BRAZIL

LOCATION

• Located in the eastern part of South America in the Western Hemisphere, the colorful Brazil is bordered by nine countries and one French Overseas territory namely French Guiana, Venezuela, Guiana and Suriname in the North, Colombia in the Northwest, Paraguay and Argentina in the Southwest, Uruguay in the South and Peru and Bolivia in the West. Chile and Ecuador are the only two South American countries not sharing any boundary with Brazil. Brazil has coastal boundary with Atlantic Ocean in its east.

MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY

• Another impediment to Brazil’s development has been what could be called an “exclusion trap.” While Brazil’s average per capita income currently puts it among upper-middle-income countries, a substantial share of the population has remained mired in poverty, even as the country has captured higher positions on some global value chains, such as technology-intensive agriculture, sophisticated deep-sea oil drilling, and the aircraft industry. With inadequate education, poor health conditions, and a lack of on-the-job training preventing a large proportion of workers from increasing their productivity, Brazil’s potential economic growth has been compromised.

POPULATION

• 217,344,320 Current population
• 106,923,648 Current male population (49.2%)
• 110,420,671 Current female population (50.8%)

FLAG

• The Brazilian flag is bright green with a yellow diamond in the center filled with a blue globe. Within the blue globe are some stars – 27 to be exact – and a white banner with the country's slogan: Ordem e Progresso, which means Order and Progress.

LANGUAGE SPOKEN

• Portuguese 97.9
• German 1.9
• Indigenous Languages 0.2

RELIGION

• Catholicism has been Brazil's main religion since the beginning of the 16th century. It was introduced among the Native Brazilians by Jesuits missionaries and also observed by all the Portuguese first settlers. During colonial times, there was no freedom of religion.

CULTURE

• The culture of Brazil is primarily Western, but presents a very diverse nature showing that an ethnic and cultural mixing occurred in the colonial period involving mostly Indigenous people of the coastal and most accessible riverine areas, Portuguese people and African people.

HISTORY

• Until the arrival of the Europeans, Brazil was settled by stone-age tribes. Then the Portuguese arrived in 1500 and Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil as a colony of Portugal. The first settlement was founded in 1532 and Portugal began to take more of the land. The primary export was sugar. Slaves were imported from Africa to work the fields. Brazil continued to expand through wars and battles. The Portuguese defeated the French to take Rio de Janeiro and also took over several Dutch and British outposts. Soon Brazil was one of the largest territories in the world. Today it is the 5th largest country in the world.

FOOD

DEEP FRIED CASSAVA

• Fried cassava is a typical substitute for French fries in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, and several Central American countries including Panama. It is commonly served in bars along with beer.

PASTEL

• In Brazil, pastel is a typical fast-food Brazilian dish, consisting of thin pastry envelopes wrapped around assorted fillings, then deep fried in vegetable oil. The result is a crispy, brownish pastry. The most common fillings are ground meat, mozzarella, heart of palm, catupiry cream cheese, chicken and small shrimp. Variants include pastel de angu.

PAMONHA

• Pamonha is a traditional Brazilian food. It is a paste made from sweet corn, boiled wrapped in corn husks. Variations may include coconut milk. Pamonha can be savoury or sweet. If savoury, they can be filled with cheese, sausage, minced meat, minced chicken or peppers. If sweet, ground coconut pulp is a common addition when there is one, but the overwhelming major

COXINHA

• Coxinha is a popular food in Brazil consisting of chopped or shredded chicken meat, covered in dough, molded into a shape resembling a teardrop, battered and fried.

WHAT THEY WEAR

• those living in the southern plains, a ranching area, wear gaucho-type clothing: baggy pants, or bombachas; cowboy hats and cowboy boots. The indigenous Amerindians in the Amazon region wear tunics and face paint and also love beads, body paint and unique hairstyles.

PLACES TO VIST

RIO DE JANEIRO

• Rio de Janeiro Municipality in Brazil Rio de Janeiro is a huge seaside city in Brazil, famed for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, 38m Christ the Redeemer statue atop Mount Corcovado and for Sugarloaf Mountain, a granite peak with cable cars to its summit. The city is also known for its sprawling favelas (shanty towns). Its raucous Carnaval festival, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes and samba dancers, is considered the world’s largest.

SÃO PAULO

• São Paulo Municipality in Brazil São Paulo, Brazil’s vibrant financial center, is among the world's most populous cities, with numerous cultural institutions and a rich architectural tradition. Its iconic buildings range from its neo-Gothic cathedral and the 1929 Martinelli skyscraper to modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer’s curvy Edifício Copan. The colonial-style Pátio do Colégio church marks where Jesuit priests founded the city in 1554.

SALVADOR

• Salvador City in Brazil Salvador, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, is known for its Portuguese colonial architecture, Afro-Brazilian culture and a tropical coastline. The Pelourinho neighborhood is its historic heart, with cobblestone alleys opening onto large squares, colorful buildings and baroque churches such as São Francisco, featuring gilt woodwork.

AN LOADS MORE..

OVERALL...

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 211 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous