hy 3.1 Climate 3.2 Biodiversity 3.3 Environment 4 Politics 4.1 Law 4.2 Foreign relations 4.3 Military 4.4 Administrative divisions 5 Economy 5.1 Components and energy 5.2 Science and technology 5.3 Transport 6 Demographics 6.1 Religion 6.2 Urbanization 6.3 Language 7 Culture 7.1 Music 7.2 Literature 7.3 Cuisine 7.4 Sports 8 See also 9 References 9.1 Bibliographic 10 Further reading 11 External links Etymology Main article: Name of Brazil The word "Brazil" comes from brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from Latin brasa ("ember") and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium).[19][20][21] As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially-exploited product from Brazil. Through the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi) along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders (mostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorted European consumer goods.[22] The official name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross" (Terra da Santa Cruz), but European sailors and merchants commonly called it simply the "Land of Brazil" (Terra do Brasil) on account of the brazilwood trade. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official name. Early sailors sometimes also called it the "Land of Parrots" (Terra di Papaga). In the Guarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama". This was the name the natives gave to the region, meaning "land of the palm trees". History Main article: History of Brazil Portuguese colonization Main article: Colonial Brazil See also: Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Slavery in Brazil The land now called Brazil was claimed by Portugal in April 1500, on the arrival of the Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral.[23] The Portuguese encountered stone age natives divided into several tribes, most of whom spoke languages of the Tupi–Guarani family, and fought among themselves.[24] Though the first settlement was founded in 1532, colonization was effectively begun in 1534, when Dom João III divided the territory into twelve hereditary captaincies,[25][26] but this arrangement proved problematic and in 1549 the king assigned a Governor-General to administer the entire colony.[26][27] The Portuguese assimilated some of the native tribes[28] while others were enslaved or exterminated in long wars or by European diseases to which they had no immunity.[29][30] By the mid-16th century, sugar had become Brazil's most important export[24][31] and the Portuguese imported African slaves[32][33] to cope with the increasing international demand.[29][34] The first Christian mass in Brazil, 1500. Through wars against the French, the Portuguese slowly expanded their territory to the southeast, taking Rio de Janeiro in 1567, and to the northwest, taking São Luís in 1615.[35] They sent military expeditions to the Amazon rainforest and conquered British and Dutch strongholds,[36] founding villages and forts from 1669.[37] In 1680 they reached the far south and founded Sacramento on the bank of the Rio de la Plata, in the Eastern Strip region (present-day Uruguay).[38] At the end of the 17th century, sugar exports started to decline[39] but beginning in the 1690s, the discovery of gold by explorers in the region that would later be called Minas Gerais (General Mines) in current Mato Grosso and Goiás, saved the colony from imminent collapse.[40] From all over Brazil, as well as from Portugal, thousands of immigrants came to the mines.[41] The Spanish tried to prevent Portuguese expansion into the territory that belonged to them according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, and succeeded in conquering the Eastern Strip in 1777. However, this was in vain as the Treaty of San Ildefonso, signed in the same year, confirmed Portuguese sovereignty over all lands proceeding from its territorial expansion, thus creating most of the current Brazilian borders.[42] In 1808, the Portuguese royal family and the majority of the Portuguese nobility, fleeing the troops of the French Emperor Napoleon I that were invading Portugal and most of Central Europe, established themselves in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which thus became the seat of the entire Portuguese Empire.[43] In 1815 Dom João VI, then regent on behalf of his incapacitated mother, elevated Brazil from colony to sovereign Kingdom united with Portugal.[43] In 1809 the Portuguese invaded French Guiana (which was returned to France in 1817)[44] and in 1816 the Eastern Strip, subsequently renamed Cisplatina.[45] Independence and empire Main articles: Brazilian Independence and Empire of Brazil Declaration of the Brazilian independence by Emperor Pedro I on 7 September 1822. After the Portuguese military had successfully repelled Napoleon's invasion, the King João VI returned to Europe on 26 April 1821, leaving his elder son Prince Pedro de Alcântara as regent to rule Brazil.[46] The Portuguese government, guided by the new political regime imposed by the Liberal Revolution of 1820, attempted to turn Brazil into a colony once again, thus depriving it of its achievements since 1808.[47] The Brazilians refused to yield and Prince Pedro stood by them declaring the country's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822.[48] On 12 October 1822, Pedro was declared the first Emperor of Brazil and crowned Dom Pedro I on 1 December 1822.[49] The public flogging of a slave in Rio de Janeiro. From Jean-Baptiste Debret, Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil (1834–1839). At that time most Brazilians were in favour of a monarchy and republicanism had little support.[50][51] The subsequent Brazilian War of Independence spread through almost the entire territory, with battles in the northern, northeastern, and southern regions.[52] The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered on 8 March 1824[53] and independence was recognized by Portugal on 29 August 1825.[54] The first Brazilian constitution was promulgated on 25 March 1824, after its acceptance by the municipal councils across the country.[55][56][57][58] Pedro I abdicated on 7 April 1831 and went to Europe to reclaim his daughter’s crown, leaving behind his five year old son and heir, who was to become Dom Pedro II.