of &hich generally fallsin a period of three to five "onths of the year and occasionally less than this,creating long periods of drought$ Brazil's =G= 2rande eca (2reatrought), the "ost severe ever recorded in Brazil,caused appro9i"ately half a"illion deaths$ 7he one fro" 0 &as devastating too$



outh of Bahia, near the coasts, and "ore southerly "ost of the state of QoPaulo, the distribution of rainfall changes, &ith rain falling throughout the year$7he south enCoys te"perate conditions, &ith cool &inters and average annualte"peratures not e9ceeding = \4 (/-$- \F)3 &inter frosts are Juite co""on,&ith occasional sno&fall in the higher areas$ +ther .inds of solid precipitation

happen in a &ider area, including cities as Rio de ?aneiro and Qo Paulo$ Fallof sno& grains and ice pellets, dee"ed as not dissi"ilar fro" true hail, arepopularly called granizo$

Biodi'ersity

Brazil7s large territory comrises di8erent ecosystems9 such as the

mazon "ainforest9 recognized as ha-ing the greatest #iologicaldi-ersity in the /orld9 /ith the tlantic 0orest and the ,errado9

sustaining the greatest #iodi-ersity. In the south9 the raucaria ine

forest gro/s under temerate conditions. The rich /ildlife of Brazil

re:ects the -ariety of natural ha#itats. cientists estimate that the

total num#er of lant and animal secies in Brazil could aroach four

million.

The mazon rainforest9 the richest and most #iodi-erse rainforest in

the /orld.arger mammals include umas9 ;aguars9 ocelots9 rare #ush dogs9 and

fo<es= eccaries9 tairs9 anteaters9 sloths9 oossums9 and armadillos

are a#undant. 5eer are lentiful in the south9 and many secies of

>e/ ?orld mon@eys are found in the northern rain forests. ,oncern

for the en-ironment has gro/n in resonse to glo#al interest in

en-ironmental issues.

Biodi-ersity can contri#ute signiAcantly to agriculture9 li-estoc@9

forestry and Asheries e<traction. Ho/e-er9 almost all economically

e<loited secies9 /hether lant9 such as soy#eans and co8ee9/hether animal9 such as chic@en9 are from other countries9 and its

oeration is made so freuently harmful to the en-ironment. ince

the economic use of nati-e secies still cra/ls. 0or the Brazilian +5P9

the forest sector reresents ;ust o-er 1C and Ashing .4C. small

art of the nati-e secies in the economy has9 among its causes9 the

lac@ of olicies and in-estments #oth for #asic research and for

roduct de-eloment. 0ailing that9 there7s no /ay to calculate ho/

Brazil could recei-e #y atents and technologies de-eloed to study

its #iodi-ersity D something that9 according to some e<erts9 /ould #e

in the trillions of dollars.



single drug for controlling hyertension9 de-eloed /ith the -enom

of the ;araraca9 a Brazilian secies9 /ould yield a#out 1.! #illion a

year to foreign la#oratory that has atented a -alue comara#le to

the national e<orts of #eef and or@ com#ined.

En'ironment

7he natural heritage of Brazil is severely threatened by cattle ranching andagriculture, logging, "ining, resettle"ent, oil and gas e9traction, overDfishing,&ildlife trade, da"s and infrastructure, &ater pollution, cli"ate change, fire, andinvasive species$ %n "any areas of the country, the natural environ"ent is

threatened by develop"ent$ 4onstruction of high&ays has opened uppreviously re"ote areas for agriculture and settle"ent3 da"s have floodedvalleys and inundated &ildlife habitats3 and "ines have scarred and polluted thelandscape$ !t least < da"s are said to be planned for the !"azon region,including controversial Belo 8onte hydroelectric da"$

&o'ernment and politics

7he Brazilian Federation is the Eindissoluble unionE of three distinct politicalentities: the tates, the 8unicipalities and the Federal istrict$ 7he 5nion, thestates and the Federal istrict, and the "unicipalities, are the Espheres ofgovern"ent$E 7he Federation is set on five funda"ental principles:sovereignty,citizenship, dignity of hu"an beings, the social values of labour and freedo" ofenterprise, and political pluralis"$ 7he classic tripartite branches of govern"ent

(e9ecutive, legislative, and Cudicial under a chec.s and balances syste"), isfor"ally established by the 4onstitution$ 7he e9ecutive and legislative areorganized independently in all three spheres of govern"ent, &hile the Cudiciaryis organized only at the federal and state`Federal istrict spheres$

!ll "e"bers of the e9ecutive and legislative branches are directly elected$?udges and other Cudicial officials are appointed after passing entry e9a"s$ For"ost of its de"ocratic history, Brazil has had a "ultiDparty syste", proportionalrepresentation$ 1oting is co"pulsory for the literate bet&een = and < yearsold and optional for illiterates and those bet&een / and = or beyond <$

7ogether &ith several s"aller parties, four political parties stand out: Hor.ers'Party (P7), Brazilian ocial e"ocracy Party (PB), Brazilian e"ocratic



8ove"ent Party (P8B), and e"ocrats (8)$ Fifteen political parties arerepresented in 4ongress$ %t is co""on for politicians to s&itch parties, and thusthe proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changesregularly$ !l"ost all govern"ental and ad"inistrative functions are e9ercised byauthorities and agencies affiliated to the 9ecutive$

7he for" of govern"ent is that of a de"ocratic republic, &ith a presidentialsyste"$7he president is both head of state and head of govern"ent of the5nion and is elected for a fourDyear ter", &ith the possibility of reDelection for asecond successive ter"$ 7he current president is il"a Rousseff &ho &asinaugurated on ?anuary @<$ 7he President appoints the 8inisters of tate,&ho assist in govern"ent$#egislative houses in each political entity are the"ain source of la& in Brazil$ 7he 6ational 4ongress is the Federation'sbica"eral legislature, consisting of the 4ha"ber of eputies and the Federalenate$ ?udiciary authorities e9ercise Curisdictional duties al"ost e9clusively$

a)

