Portal:Brazil


National seal Welcome to the Brazil portal National seal

Main Indices   Projects  


Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest and easternmost country in South America. It is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh largest by population, with over 212 million people. The country is a federation composed of 26 states and a Federal District, which hosts the capital, Brasília. Its most populous city is São Paulo, followed by Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has the most Portuguese speakers in the world and is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is an official language.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). Covering roughly half of South America's land area, it borders all other countries and territories on the continent except Ecuador and Chile. Brazil encompasses a wide range of tropical and subtropical landscapes, as well as wetlands, savannas, plateaus, and low mountains. It contains most of the Amazon basin, including the world’s largest river system and most extensive virgin tropical forest. Brazil has a diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. The country ranks first among 17 megadiverse countries, with its natural heritage being the subject of significant global interest, as environmental degradation (through processes such as deforestation) directly affect global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

Brazil was inhabited by various indigenous peoples prior to the landing of Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. It was claimed and settled by Portugal, which forcibly imported enslaved Africans to work on plantations. Brazil remained a colony until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves after the transfer of the Portuguese court to Rio de Janeiro. Prince Pedro of Braganza declared the country's independence in 1822, establishing the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Brazil's first constitution in 1824 established a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress, and enshrined principles such as freedom of religion and the press, but retained slavery, which was gradually abolished throughout the 19th century until its final abolition in 1888. Brazil became a presidential republic following a military coup d'état in 1889. An authoritarian military dictatorship emerged in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, enacted in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.

Brazil is a regional and middle power and rising global power. It is an emerging, upper-middle income economy and newly industrialized country, with one of the 10 largest economies in the world in both nominal and PPP terms, the largest economy in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere, and the largest share of wealth in South America. With a complex and highly diversified economy, Brazil is one of the world's major or primary exporters of various agricultural goods, mineral resources, and manufactured products. Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, G4, Mercosur, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries; it is also an observer state of the Arab League and a major non-NATO ally of the United States. (Full article...)

More about Brazil, its history and inhabitants

Featured article – show another

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Interesting articles – show another

Devla Imperatrix Queen of Carnaval in Rio De Janeiro.

The Carnival of Brazil (Portuguese: Carnaval do Brasil, IPA: [kaʁnaˈvaw]) is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstain from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival", from carnelevare, "to remove (literally, "raise") meat."

Carnival is the most popular holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. Except for industrial production, retail establishments such as malls, and carnival-related businesses, the country unifies completely for almost a week and festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities. Rio de Janeiro's carnival alone drew 6 million people in 2018, with 1.5 million being travelers from inside and outside Brazil. Rio's carnival is the largest in the world according to Guinness World Records. (Full article...)

List of interesting articles

Selected pictures

Selected quote

Credit: Carlos Almendarez
Someday I'd like to do some real traveling. I'm obsessed with Brazil and I've always had this dream of backpacking through South America.

In the news

Good article – show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Gilberto Gil, in 2022

Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (Portuguese: [ʒiwˈbɛʁtu ˈʒiw]; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Gil's musical style incorporates an eclectic range of influences, including rock, Brazilian genres including samba, African music, and reggae.

Gil started to play music as a child and was a teenager when he joined his first band. He began his career as a bossa nova musician and grew to write songs that reflected a focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key figure in the música popular brasileira and tropicália movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, while also working as a politician and environmental advocate. Known internationally, the album Quanta Live at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, it won the award for Best World Album and album Eletracústico won Grammy AwardBest Contemporary World Music Album. (Full article...)

Selected biography – show another

Santos-Dumont in 1902

Alberto Santos-Dumont (self-stylised as Alberto Santos=Dumont; 20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built, and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch prize [pt] in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.

