Brazil

The Federative Republic of Brazil (República Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world. Spanning a vast area between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean, it borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, France (French Guiana) — every South American nation except for Ecuador and Chile. Named after brazilwood, a tree highly valued by early colonists, Brazil is home to both extensive agricultural lands and rain forests. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it has the biggest GDP in South America (10th in the world) and is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. Portuguese is the national language of Brazil.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Brazil.See also: Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Related Topics:
Demographics of Brazil - Indigenous peoples in Brazil

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Brazil is populous along the coast, less in the interior. The inhabitants are very diverse with many races and cultures represented (see articles above). The population of the southern states are mainly of European descent, tracing their roots back to the 16th century, bur the major imigration flow was during the 19th and 20th centuries. Most immigrants came from Italy, Germany, Japan, Portugal and Spain. But among many others there are also very significant imigration groups from Poland, Ukraine, Holand, China and, more recently, South Korea. On the other hand, the majority of the north and northeastern inhabitants are of mixed ancestry (Natives, Africans and Europeans). There is an estimated 23 million Italians and descendents in Brazil in 2000.

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