Inside the ureme 0ederal ,ourt #uilding at the Three Po/ers Plaza.Brazilian la/ is #ased on "omanD+ermanic traditions and ci-il la/

concets re-ail o-er common la/ ractice. ost of Brazilian la/ is

codiAed9 although nonDcodiAed statutes also reresent a su#stantial

art9 laying a comlementary role. ,ourt decisions set out

interreti-e guidelines= ho/e-er9 they are seldom #inding on otherseciAc cases. 5octrinal /or@s and the /or@s of academic ;urists ha-e

strong in:uence in la/ creation and in la/ cases.

The legal system is #ased on the 0ederal ,onstitution9 /hich /as

romulgated on ! Fcto#er 1(&&9 and is the fundamental la/ of Brazil.

ll other legislation and court decisions must conform to its rules. s

of ril 2%9 there ha-e #een !3 amendments. tates ha-e their

o/n constitutions9 /hich must not contradict the 0ederal ,onstitution.

unicialities and the 0ederal 5istrict ha-e Gorganic la/sG 'leis

orgnicas*9 /hich act in a similar /ay to constitutions. egislati-e

entities are the main source of statutes9 although in certain matters

;udiciary and e<ecuti-e #odies may enact legal norms. urisdiction is

administered #y the ;udiciary entities9 although in rare situations the

0ederal ,onstitution allo/s the 0ederal enate to ass on legal

;udgments. There are also secialized military9 la#or9 and electoral

courts. The highest court is the ureme 0ederal ,ourt.

This system has #een criticised o-er the last fe/ decades for the slo/

ace of decision ma@ing. a/suits on aeal may ta@e se-eral years

to resol-e9 and in some cases more than a decade elases #efore

deAniti-e rulings. >e-ertheless9 the ureme 0ederal Tri#unal /as theArst court in the /orld to transmit its sessions on tele-ision9 and also



-ia JouTu#e. ore recently9 in 5ecem#er 2(9 the ureme ,ourt

adoted T/itter to dislay items on the day lanner of the ministers9

to inform the daily actions of the ,ourt and the most imortant

decisions made #y them.

Brazil continues to ha-e high crime rates in a num#er of statistics9desite recent imro-ements. ore than !9 eole ha-e #een

@illed #y Arearms in Brazil #et/een 1(%( and 239 according to a

ne/ reort #y the 6nited >ations. In 219 there /ere 4%39$ eole

incarcerated in Brazilian risons and ;ails.

*oreign Policy

!lthough so"e social and econo"ic proble"s prevent Brazil fro" e9ercisingeffective global po&er, the country is no& a political and econo"ic leader in#atin !"erica$ 7his clai", ho&ever, is partially challenged by other countries,such as !rgentina and 8e9ico, &ho oppose the Brazilian goal of obtaining aper"anent seat as representative of the region in the ecurity 4ouncil of the5nited 6ations$ Bet&een Horld Har %% and the <s, de"ocratic and "ilitarygovern"ents sought to e9pand Brazil's influence in the &orld, pursuing aco""on foreign and independent industry$ 4urrently the country has ai"ed tostrengthen ties &ith other outh !"erican countries and pursue "ultilateraldiplo"acy through the 5nited 6ations and the +rganization of !"erican tates$

7he current Brazil's foreign policy is based on the country's position as aregional po&er in #atin !"erica, a leader a"ong developing countries and ane"erging &orld superpo&er$ Brazilian foreign policy has generally reflected"ultilateralis", resolving disputes peacefully and nonDintervention in the affairsof other countries$ 7he Brazilian 4onstitution also deter"ines that the countryshall see. an econo"ic, political, social and cultural ties &ith the nations of#atin !"erica$

+ilitary

!n increasingly &ellDdeveloped tool of Brazil's foreign policy is providing aid asa donor to other developing countries$ Brazil does not Cust use its gro&ingecono"ic strength to provide financial aid, but it also provides high levels ofe9pertise and "ost i"portantly of all, a Juiet nonDconfrontational diplo"acy toi"prove governance levels$ 7otal aid is esti"ated to be around Z billion peryear that includes:

technical cooperation of around Z-=< "illion (Z*< "illion in @<< provideddirectly by the Brazilian 4ooperation !gency (!B4))



an esti"ated Z-0< "illion for inD.ind e9pertise provided by Brazilian institutionsspecialising in technical cooperation%n addition, Brazil "anages a peace.eeping "ission in aiti (Z*0< "illion) and"a.es inD.ind contributions to the Horld Food Progra""e (Z*<< "illion)$ 7hisis in addition to hu"anitarian assistance and contributions to "ultilateral

develop"ent agencies$ 7he scale of this aid places it on par &ith 4hina and%ndia and ahead of "any &estern donors$O/< 7he Brazilian outhDouth aidhas been described as a Eglobal "odel in &aiting$E

7he ar"ed forces of Brazil consist of the Brazilian !r"y, the Brazilian 6avy, andthe Brazilian !ir Force$ Hith a total of *, active personnel, they constitutethe largest ar"ed force in #atin !"erica$ 7he !r"y is responsible for landDbased "ilitary operations and has @*0,= active personnel$

7he 8ilitary Police (tates' 8ilitary Police) is described as an ancillary force ofthe !r"y by the constitution, but is under the control of each state's governor$

