Federative Republic of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil is located in Eastern South America bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the

long conventional

name for it is Federative Republic of Brazil. The capital of the country is

Brasilia. It has twenty-six states and one federal district. Brazil is by far the largest and

most populus country in South America, with approximately 8,511,965 sq. km.,

8,456,510 sq. km. of land, and 55,455sq. km of water. This makes it slightly smaller than

the United States. The coastline runs 7,491 km. long and it is mostly a tropical climate

all year long. The bordering countries include: Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, French

Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguey, and Venezuela.

Brazil became independent from Portugal on September, 7th 1822. Their

Constitution was made and put into action on October, 5 1988. Their form of

government is a federative republic. The current president of Brazil is President

Jose Alencar since January, 1st 2003, the vice president is Jose Alencar also

since January, 1st 2003. Both the president and the vice president hold four

year terms. The president is both chief of state and head of government. It is also up to

the president to appoint the cabinet.

According to the World Factbook, Brazil's flag is green with a large

yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white

five-pointed stars (one for each state and the Federal District) arranged in the same

pattern as the night sky over Brazil; the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto

ORDEM E PROGRESSO. The ethnic groups consist of 53.7% white, 38.5% mulatto,

38.5% black, and 6.2% other. The most dominant religion of brazil is Roman Catholic.

There is other religions, but Roman Catholic has about 70% of the people. Brazil is

leading South America in economic power and is a regional leader. The official language

of Brazil is Portuguese, but other languages such as Spanish, English, and French are

spoken as well.

As we have in America Brazil also has many traditions. They are best known for

amazing soccer, beautiful beaches, and Carnival, a tradition that has been carried