[59] As the new emperor could not exert his constitutional prerogatives until he reached maturity, a regency was created.[60] Disputes between political factions led to rebellions and an unstable, almost anarchical, regency.[61] It is estimated that from 30 to 40% of the population of the Province of Grão-Pará died during the Cabanagem revolt.[62] The rebellious factions, however, were not in revolt against the monarchy,[63][64] even though some declared the secession of the provinces as independent republics, but only so long as Pedro II was a minor.[65] Because of this, Pedro II was prematurely declared of age and "Brazil was to enjoy nearly half a century of internal peace and rapid material progress."[66] Brazilian forces (in blue uniform) engage the Paraguayan army (some in red uniform and other shirtless) during the War of the Triple Alliance. Despite the loss of Cisplatina in 1828 when it became an independent nation known as Uruguay,[67] Brazil won three international wars during the 58-year reign of Pedro II (the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the War of the Triple Alliance, which left over 50,000 dead)[68] and witnessed the consolidation of representative democracy, mainly due to successive elections and unrestricted freedom of the press.[69] Most importantly, slavery was extinguished after a slow but steady process that began with the end of the international traffic in slaves in 1850[70] and ended with the complete abolition of slavery in 1888.[71] The slave population had been in decline since Brazil's independence: in 1823, 29% of the Brazilian population were slaves but by 1887 this had fallen to 5%.[72] When the monarchy was overthrown on 15 November 1889[73] there was little desire in Brazil to change the form of government[74] and Pedro II was at the height of his popularity among his subjects.[75][76] However, he "bore prime, perhaps sole, responsibility for his own overthrow."[77] After the death of his two sons, Pedro believed that "the imperial regime was destined to end with him."[78] He cared little for the regime's fate[79][80] and so neither did anything, nor allowed anyone else to do anything, to prevent the military coup, backed by former slave owners who resented the abolition of slavery.[81][82][83] Early republic Main articles: República Velha, Estado Novo (Brazil), and Brazilian Second Republic The Brazilian coup d'état of 1930 raised Getúlio Vargas (center with military uniform but no hat) to power. He ruled the country for fifteen years. At the beginning of the republican government it was little more than a military dictatorship,[73] and the new constitution restricted political rights, such as the right to vote,[84][85] yet provided for direct elections to be held in 1894.[86] However, already in 1891, from the unfoldings of the encilhamento bubble[87][88] and of the 1st naval revolt, the country entered in a prolonged cycle of financial, social and political instability, that would extend until the 1920s keeping the country plagued by several rebellions, both civilian[89][90][91] as military,[92][93][94] which little by little undermined the regime in a such extent, that by 1930 it was possible to the defeated presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas, supported by the majority of military,[95] lead a coup d'état and assume the presidency.[96] Vargas and the military, who were supposed to assume the government temporarily to implement democratic reforms related to 1891's Constitution, closed the Congress and ruled with emergency powers, replacing the states' governors with their supporters.[97][98] Under the Claiming of the broken promises of changing, in 1932 the oligarchy of São Paulo tried to regain the power[99] and in 1935 the Communists rebelled,[100] having both been defeated. However, the communist threat served as an excuse for Vargas to preclude elections launching another coup d'état in 1937, creating a full dictatorship[101][102][103][104] In May 1938, there was another failed attempt to take over the power by local fascists.[105][106] In foreign policy, the success in resolving border disputes with neighboring countries[107] in the early years of this period, was followed by a failed attempt to permanently exert a prominent role in the League of Nations[108] after military involvement in World War I.[109][110][111] Notwithstanding, Brazil remained neutral at the beginning of World War II until the Pan-American Conference of January 1942 when Brazil stood alongside the U.S.A. severing diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.[112] In retaliation, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy extended their submarine warfare against Brazil, which led the country to enter the war on the allied side in August of that year.[113][114] With the allied victory in 1945 and the end of the Nazi-fascist regimes in Europe, Vargas's position became unsustainable and he was swiftly overthrown in another military coup.[115] Democracy was reinstated and General Eurico Gaspar Dutra was elected president taking office in 1946.[116] Having returned to power democratically elected at the end of 1950, Vargas committed suicide in August 1954 amid a political crisis.[117][118] Contemporary era Main articles: Military dictatorship (Brazil) and History of Brazil since 1985 The transition from Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Luís Inácio Lula da Silva indicated that Brazil had finally succeeded in achieving its long-sought political stability. Several brief interim governments succeeded after Vargas's suicide.[119] Juscelino Kubitscheck became president in 1956 and assumed a conciliatory posture towards the political opposition that allowed him to govern without major crises.[120] The economy and industrial sector grew remarkably,[121] but his greatest achievement was the construction of the new capital city of Brasília, inaugurated in 1960.[122] His successor was Jânio Quadros, who resigned in 1961 less than a year after taking office.[123] His vice-president, João Goulart, assumed the presidency, but aroused strong political opposition[124] and was deposed in April 1964 by a coup that resulted in a military regime.[125] The new regime was intended to be transitory[126] but it gradually closed in on itself and became a full dictatorship with the promulgation of the Fifth Institutional Act in 1968.