7he 6avy is responsible for naval operations and for guarding Brazilianterritorial &aters$ %t is the oldest of the Brazilian ar"ed forces and the only navyin #atin !"erica to operate an aircraft carrier, the 6!e Qo Paulo (for"erly FFoch of the French 6avy)$ 7he !ir Force is the aerial &arfare branch of theBrazilian ar"ed forces, and the largest air force in #atin !"erica, &ith about<< "anned aircraft in service$

,dministrati'e di'isions

Brazil is a federation co"posed of @/ tates, one Federal district (&hichcontains the capital city, BrasIlia) and 8unicipalities$ tates have autono"ousad"inistrations, collect their o&n ta9es and receive a share of ta9es collectedby the Federal govern"ent$ 7hey have a governor and a unica"eral legislativebody elected directly by their voters$ 7hey also have independent 4ourts of #a&for co""on Custice$ espite this, states have "uch less autono"y to createtheir o&n la&s than in the 5nited tates$ For e9a"ple, cri"inal and civil la&scan only be voted by the federal bica"eral 4ongress and are unifor"throughout the country$

7he states and the federal district "ay be grouped into regions: 6orthern,6ortheast, 4entralDHest, outheast and outhern$ 7he Brazilian regions are"erely geographical, not political or ad"inistrative divisions, and they do nothave any specific for" of govern"ent$ !lthough defined by la&, Brazilianregions are useful "ainly for statistical purposes, and also to define thedistribution of federal funds in develop"ent proCects$

8unicipalities, as the states, have autono"ous ad"inistrations, collect theiro&n ta9es and receive a share of ta9es collected by the 5nion and stategovern"ent$ ach has a "ayor and an elected legislative body, but no separate4ourt of #a&$ %ndeed, a 4ourt of #a& organized by the state can enco"pass



"any "unicipalities in a single Custice ad"inistrative division called co"arca(county)$

Economy

Brazil is the largest national econo"y in #atin !"erica, the &orld's si9th largestecono"y at "ar.et e9change rates and the seventh largest in purchasingpo&er parity (PPP), according to the %nternational 8onetary Fund and the HorldBan.$ Brazil has a "i9ed econo"y &ith abundant natural resources$ 7he

Brazilian econo"y has been predicted to beco"e one of the five largest in the&orld in the decades to co"e, the 2P per capita follo&ing and gro&ing$ %tscurrent 2P (PPP) per capita is Z<,@<<, putting Brazil in the /-th positionaccording to Horld Ban. data$ %t has large and developed agricultural, "ining,"anufacturing and service sectors, as &ell as a large labor pool$

!n "braer R?D*0 co""ercial Cet$ Brazil is the thirdDlargest co""ercialaircraft "anufacturer in the &orld, and the fourthDlargest aircraft producer &henincluding business Cets into account$Brazilian e9ports are boo"ing, creating a ne& generation of tycoons$ 8aCore9port products include aircraft, electrical eJuip"ent, auto"obiles, ethanol,te9tiles, foot&ear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange Cuice, soybeans and cornedbeef$ 7he country has been e9panding its presence in international financialand co""odities "ar.ets, and is one of a group of four e"erging econo"iescalled the BR%4 countries$

Brazil pegged its currency, the real, to the 5$$ dollar in -$ o&ever, afterthe ast !sian financial crisis, the Russian default in = and the series ofadverse financial events that follo&ed it, the 4entral Ban. of Brazil te"porarily

changed its "onetary policy to a "anagedDfloat sche"e &hile undergoing acurrency crisis, until definitively changing the e9change regi"e to freeDfloat in?anuary $

Brazil received an %nternational 8onetary Fund rescue pac.age in "idD@<<@ ofZ*<$- billion, then a record su"$ Brazil's central ban. paid bac. the %8F loan in@<<0, although it &as not due to be repaid until @<</$ +ne of the issues the4entral Ban. of Brazil recently dealt &ith &as an e9cess of speculative shortDter" capital inflo&s to the country, &hich "ay have contributed to a fall in thevalue of the 5$$ dollar against the real during that period$ 6onetheless, foreigndirect invest"ent (F%), related to longDter", less speculative invest"ent in

production, is esti"ated to be Z*$= billion for @<<$ %nflation "onitoring and



control currently plays a "aCor part in the 4entral ban.'s role of setting outshortDter" interest rates as a "onetary policy "easure$

Bet&een * and @<<, <@ "ergers acJuisitions &ith a total .no&n valueof Z< billion &ith the involve"ent of Brazlian fir"s have been announced$

O= 7he year @<< &as a ne& record in ter"s of value &ith 0 billion 5 oftransactions$ 7he largest transaction &ith involve"ent of Brazilian co"panieshas been: 4ia 1ale do Rio oce acJuired %nco in a tender offer valued at Z=$billion 5$

7he purchasing po&er in Brazil is eroded by the soDcalled Brazil cost$

Tourism

7he 7ouris" is an i"portant econo"ic activity in various regions of the country$Hith five "illion foreign visitors in @<<=, Brazil is the "ain destination forinternational touris" "ar.et in outh !"erica, and ran.s second in #atin !"erica in ter"s of flo& of international tourists$

pending by foreign tourists visiting Brazil reached 0$= billion dollars in @<<=,/$=Y "ore than in @<< and the country enco"passed *$-Y of internationaltourist flo& in the !"ericas in @<<=$ %n @<<0, touris" contributed *$@Y ofnational inco"e arising fro" the e9port of goods and services, responsible for

the creation of Y of direct and indirect Cobs in the econo"y$ %n @<</, anesti"ated $= "illion people &ere e"ployed in the sector, &ith /= thousandfor"al Cobs (-Y) and $ "illion infor"al occupations (0Y)$

