Brazil’s history can be divided into two major parts: the colonial period
from the arrival of the first Portuguese explorers in 1500 until independence in
1822, and the national period since independence from Portugal. During the
colonial period Brazil became the first great plantation slave society in the
Americas, producing sugar and later coffee on large agricultural estates worked
by slaves. During the 1700s Brazil experienced the first major gold rush in the
Americas after explorers discovered gold on frontier territory inland from the
coast. After Brazil broke away from Portuguese rule in the 1820s, members of the
Portuguese royal family ruled as emperors until 1889, in the only sustained
monarchy in the western hemisphere. Since 1889 Brazil has been a republic,
experiencing two periods of dictatorship: from 1937 to 1945 and from 1964 to
1985. The interaction of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans in Brazil has
produced one of the most racially mixed societies in the world, and one with
enormous economic and social inequalities.
Official name: Federative Republic of Brazil Capital: BrasÃlia Area: 8,547,404 sq km; 3,300,171 sq mi
People Population: 190,010,650 (2007 estimate)
Largest cities, with population São Paulo: 10,838,581 (2004 estimate) Rio de Janeiro: 6,051,399 (2004 estimate) Salvador: 2,631,831 (2004 estimate) Belo Horizonte: 2,350,564 (2004 estimate) Fortaleza: 2,332,657 (2004 estimate)
Ethnic groups Caucasian: (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish) - 55 percent Mixed Caucasian and African - 38 percent African - 6 percent Other (including Japanese and Arab) - 1 percent
Languages Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal): 90 percent Spiritists and African Brazilian religions, such as Candombl, Macumba, and Umbanda: 4 percent Nonreligious: 2 percent Other: 4 percent
Literacy rate Total :87.1 percent (2005 estimate) Female : 87.5 percent (2005 estimate) Male : 86.7 percent (2005 estimate)
Number of years of compulsory schooling : 8 years (2002-2003) Number of students per teacher, primary school: 24 students per teacher (2002-2003)
Government Form of government : Federal republic Head of state President Head of government: President Legislature: Bicameral legislature Chamber of Deputies: 513 deputies Senate: 81 senators
Constitution : 5 October 1988 Highest court: Supreme Federal Tribunal
Economy Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) : $796.1 billion (2005) GDP per capita (U.S.$) : $4,270.60 (2005)
GDP by economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 8.1 percent (2005) Industry 38.4 percent (2005) Services 53.5 percent (2005)
Total revenue: $190,891 million (1998) Total expenditure : $206,447 million (1998)
Monetary unit 1 real (R$), consisting of 100 centavos
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The Word Was Made Flesh is a monthly missionary review of MISSiOMARIAE.NET. It publishes articles on the missions and related topics such as the Directives of the Magisterium on the missions, Apostolic spirituality, Mariology, homilies and sermons and more...
