47 Facts About Brazil

Territory which would become known as Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Alvares 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.

Brazil is a regional and middle power, and is classified as an emerging power.

Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people, mostly semi-nomadic, who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture.

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Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil had two objectives that would ensure colonial order and the monopoly of Portugal's wealthiest and largest colony: to keep under control and eradicate all forms of slave rebellion and resistance, such as the Quilombo of Palmares, and to repress all movements for autonomy or independence, such as the Minas Conspiracy.

Brazil became unpopular during his tenure through failure to control the economic crisis and hyperinflation he inherited from the military regime.

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France to the north.

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8, 515, 767.

The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at 2, 994 meters, and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean.

Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic.

Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate.

Brazil is second only to Indonesia as the country with the most endemic species.

From 2003 to 2011, compared to all other countries in the world, Brazil had the "largest decline in annual forest loss", as indicated in the study using high-resolution satellite maps showing global forest cover changes.

Brazil has a strong interest in forest conservation as its agriculture sector directly depends on its forests.

Brazil is a democracy, according to the Democracy Index 2010.

Armed forces of Brazil are the largest in Latin America by active personnel and the largest in terms of military equipment.

Brazil has not been invaded since 1865 during the Paraguayan War.

Additionally, Brazil has no contested territorial disputes with any of its neighbors and neither does it have rivalries, like Chile and Bolivia have with each other.

Brazil's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power.

Brazil is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.

Brazil is a federation composed of 26 states, one federal district, and the 5, 570 municipalities.

Brazil's economy suffers from endemic corruption and high income inequality.

Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, soy, coffee and orange; is one of the top 5 producers of maize, cotton, lemon, tobacco, pineapple, banana, beans, coconut, watermelon and papaya; and is one of the top 10 world producers of cocoa, cashew, mango, rice, tomato, sorghum, tangerine, avocado, persimmon, and guava, among others.

In terms of precious stones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine, garnet and opal.

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Brazil is the world's 24th-largest exporter and 26th-largest importer as of 2021.

Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country.

In terms of the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil ranked in the 28st place at the world's level, third in the Americas, after Canada and United States.

Technological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities and research institutes, with the majority of funding for basic research coming from various government agencies.

Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America with an operational Synchrotron Laboratory, a research facility on physics, chemistry, material science and life sciences, and Brazil is the only Latin American country to have a semiconductor company with its own fabrication plant, the CEITEC.

Brazil was ranked 57th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from 66th in 2019.

Brazil is the world's tenth largest energy consumer with much of its energy coming from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol; the Itaipu Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation, and the country has other large plants like Belo Monte and Tucurui.

Television in Brazil began officially on 18 September 1950, with the founding of TV Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand.

Brazil's population increased significantly between 1940 and 1970, because of a decline in the mortality rate, even though the birth rate underwent a slight decline.

Brazil has the second largest Jewish community in Latin America making up 0.

In 2007, the National Indian Foundation estimated that Brazil has 67 different uncontacted tribes, up from their estimate of 40 in 2005.

Brazil is believed to have the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world.

Religion in Brazil was formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of enslaved African peoples and indigenous peoples.

The largest urban agglomerations in Brazil are Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte – all in the Southeastern Region – with 21.

Core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese Empire.

Music of Brazil was formed mainly from the fusion of European, Native Indigenous, and African elements.

Brazil produced significant works in Romanticism – novelists like Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and Jose de Alencar wrote novels about love and pain.

Brazil has a variety of desserts such as brigadeiros, bolo de rolo (roll cake with goiabada), cocada (a coconut sweet), beijinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and romeu e julieta (cheese with goiabada).

The 1941 unfinished film It's All True was divided in four segments, two of which were filmed in Brazil and directed by Orson Welles; it was originally produced as part of the United States' Good Neighbor Policy during Getulio Vargas' Estado Novo government.

Notable film festivals in Brazil include the Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro International Film Festivals and the Gramado Festival.

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Theatre in Brazil has its origins in the period of Jesuit expansion when theater was used for the dissemination of Catholic doctrine in the 16th century.

Brazil has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, like the 1950 FIFA World Cup and recently has hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2019 Copa America and 2021 Copa America.