7he o"estic touris" represents a vital part of the industry, accounting for over 0< "illion trips annually, the direct revenues generated by do"estic touris" in@<< &as Z ** billion D nearly si9 ti"es "ore than is captured by the country inrelation to foreign touris" $

Infrastructure

Components and energy

%taipu a", the &orld's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation andsecondDlargest by installed capacity$



Brazil's econo"y is diverse, enco"passing agriculture, industry, and "anyservices$ 7he recent econo"ic strength has been due in part to a global boo"in co""odities prices &ith e9ports fro" beef to soybeans soaring$ !gricultureand allied sectors li.e forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 0$Y of thegross do"estic product in @<<, a perfor"ance that puts agribusiness in a

position of distinction in ter"s of Brazil's trade balance, in spite of trade barriersand subsidizing policies adopted by the developed countries$

7he industry fro" auto"obiles, steel and petroche"icals to co"puters,aircraft, and consu"er durables accounted for *<$=Y of the gross do"esticproduct$%ndustry, &hich is often technologically advanced, is highlyconcentrated in "etropolitan Qo Paulo, Rio de ?aneiro, 4a"pinas, Porto !legre, and Belo orizonte$

Brazil is the &orld's tenth largest energy consu"er &ith "uch of its energyco"ing fro" rene&able sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol3

nonrene&able energy is "ainly produced fro" oil and natural gas$ ! globalpo&er in agriculture and natural resources, Brazil e9perienced tre"endousecono"ic gro&th over the past three decades$ %t is e9pected to beco"e a "aCor oil producer and e9porter, having recently "ade huge oil discoveries$ 7hegovern"ental agencies responsible for the energy policy are the 8inistry of8ines and nergy, the 6ational 4ouncil for nergy Policy, the 6ational !gencyof Petroleu", 6atural 2as and Biofuels, and the 6ational !gency of lectricity$

-cience and technology

Brazilian 6ational #aboratory of ynchrotron #ight in 4a"pinas$7echnological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities andresearch institutes, and "ore than *Y of funding for basic research co"esfro" govern"ent sources$ o"e of Brazil's "ost notable technological hubs arethe +s&aldo 4ruz %nstitute, the Butantan %nstitute, the !ir Force's !erospace7echnical 4enter, the Brazilian !gricultural Research 4orporation and the %6P$7he Brazilian pace !gency has the "ost advanced space progra" in #atin

!"erica$

5raniu" is enriched at the Resende 6uclear Fuel Factory to fuel the country'senergy de"ands and plans are under&ay to build the country's first nuclearsub"arine$Brazil is one of the three countries in #atin !"erica &ith anoperational ynchrotron #aboratory, a research facility on physics, che"istry,"aterial science and life sciences$ !nd Brazil is the only #atin !"erican countryto have a se"iconductor co"pany &ith its o&n fab, the 4%74$



Transport

Brazil has a large and diverse transport net&or.$ Roads are the pri"ary carriers

of freight and passenger traffic$ 7he road syste" totalled $= "illion ." ($@*"illion "i) in @<<@$ 7he total of paved roads increased fro" *0,-/ ." (@@,<0/"i) in / to =-,-< ." (-,-@0 "i) in @<<@$

Recife ,irport.

Brazil's rail&ay syste" has been declining since -0, &hen e"phasis shiftedto high&ay construction$ 7he total length of rail&ay trac. &as *<,=0 ."(,=/ "i) in @<<@, as co"pared &ith *,=-= ." (,= "i) in <$ 8ost ofthe rail&ay syste" belongs to the Federal Railroad 4orp$, &ith a "aCoritygovern"ent interest$ 7he govern"ent also privatized seven lines in $7heQo Paulo 8etro &as the first underground transit syste" in Brazil$ 7he other"etro syste"s are in Rio de ?aneiro, Porto !legre, Recife, Belo orizonte,BrasIlia, 7eresina, Fortaleza, and alvador$

7here are about @,0<< airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the secondlargest nu"ber in the &orld, after the 5nited tates$ Qo PauloD2uarulhos%nternational !irport, near Qo Paulo, is the largest and busiest airport, handlingthe vast "aCority of popular and co""ercial traffic of the country andconnecting the city &ith virtually all "aCor cities across the &orld$

4oastal shipping lin.s &idely separated parts of the country$ Bolivia andParaguay have been given free ports at antos$ +f the */ deepD&ater ports,antos, %taCaI, Rio 2rande, ParanaguL, Rio de ?aneiro, epetiba, 1itNria,uape, 8anaus and Qo Francisco do ul are the "ost i"portant$

Health

7he Brazilian public health syste", the 6ational ealth yste" (5), is"anaged and provided by all levels of govern"ent, the largest type syste" inthe &orld$ ave private health syste"s serve a co"ple"entary role$ 7he publichealth services are universal and available to all citizens of the country for free$o&ever, the construction and "aintenance of health centers and hospitals arefinanced by ta9es, and the country spends about Y of its 2P on spending in



the area$ %n @<<, Brazil had $@ doctors and @$- hospital beds per <<<inhabitants$

espite all the progress "ade since the establish"ent of universal health carein ==, there are still several proble"s of public health in Brazil$ %n @<</, the

"ain points to be resolved &ere the high infant "ortality rates (@$0Y) and"others (*$ deaths per <<< births)$ 7he nu"ber of deaths fro"nonco""unicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease (0$ deaths per<< <<< inhabitants) and cancer (@$ deaths per << <<< inhabitants) alsohave a considerable i"pact on the health of the population$ Finally, e9ternalfactors, but preventable, such as car accidents, suicide and violence caused-$Y of all deaths in the country$