[127] The repression of the dictatorship's opponents, including urban guerrillas,[128] was harsh, but not as brutal as in other Latin American countries.[129] Due to the extraordinary economic growth, known as an "economic miracle", the regime reached its highest level of popularity in the years of repression.[130] General Ernesto Geisel became president in 1974 and began his project of re-democratization through a process that he said would be "slow, gradual and safe."[131][132] Geisel ended the military indiscipline that had plagued the country since 1889,[133] as well as the torture of political prisoners, censorship of the press,[134] and finally, the dictatorship itself, after he extinguished the Fifth Institutional Act.[127] However, the military regime continued, under his chosen successor General João Figueiredo, to complete the transition to full democracy.[135] The civilians fully returned to power in 1985 when José Sarney assumed the presidency[136] but, by the end of his term, he had become extremely unpopular due to the uncontrollable economic crisis and unusually high inflation.[137] Sarney's unsuccessful government allowed the election in 1989 of the almost unknown Fernando Collor, who was subsequently impeached by the National Congress in 1992.[138] Collor was succeeded by his Vice-President Itamar Franco, who appointed Fernando Henrique Cardoso as Minister of Finance. Cardoso produced a highly successful Plano Real (Royal or Real Plan)[139] that granted stability to the Brazilian economy[140] and he was elected as president in 1994 and again in 1998.[141] The peaceful transition of power to Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, proved that Brazil had finally succeeded in achieving its long-sought political stability.[142] Lula was succeeded in 2011 by the current president, Dilma Rousseff.[143] Geography Main article: Geography of Brazil See also: List of countries and outlying territories by total area Topography map of Brazil Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior,[144] 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, Suriname, Guyana and the French overseas department of French Guiana to the north. It shares a border with every country in South America except for Ecuador and Chile. It also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.[11] Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse.[144] Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and 34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, China and the United States, and third largest in the Americas; with a total area of 8,514,876.599 km2 (3,287,612 sq mi),[145] including 55,455 km2 (21,411 sq mi) of water.[11] It spans three time zones; from UTC-4 in the western states, to UTC-3 in the eastern states (and the official time of Brazil) and UTC-2 in the Atlantic islands.[8] Brazil is the only country in the world that lies on the equator while having contiguous territory outside the tropics. Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of the terrain lies between 200 metres (660 ft) and 800 metres (2,600 ft) in elevation.[146] The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country.[146] The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills.[146] The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).[146] These ranges include the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountains and the Serra do Mar.[146] In the north, the Guiana Highlands form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the Amazon Basin from rivers that empty into the Orinoco River system, in Venezuela, to the north. The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at 2,994 metres (9,823 ft), and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean.[11] 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.[147] Major rivers include the Amazon (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the Paraná and its major tributary the Iguaçu (which includes the Iguazu Falls), the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and Tapajós rivers.[147] Climate Main article: Climate of Brazil Snow in São Joaquim, Santa Catarina in 2010 (South) and tropical climate in Cabedelo, Paraíba in 2000 (Northeast). The climate of Brazil comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large area and varied topography, but most of the country is tropical.[11] According to the Köppen system, Brazil hosts five major climatic subtypes: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, temperate, and subtropical. The different climatic conditions produce environments ranging from equatorial rainforests in the north and semiarid deserts in the northeast, to temperate coniferous forests in the south and tropical savannas in central Brazil.[148] Many regions have starkly different microclimates.[149][150] An equatorial climate characterizes much of northern Brazil. There is no real dry season, but there are some variations in the period of the year when most rain falls.[148] Temperatures average 25 °C (77 °F),[150] with more significant temperature variation between night and day than between seasons.[149] Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate.[149] This region is as extensive as the Amazon basin but has a very different climate as it lies farther south at a higher altitude.[148] In the interior northeast, seasonal rainfall is even more extreme. The semiarid climatic region generally receives less than 800 millimetres (31.5 in) of rain,[151] most of which generally falls in a period of three to five months of the year[152] and occasionally less than this, creating long periods of drought.[149] Brazil's 1877–78 Grande Seca (Great Drought), the most severe ever recorded in Brazil,[153] caused approximately half a million deaths.[154] The one from 1915 was devastating too.[155] South of Bahia, near São Paulo, the distribution of rainfall changes, with rain falling throughout the year.[148] The south enjoys temperate conditions, with cool winters and average annual temperatures not exceeding 18 °C (64.4 °F);[150] winter frosts are quite common, with occasional snowfall in the higher areas.[148][149] Biodiversity Main articles: Wildlife of Brazil and Deforestation in Brazil The Amazon Rainforest, the largest tropical forest in the world. Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems