Brazil

 Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil; Brazilian Portuguese: [bɾaˈziw] ⓘ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasilⓘ),[9] is the largest 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] It is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world,[12] and the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.

Federative Republic of Brazil

República Federativa do Brasil (Portuguese)

Flag of Brazil

Flag

Coat of arms of Brazil

Coat of arms

Motto: Ordem e Progresso (Portuguese)

"Order and Progress"

Anthem: Hino Nacional Brasileiro (Portuguese)

"Brazilian National Anthem"

3:22

Flag anthem: Hino à Bandeira Nacional (Portuguese)[1]

"National Flag Anthem"

4:24

National Seal

Selo Nacional do Brasil

National Seal of Brazil

Location of Brazil

Capital

Brasília

15°47′S 47°52′W

Largest city

São Paulo

23°33′S 46°38′W

Official language

and national language

Portuguese

Recognized regional languages

21 languages

Ethnic groups (2010)[2][3]

47.7% White[a]

43.1% Mixed[b]

7.6% Black

1.1% East Asian[c]

0.4% Indigenous

Religion (2010)[2][4]

88.8% Christianity

64.6% Catholicism

22.2% Protestantism

2.0% other Christian

8.0% no religion

2.0% Spiritism

1.2% other

Demonym(s)

Brazilian

Government

Federal presidential republic

• President

Lula da Silva

• Vice President

Geraldo Alckmin

• President of the

Chamber of Deputies

Arthur Lira

• President of the

Federal Senate

Rodrigo Pacheco

• President of the

Supreme Federal Court

Luís Roberto Barroso

Legislature

National Congress

• Upper house

Federal Senate

• Lower house

Chamber of Deputies

Independence from Portugal

• Declared

7 September 1822

• Recognized

29 August 1825

• Republic

15 November 1889

• Current constitution

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[5]

• Density

25/km2 (64.7/sq mi) (193rd)

GDP (PPP)

2023 estimate

• Total

Increase $4.101 trillion[6] (8th)

• Per capita

Increase $20,078[6] (87th)

GDP (nominal)

2023 estimate

• Total

Increase $2.126 trillion[6] (9th)

• Per capita

Increase $10,412[6] (79th)

Gini (2020)

Positive decrease 48.9[7]

high

HDI (2022)

Decrease 0.754[8]

high · 87th

Currency

Real (R$) (BRL)

Time zone

UTC−2 to −5 (BRT)

Date format

dd/mm/yyyy (CE)

Driving side

right

Calling code

+55

ISO 3166 code

BR

Internet TLD

.br

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] and is also classified as an emerging power and a major non-NATO ally.[20][21][22][23][24] Categorised as a developing country with a high Human Development Index,[25] Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy,[26] having the nineth 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 it 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, 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]