Education7he Federal 4onstitution and the #a& of 2uidelines and Bases of 6ationalducation deter"ine that the Federal 2overn"ent, tates, Federal istrict and"unicipalities "ust "anage and organize their respective education syste"s$ach of these public educational syste"s is responsible for its o&n"aintenance, &hich "anages funds as &ell as the "echanis"s and fundingsources$ 7he ne& constitution reserves @0Y of the state budget and =Y offederal ta9es and "unicipal ta9es for education$

!ccording to the %B2, in @<, the literacy rate of the population &as <$-Y,"eaning that * "illion ($/Y of population) people are still illiterate in thecountry3 functional illiteracy has reached @$/Y of the population$ %lliteracy ishighest in the 6ortheast, &here $Y of the population is illiterate$ !lsoaccording to the 6ational ousehold urvey, the percentage of people atschool, in @<<, &as Y in the age group /G- years and =@$Y a"ongpeople 0 to years, &hile the average total ti"e of study a"ong those over< years &as on average /$ years$

igher education starts &ith undergraduate or seJuential courses, &hich "ay

offer different options of specialization in acade"ic or professional careers$epending on the choice, students can i"prove their educational bac.ground&ith courses of postDgraduate studies or broad sense$ 7o attend a highereducation institution is reJuired, by #a& of 2uidelines and Bases of ducation,co"pleting all levels of education suited to the needs of all students of teaching.indergarten, ele"entary and "ediu", provided the student does not hold anydisability, &hether physical, "ental, visual or hearing$

Communication



7he Brazilian press has its beginnings in =<= &ith the arrival of the Portugueseroyal fa"ily to Brazil, hitherto forbidden any activity of the press D &as thepublication of ne&spapers or boo.s$ 7he Brazilian press &as officially born inRio de ?aneiro on 8ay *, =<=, &ith the creation of the Royal Printing,6ationalPress today, the Prince Regento" ?oQo$

7he 2azeta do Rio de ?aneiro, the first ne&spaper published in the country,begins to circulate on epte"ber <, =<=$ 4urrently the press has establisheditself as a "eans of "ass co""unication and produced "aCor ne&spaperstoday are a"ong the largest in the country and the &orld as Folha de $ Paulo,+ 2lobo and stado de $ Paul, publications and publishers of !pril and 2lobe$

7he broadcast ca"e on epte"ber , @@, being the first broadcast a speechby then President Pessoa, but installing the radio actually occurred only on @< !pril @* &ith the creation of ERadio ociety of Rio de ?aneiro$E %n the *<sthe era of co""ercialradio, &ith the per"ission of co""ercial progra""ing,

bringing hiring artists and technical develop"ent for the sector$ Hith the rise ofpopularity of soap operas and progra""ing in the -<s, began to call thegolden age of Brazilian radio, &hich brought an i"pact on Brazilian societysi"ilar to that television produces today$ Hith the creation of television, theradio goes through transfor"ations, the hu"or progra"s, artists, soap operasand tal. sho&s are replaced &ith songs and utilities$ %n the /<s ca"e theradio F8s that bring "ore "usic to the listener$

7elevision in Brazil began officially on epte"ber =, 0<, brought by !ssis4hateaubriand &ho founded the first television channel in the country, 71 7upi$

ince then television has gro&n in the country, creating large net&or.s such as2lobo, Record, B7 and Bandeirantes$ 7oday, television is an i"portant factorin "odern popular culture of Brazilian society$ igital 71 in Brazil started at@<:*<, @ ece"ber @<<, initially in the city of Qo Paulo, the ?apanesestandard.

/emographics

7he population of Brazil, as recorded by the @<<= P6!, &as appro9i"ately< "illion (@@$* inhabitants per sJuare .ilo"eter), &ith a ratio of "en to&o"en of <$0: and =*$0Y of the population defined as urban$7he populationis heavily concentrated in the outheastern ($= "illion inhabitants) and6ortheastern (0*$0 "illion inhabitants) regions, &hile the t&o "ost e9tensiveregions, the 4enterDHest and the 6orth, &hich together "a.e up /-$@Y of theBrazilian territory, have a total of only @$ "illion inhabitants$



7he first census in Brazil &as carried out in =@ and recorded a population of,*<,-=$ Fro" ==< to *<, - "illion uropeans arrived$ Brazil's populationincreased significantly bet&een -< and <, due to a decline in the "ortalityrate, even though the birth rate under&ent a slight decline$ %n the -<s theannual population gro&th rate &as @$-Y, rising to *$<Y in the 0<s and

re"aining at @$Y in the /<s, as life e9pectancy rose fro" -- to 0- years andto @$/ years in @<<$ %t has been steadily falling since the /<s, fro" *$<-Yper year bet&een 0< and /< to $<0Y in @<<= and is e9pected to fall to anegative value of G<$@Y by @<0< thus co"pleting the de"ographic transition$

%n @<<=, the illiteracy rate &as $-=Y and a"ong the youth (ages 0G)$-Y$ %t &as highest (@<$*<Y) in the 6ortheast, &hich had a large proportionof rural poor$ %lliteracy &as high (@-$=Y) a"ong the rural population and lo&er($<0Y) a"ong the urban population$

Race and ethnicity

!ccording to the 6ational Research by ousehold a"ple (P6!) of @<<=,-=$-*Y of the population (about @ "illion) described the"selves as Hhite3-*$=<Y (about =* "illion) as Bro&n (8ultiracial), /$=-Y (about * "illion) asBlac.3 <$0=Y (about $ "illion) as !sian3 and <$@=Y (about 0*/ thousand) as !"erindian (officially called indIgena, %ndigenous), &hile <$<Y (about *<

thousand) did not declare their race$%n @<<, the 6ational %ndian Foundation reported the e9istence of / differentuncontacted tribes, up fro" -< in @<<0$ Brazil is believed to have the largestnu"ber of uncontacted peoples in the &orld$

ince the arrival of the Portuguese in 0<<, considerable "iscegenationbet&een these groups has ta.en place, in all regions of the country (&ithuropean ancestry being do"inant nation&ide according to the vast "aCority ofall autoso"al studies underta.en covering the entire population, accounting forbet&een /0Y to Y)$