Santos-Dumont then progressed to powered heavier-than-air machines and on 23 October 1906 flew about 60 metres at a height of two to three metres with the fixed-wing 14-bis (also dubbed the Oiseau de proie—"bird of prey") at the Bagatelle Gamefield in Paris, taking off unassisted by an external launch system. On 12 November in front of a crowd, he flew 220 metres at a height of six metres. These were the first heavier-than-air flights certified by the Aeroclub of France, the first such flights officially witnessed by an aeronautics recordkeeping body, and the first of their kind recognised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated)

Categories

More did you know? – show different entries

Selected panorama

Beach of Noiva do Mar, in the city of Xangri-lá, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
Beach of Noiva do Mar, in the city of Xangri-lá, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
Credit: Tetraktys

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost State of Brazil, and the State with the fourth highest Human Development Index (HDI). In the largest and most populous region of the state is the most southern city of the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. The mountain region, where the winter can be rigorous, has cities with European characteristics, such as Gramado and Canela.

More selected panoramasRead more...

General images

The following are images from various Brazil-related articles on Wikipedia.

Quality content

Extended content

2008 Brazilian Grand PrixAfonso, Prince Imperial of BrazilBrazilian cruiser BahiaBlue whaleEmpire of Brazil1937 Brazilian coup d'étatPedro Álvares CabralChagas diseaseCherry-throated tanagerDrymoreomysEuryoryzomys emmonsaeFôrça BrutaGiant otterGol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Joaquim José Inácio, Viscount of InhaúmaJaguarHonório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of ParanáLundomysPrincess Maria Amélia of BrazilMaster SystemBrazilian battleship Minas GeraesMinas Geraes-class battleshipNoronha skinkNoronhomysUSS OrizabaJosé Paranhos, Viscount of Rio BrancoPedro I of BrazilPedro II of BrazilPedro Afonso, Prince Imperial of BrazilBrazilian battleship São PauloLuís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of CaxiasSonic After the SequelManuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto AlegreSouth American dreadnought raceSuicidal TourThalassodromeusTeresa Cristina of the Two SiciliesUruguayan War2014 FIFA World Cup final

2016 Summer Olympics medal tableList of World Heritage Sites in BrazilList of international goals scored by PeléList of municipalities in Rio Grande do NorteSepultura discography

Good articles

1986 João Câmara earthquake1995 Brazilian Grand Prix2000 Brazilian Grand Prix2000 Rio 2002010 Brazilian Grand Prix2010 São Paulo Indy 3002012 Brazilian Grand Prix2014 Brazilian Grand Prix2015 Brazilian Grand PrixA Puro DolorAbraham Weintraub–Wikipedia controversyActinote zikaniRebeca AndradeArchaeological interest of Pedra da GáveaArise (Sepultura album)Clube Atlético MineiroAzure-shouldered tanagerBomba PatchDisappearance of Bruno BorgesBrainstorm (2000 film)Brazil v Germany (2014 FIFA World Cup)Brazil at the 1994 Winter OlympicsBrazil at the 1998 Winter OlympicsBrazil at the 2014 Winter ParalympicsBrazilian military junta of 1930Gisele BündchenCandombléCapybaraAdelir Antônio de CarliCarlos Bandeirense Mirandópolis hoaxHélio CastronevesDorival CaymmiCésar CieloClube Atlético Mineiro in international club footballCavalera ConspiracyDiego CostaPhilippe CoutinhoDejaría TodoDiptychophora galvaniFortress of HumaitáFruta FrescaGanga BrutaGilberto GilMaurício GugelminHilda HilstHurricane CatarinaJorge Ben (album)Le langaige du BresilJosiane LimaMitsuyo MaedaRMS Magdalena (1948)Man of the HoleMango YellowMarquinhosLaura MatsudaJailson MendesThe Naturalist on the River AmazonsLegacy of Pedro II of BrazilEarly life of Pedro II of BrazilPeléBrazilian monitor PiauíPlatine WarPrince Bernhard's titi monkeyMarie RennotteRevolt of the LashRevolution of the GanhadoresRio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Summer OlympicsSamba rockSarcófagoState University of CampinasTAM Airlines Flight 3054TV BahiaTaubaté pregnancy hoaxTectoyTransgender history in BrazilUmbandaAlessandra VieiraVinicius and TomMartha WattsWorld War II

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals