officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: Repblica Federativa do

Brasil, About this sound listen is the largest country in both South America and the
Latin American region. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical
area and by population. It is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world,
and the only one in the Americas.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km
(4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the
French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the
west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the
south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as
Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and
Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and
Chile and occupies 47 percent of the continent of South America.

Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing of explorer
Pedro lvares Cabral in 1500, who claimed the area for Portugal. Brazil remained
a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred
from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro after French forces led by Emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte invaded Portugal. In 1815, it was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon
the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Its
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 country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup
d'tat proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called
Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. An
authoritarian military junta had led the nation from 1964 until 1985. Brazil's current
Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a federal republic. The Federation is
composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, and the 5,564
municipalities.
Culture
The core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong
colonial ties with the Portuguese empire. Among other influences, the Portuguese
introduced the Portuguese language, Roman Catholicism and colonial architectural
styles. The culture was, however, also strongly influenced by African, indigenous
and non-Portuguese European cultures and traditions.

Some aspects of Brazilian culture were influenced by the contributions of Italian,
German and other European as well Japanese, Jewish and Arab immigrants who
arrived in large numbers in the South and Southeast of Brazil. The indigenous
Amerindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans influenced
language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.

Brazilian art has developed since the 16th century into different styles that range
from Baroque (the dominant style in Brazil until the early 19th century) to
Romanticism, Modernism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstractionism.
Brazilian cinema dates back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century and
has gained a new level of international acclaim since the 1960s
Cuisine
Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's varying mix of
indigenous and immigrant populations. This has created a national cuisine marked
by the preservation of regional differences. Examples are Feijoada, considered the
country's national dish; and regional foods such as vatap, moqueca, polenta and
acaraj.

The national beverage is coffee and cachaa is Brazil's native liquor. Cachaa is
distilled from sugar cane and is the main ingredient in the national cocktail,
Caipirinha.

The average meal consist mostly of rice and beans with beef and salad.[369] Its
common to mix it with cassava flour (farofa). Fried potatoes, fried cassava, fried
banana, fried meat and fried cheese are very often eaten in lunch and served in
most typical restaurants. Popular snacks are pastel (a pastry), coxinha (chicken
croquete), po de queijo (cheese bread and cassava flour / tapioca), pamonha
(corn and milk paste), esfirra (Lebanese pastry), kibbeh (from Arabic cuisine),
empanada (pastry) and empada little salt pies filled with shrimps or heart of palm.

Brazil has a variety of candies such as brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls), cocada
(a coconut sweet), beijinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and romeu e julieta
(cheese with a guava jam known as goiabada). Peanut is used to make paoca,
rapadura and p-de-moleque. Local common fruits like aa, cupuau, mango,
papaya, cocoa, cashew, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, and hog plum are
turned in juices and used to make chocolates, popsicles and ice cream

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese (Article 13 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Brazil), which almost all of the population speaks and is
virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for business
and administrative purposes. The most famous exception to this is a strong sign
language law that was passed by the National Congress of Brazil. Legally
recognized in 2002, the law was regulated in 2005. The law mandates the use of
the Brazilian Sign Language, more commonly known by its Portuguese acronym
LIBRAS, in education and government services. The language must be taught as a
part of the education and speech and language pathology curricula. LIBRAS
teachers, instructors and translators are recognized professionals. Schools and
health services must provide access ("inclusion") to deaf people.

Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, mostly similar to 16th-century
Central and Southern dialects of European Portuguese (despite a very substantial
number of Portuguese colonial settlers, and more recent immigrants, coming from
Northern regions, and in minor degree Portuguese Macaronesia), with some
influences from the Amerindian and African languages, especially West African
and Bantu. As a result, the language is somewhat different, mostly in phonology,
from the language of Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries (the
dialects of the other countries, partly because of the more recent end of
Portuguese colonialism in these regions, have a closer connexion to contemporary
European Portuguese). These differences are comparable to those between
American and British English.

Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the
language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national
culture distinct from those of its Spanish-speaking neighbors.


Pomerode, Santa Catarina, is one of the municipalities with a cooficial language. In
this region, Hunsrckisch and Pomeranian, German dialects, are two of the minor
languages.
In 1990, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which
included representatives from all countries with Portuguese as the official
language, reached an agreement on the reform of the Portuguese orthography to
unify the two standards then in use by Brazil on one side and the remaining
lusophone countries on the other. This spelling reform went into effect in Brazil on
1 January 2009. In Portugal, the reform was signed into law by the President on 21
July 2008 allowing for a 6-year adaptation period, during which both orthographies
will co-exist. The remaining CPLP countries are free to establish their own
transition timetables.

Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation. One hundred and eighty
Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and a significant number of
other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants.[331] In the
municipality of So Gabriel da Cachoeira, Nheengatu (a currently endangered
South American creole language or an 'anti-creole', according to some linguists
with mostly Indigenous Brazilian languages lexicon and Portuguese-based
grammar that, together with its southern relative lngua geral paulista, once was a
major lingua franca in Brazil, being replaced by Portuguese only after
governmental prohibition led by major political changes), Baniwa and Tucano
languages had been granted co-official status with Portuguese.


Tourism
in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the
country. The country had 5.7 million visitors in 2012, ranking in terms of the
international tourist arrivals as the first main destination in South America, and
second in Latin America after Mexico. Revenues from international tourists
reached US$6.6 billion in 2012, continuing a recovery trend from the 2008-2009
economic crisis.
Brazil offers for both domestic and international tourists an ample gamut of options,
with natural areas being its most popular tourism product, a combination of
ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure
travel, as well as historic and cultural tourism. Among the most popular
destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast
Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and
Santa Catarina, cultural and historic tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to
So Paulo city