Brazilian society is "ore "ar.edly divided by social class lines, although a highinco"e disparity is found bet&een race groups, so racis" and classis" can beconflated$ ocially significant closeness to one racial group is ta.en in account"ore in the basis of appearance (phenotypes) rather than ancestry, to thee9tent that full siblings can pertain to different EracialE groups$ ocioecono"icfactors are also significant, because a "inority of pardos are li.ely to startdeclaring the"selves Hhite or Blac. if socially up&ard$ .in color and facialfeatures do not line Juite &ell &ith ancestry (usually, !froDBrazilians are evenly"i9ed and uropean ancestry is do"inant in Hhites and pardos &ith asignificant nonDuropean contribution, but the individual variation is great)$



7he bro&n population (as "ultiracial Brazilians are officially called3 pardo inPortuguese, also colloJuially "oreno, or s&arthy) is a broad category thatincludes caboclos (assi"ilated !"erindians in general, and descendants ofHhites and 6atives), "ulatos (descendants of pri"arily Hhites and !froDBrazilians) and cafuzos (descendants of !froDBrazilians and 6atives)$ People of

considerable !"erindian ancestry for" the "aCority of the population in the6orthern, 6ortheastern and 4enterDHestern regions$

igher percents of Blac.s, "ulattoes and triDracials can be found in the easterncoast of the 6ortheastern region fro" Bahia to ParaIba and also in northern8aranhQo, southern 8inas 2erais and in eastern Rio de ?aneiro$ Fro" the thcentury, Brazil opened its borders to i""igration$ !bout five "illion people fro"over /< countries "igrated to Brazil bet&een =<= and @, "ost of the" ofPortuguese, %talian, paniard, 2er"an, ?apanese and 8iddle astern origin$

Religion

Brazil possesses a richly spiritual society for"ed fro" the "eeting of theRo"an 4atholic 4hurch &ith the religious traditions of !frican slaves andindigenous peoples$ 7his confluence of faiths during the Portuguesecolonization of Brazil led to the develop"ent of a diverse array of syncretistic

practices &ithin the overarching u"brella of Brazilian Ro"an 4atholicis",characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities, and in so"e instances, !llan>ardec's piritis" ("ost Brazilian piritists are also 4hristians)$ Religiouspluralis" increased during the @<th century, and a Protestant co""unity hasgro&n to include over 0Y of the population$ 7he "ost co""on Protestantdeno"inations are Pentecostal, vangelical, Baptist, eventhDday !dventist,#utheran and the refor"ed churches$

Ro"an 4atholicis" is the country's predo"inant faith$ Brazil has the &orld'slargest 4atholic population$ !ccording to the @<<< e"ographic 4ensus (the

P6! survey does not inJuire about religion), *$0Y of the populationfollo&ed Ro"an 4atholicis"3 0$-Y Protestantis"3 $**Y >ardecist spiritis"3$@@Y other 4hristian deno"inations3 <$*Y !froDBrazilian religions3 <$*YBuddhis"3 <$<0Y ?udais"3 <$<@Y %sla"3 <$<Y !"erindian religions3 <$0Yother religions, undeclared or undeter"ined3 &hile $*0Y have no religion$

o&ever, in the last ten years Protestantis", particularly Pentecostal and`orvangelical Protestantis", has spread in Brazil, &hile the proportion of4atholics has dropped significantly$ !fter Protestantis", individuals professingno religion are also a significant group, e9ceeding Y of the population in the@<<< census$ 7he cities of Boa 1ista, alvador and Porto 1elho have the

greatest proportion of %rreligious residents in Brazil$ 7eresina, Fortaleza, andFlorianNpolis &ere the "ost Ro"an 4atholic in the country$ 2reater Rio de



?aneiro, not including the city proper, is the "ost %rreligious and least Ro"an4atholic Brazilian periphery, &hile 2reater Porto !legre and 2reater Fortalezaare in the opposite sides of the lists respectively$

0rbanization

!ccording to %B2 (Brazilian %nstitute of 2eography and tatistics) urban areasalready concentrate =-$*0Y of the population, &hile the outheast regionre"ains the "ost populated one, &ith over =< "illion inhabitants$ 7he largest"etropolitan areas in Brazil are Qo Paulo, Rio de ?aneiro, and Belo orizonte all in the outheastern Region &ith $0, $0, and 0$ "illion inhabitantsrespectively$

!l"ost all of the state capitals are the largest cities in their states, e9cept for1itNria, the capital of spIrito anto, and FlorianNpolis, the capital of anta4atarina$ 7here are also nonDcapital "etropolitan areas in the states of QoPaulo (4a"pinas, antos and the ParaIba 1alley), 8inas 2erais (teel 1alley),Rio 2rande do ul (inos 1alley) and anta 4atarina (%taCaI 1alley)$

anguage

7he official language of Brazil is Portuguese (!rticle * of the 4onstitution ofthe Federative Republic of Brazil), &hich al"ost all of the population spea.sand is virtually the only language used in ne&spapers, radio, television, and forbusiness and ad"inistrative purposes$ 7he "ost fa"ous e9ception to this is astrong sign language la& that &as passed by the 6ational 4ongress of Brazil$#egally recognized in @<<@, the la& &as regulated in @<<0$7he la& "andatesthe use of the Brazilian ign #anguage, "ore co""only .no&n by itsPortuguese acrony" #%BR!, in education and govern"ent services$ 7helanguage "ust be taught as a part of the education and speech and languagepathology curricula$ #%BR! teachers, instructors and translators are

recognized professionals$ chools and health services "ust provide access(EinclusionE) to deaf people$

Brazilian Portuguese has had its o&n develop"ent, "ostly si"ilar to /thcentury 4entral and outhern dialects of uropean Portuguese (despite a verysubstantial nu"ber of Portuguese colonial settlers, and "ore recenti""igrants, co"ing fro" 6orthern regions, and in "inor degree Portuguese8acaronesia), &ith so"e influences fro" the !"erindian and !fricanlanguages, especially Hest !frican and Bantu$!s a result, the language isso"e&hat different, "ostly in phonology, fro" the language of Portugal andother PortugueseDspea.ing countries (the dialects of the other countries, partlydue to the "ore recent end of Portuguese colonialis" in these regions, have a



closer conne9ion to conte"porary uropean Portuguese)$ 7hese differencesare co"parable to those bet&een !"erican and British nglish$

Brazil is the only PortugueseDspea.ing nation in the !"ericas, "a.ing thelanguage an i"portant part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national

culture distinct fro" those of its panishDspea.ing neighbors$

%n <, the 4o""unity of Portuguese #anguage 4ountries (4P#P), &hichincluded representatives fro" all countries &ith Portuguese as the officiallanguage, reached an agree"ent on the refor" of the Portuguese orthographyto unify the t&o standards then in use by Brazil on one side and the re"aininglusophone countries on the other$ 7his spelling refor" &ent into effect in Brazilon ?anuary @<<$ %n Portugal, the refor" &as signed into la& by the Presidenton @ ?uly @<<= allo&ing for a /Dyear adaptation period, during &hich bothorthographies &ill coDe9ist$ 7he re"aining 4P#P countries are free to establishtheir o&n transition ti"etables$

8inority languages are spo.en throughout the nation$ +ne hundred and eighty !"erindian languages are spo.en in re"ote areas and a significant nu"ber ofother languages are spo.en by i""igrants and their descendants$ %n the"unicipality of Qo 2abriel da 4achoeira, 6heengatu (a currently endangeredouth !"erican creole language G or an 'antiDcreole', according to so"elinguists G &ith "ostly %ndigenous Brazilian languages le9icon and PortugueseDbased gra""ar that, together &ith its southern relative lIngua geral paulista,once &as a "aCor lingua franca in Brazil, being replaced by Portuguese onlyafter govern"ental prohibition led by "aCor political changes), Bani&a and

7ucano languages had been granted coDofficial status &ith Portuguese$

7here are significant co""unities of 2er"an ("ostly the Brazilianunsrc.isch, a igh 2er"an language dialect) and %talian ("ostly the 7alian, a1enetian dialect) origins in the outhern and outheastern regions, &hoseancestors' native languages &ere carried along to Brazil, and &hich, still alivethere, are influenced by the Portuguese language$ 7alian is officially a historicpatri"ony of Rio 2rande do ul, and t&o 2er"an dialects possess coDofficialstatus in a fe& "unicipalities$

#earning at least one second language (generally nglish and`or panish) is

"andatory for all the @ grades of the "andatory education syste" (pri"aryand secondary education, there called ensino funda"ental and ensino "Adiorespectively)$ Brazil is the first country in outh !"erica to offer speranto tosecondary students$

Culture

7he core culture of Brazil is derived fro" Portuguese culture, because of itsstrong colonial ties &ith the Portuguese e"pire$ !"ong other influences, the



Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, Ro"an 4atholicis" andcolonial architectural styles$ 7he culture &as, ho&ever, also strongly influencedby !frican, indigenous and nonDPortuguese uropean cultures and traditions$

o"e aspects of Brazilian culture &ere influenced by the contributions of

%talian, 2er"an and other uropean as &ell ?apanese and !rab i""igrants&ho arrived in large nu"bers in the outh and outheast of Brazil$ 7heindigenous !"erindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine3 and the !fricans influenced language, cuisine, "usic, dance and religion$

Brazilian art has developed since the /th century into different styles thatrange fro" BaroJue (the do"inant style in Brazil until the early th century) toRo"anticis", 8odernis", 9pressionis", 4ubis", urrealis" and !bstractionis"$

Brazilian cine"a dates bac. to the birth of the "ediu" in the late th century

and has gained a ne& level of international acclai" in recent years$

+usic

7he "usic of Brazil &as for"ed "ainly fro" the fusion of uropean and !fricanele"ents, respectively brought by Portuguese colonists and slaves$ 5ntil thenineteenth century Portugal &as the gate&ay to "ost of the influences that builtBrazilian "usic, classical and popular, introducing "ost of the instru"ents, the

har"onic syste", literature and "usical good share of "usical for"s cultivatedin the country along the centuries, although "any of these ele"ents &ere not of Portuguese origin, but generally uropean$ 7he first &as great Brazilianco"poser ?osA 8aurIcio 6unes 2arcia, author of sacred pieces &ithre"ar.able influence of 1iennese classicis"$ 7he "aCor contribution of the !frican ele"ent &as the rhyth"ic diversity and so"e dances and instru"entsthat had a bigger role in the develop"ent of popular "usic and fol., flourishingespecially fro" the t&entieth century$ 7he indigenous hardly left their traces inthe "ainstrea", e9cept in so"e genres of fol.lore, being "ostly a passiveparticipant in the i"positions of colonial culture$

Hith big blac. participation, popular "usic since the late eighteenth centurybegan to sho& signs of for"ing a characteristically Brazilian sound$ %n classical"usic, ho&ever, that diversity of ele"ents presented until late in feature ratherundifferentiated, follo&ing closely D &ithin the local technical possibilities, Juite"odest co"pared &ith "aCor uropean centers or as 8e9ico and Peru D &hathappened in urope and to a lesser degree in panish !"erica in each period,and a character specifically Brazilian national production &ould only beco"eclear after the great synthesis perfor"ed by 1illa #obos, bac. in the "idDt&entieth century$

Brazilian "usic enco"passes various regional styles influenced by !fricanfor"s, uropean and !"erindian$ %t developed in different styles, including



sa"ba, 8PB, nativist "usic, country "usic, choro, a9A, tac.y, forrN, frevo,balloon, la"bada, "aracatu, Brazilian bossa nova and roc.$

iteratureBrazilian literature dates bac. to the /th century, to the &ritings of the firstPortuguese e9plorers in Brazil, such as PTro 1az de 4a"inha, filled &ithdescriptions of fauna, flora and natives that a"azed uropeans that arrived inBrazil$ Brazil produced significant &or.s in Ro"anticis" novelists li.e?oaJui" 8anuel de 8acedo and ?osA de !lencar &rote novels about love andpain$ !lencar, in his long career, also treated %ndigenous people as heroes inthe %ndigenist novels + 2uarany, %race"a, 5biraCara$ 8achado de !ssis, one ofhis conte"poraries, &rote in virtually all genres and continues to gain

international prestige fro" critics &orld&ide$ 7he Brazilian 8odernis",evidenced by the Hee. of 8odern !rt in @@, &as concerned &ith a nationalistavantDgarde literature &hile PostD8odernis" brought a generation of distinctpoets li.e ?oQo 4abral de 8elo 6eto, 4arlos ru""ond de !ndrade and1inicius de 8oraes and internationally .no&n &riters dealing &ith universal andregional subCects li.e ?orge !"ado, ?oQo 2ui"arQes Rosa and 4larice#ispector$

Cuisine

FeiCoada, a dish "ade &ith blac. beans, por., rice, collard greens, cassavaflour and orange$Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's "i9 of nativeand i""igrant populations$ 7his has created a national cuisine "ar.ed by thepreservation of regional differences$9a"ples are FeiCoada, considered thecountry's national dish3 and regional foods such as vatapL, "oJueca, polentaand acaraCA$

Brazil has a variety of candies such as brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls),cocada (a coconut s&eet), beiCinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and ro"eu e Culieta (cheese &ith a guava Ca" .no&n as goiabada)$ Peanut is used to "a.epa]oca, rapadura and pADdeD"oleJue$ #ocal co""on fruits li.e a]aI, cupua]u,"ango, papaya, cocoa, cashe&, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, andhog plu" are turned in Cuices and used to "a.e chocolates, popsicles and icecrea"$

Popular snac.s are pastel (a pastry), co9inha (chic.en croJuete), pQo de JueiCo(cheese bread and cassava flour ` tapioca), pa"onha (corn and "il. paste),

esfirra (#ebanese pastry), .ibbeh (fro" !rabic cuisine), e"panada (pastry) ande"pada little salt pies filled &ith shri"ps or hearth of pal"$



But the everyday "eal consist "osty of rice and beans &ith beef and salad$ %tsco""on to "i9 it &ith cassava flour (farofa)$ Fried potatoes, fried cassava, friedbanana, fried "eat and fried cheese are very often eaten in lunch and served in"ost typical restaurants$

7he national beverage is coffee and cacha]a is Brazil's native liJuor$ 4acha]ais distilled fro" sugar cane and is the "ain ingredient in the national coc.tail,4aipirinha$

-ports

Football is the "ost popular sport in Brazil$7he "ost popular sport in Brazil is football$ 7he Brazilian national football tea"is ran.ed a"ong the best in the &orld according to the F%F! Horld Ran.ings,and has &on the Horld 4up tourna"ent a record five ti"es$

1olleyball, bas.etball, auto racing, and "artial arts also attract large audiences$Brazil "en's national volleyball tea", for e9a"ple, currently holds the titles ofthe Horld #eague, Horld 2rand 4ha"pions 4up, Horld 4ha"pionship and theHorld 4up$

+thers sports practiced in Brazil are tennis, tea" handball, s&i""ing, and

gy"nastics have found a gro&ing nu"ber of enthusiasts over the last decades$o"e sport variations have their origins in Brazil: beach football, futsal (indoorfootball)and footvolley e"erged in Brazil as variations of football$ %n "artial arts,Brazilians developed 4apoeira, 1ale tudo, and Brazilian ?iuD?itsu$ %n autoracing, three Brazilian drivers have &on the For"ula +ne &orld cha"pionshipeight ti"es$

Brazil has hosted several highDprofile international sporting events, including5F4 *-, the 0< F%F! Horld 4up and has been chosen to host the @<-F%F! Horld 4up$7he Qo Paulo circuit, !utNdro"o ?osA 4arlos Pace, hosts theannual 2rand Pri9 of Brazil$

Qo Paulo organized the %1 Pan !"erican 2a"es in /*,O*<= and Rio de?aneiro hosted the ^1 Pan !"erican 2a"es in @<<$ +n @ +ctober @<<, Riode ?aneiro &as selected to host the @</ +ly"pic 2a"es and @</ Paraly"pic2a"es, the first to be held in outh !"erica and second in #atin !"erica after8e9ico 4ity$ Further, the country hosted the F%B! Bas.etball Horld 4ups in0- and /*$ !t the /* event, the Brazil national bas.etball tea" &on oneof its t&o &orld cha"pionship titles$

%n 8ay @<< Brazil launched 71 Brasil %nternacional, an international television

station, initially broadcasting to - countries$ #uiz %nLcio #ula da ilva, for"erPresident of Brazil, described its ai" as Epresenting Brazil to the &orld$E

Brasil Word

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