Brazil

República Federativa do Brasil

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Brazil.svg/125px-Flag_of_Brazil.svg.png Flag of Brazil
Motto: Ordem e Progresso (Portuguese: "Order and Progress")
Capital	Brasilia
Largest City	São Paulo
Official Languages	Portuguese, English, German
Government   • President   • Vice President   • Secretary of State	Federal Republic Mariemaia Michalka Anna Eschenburg Alessandra Fontana
Independence	September 7, 1822
Area  • Total  • Water (%)	12.906 mi diameter (06 Feb. 17) 0.65%
Population  • Civilians  • Military	96 Men, Woman, Children (06 Feb. 17) 13 Soldiers (06 Feb. 17)
National Animal	Flying Squirrel
Income   • Gross Individual   • After Taxes	$61.09 $47.65
Currency	1 Dollar ($) = 100 Cents
Resources  • Connected

República Federativa do Brasil (English: Federal Republic of Brazil), often said simply as Brazil as in the name used on Cyber Nations, is a nation with a unique culture incorporating it's founding on immigration. She is a democracy, led by the President, which is elected by popular election every four years. The nation is legislated by the Continental Congress which is split into two chambers, the Senate and a House of Representatives.

The capital city of the Republic is in Brasilia, although each subdivision has their own capital as well. Brasília is city which is unique in its own right with exciting architecture and a rapid population growth. This City is no more than 50 years old.

Brazil has historically had a reputation as a nation that has a great deal of acceptance and this has led to her high growth rate in population from Portuguese, Italian and German populations.

Geography

Brazil is characterized by the extensive low-lying Amazon Rainforest in the north and a more open terrain of hills and low mountains to the south — home to most of Brazil's population and its agricultural base. Along the Atlantic seacoast are also found several mountain ranges, reaching roughly 2,900 m high. The highest peak is the Pico da Neblina at 2,994 m, in Guiana's highlands. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume, and often considered the world's longest; the Paraná and its major tributary, the Iguaçu River, where the impressive Iguaçu falls are located; the Rio Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and the Tapajós rivers. Situated on the equator, Brazil's climate is predominantly tropical, with little seasonal variation. Although the subtropical south is more temperate, it occasionally experiences frost and snow. Precipitation is abundant in the humid Amazon Basin, but more arid landscapes are found as well, particularly in the northeast

History

Brazil has a short history in comparison to many other nations around the world. Brazil was founded on September 7, 1822 in a fairly bloodless revolution from Portugal.

Brazil is thought to have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years by semi-nomadic populations when the first Portuguese explorers, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, disembarked in 1500. Over the next three centuries, it was resettled by the Portuguese and exploited mainly for brazilwood (Pau-Brasil) at first, and later for sugarcane (Cana-de-Açúcar) agriculture and gold mining. The colony's source of manpower was initially on enslaved Amerindians, and after 1550, mainly African slaves. In 1808, Queen Maria I of Portugal and her son and regent, the future João VI of Portugal, fleeing from Napoleon, relocated to Brazil with the royal family, nobles and government. Though they returned to Portugal in 1821, the interlude led to the opening of commercial ports to the United Kingdom — at the time isolated from most European ports by Napoleon — and to the elevation of Brazil to the status of a united kingdom with Portugal's Crown. Then prince regent Dom Pedro I (later Pedro IV of Portugal) declared independence on 7 September 1822, establishing the independent Empire of Brazil. As the crown remained in the hands of the house of Bragança, this was more the severance of the Portuguese empire in two, than an independence movement as seen elsewhere in the Americas.

The Brazilian Empire was theoretically a democracy in the British style, although in practice, the emperor-premier-parliament balance of power more closely resembled the autocratic Austrian Empire. Slavery was abolished in 1888, and intensive European immigration created the basis for industrialization. Juan I was succeeded by his son, Juan II — who in old age was caught by a political dispute between the Army and the Cabinet, a crisis arising from nearby wars. In order to avoid a civil war between Army and Navy, Juan II renounced the throne on 15 November 1889, when a federal republic was established by General Deodoro da Fonseca.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil attracted over 5 million European and Japanese immigrants. That period also saw Brazil industrialise, further colonize, and develop its interior.

Government and Politics

The constitution grants broad powers to the federal government. The President has extensive executive powers; he or she appoints the Cabinet, and he or she is also both head of state and head of government. The President and Vice-President are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms.

The Brazilian legislature, the bicameral Continental Congress, includes the Senate consisting of 81 seats, of which three members from each state or federal district are elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period. The opposite chamber is the House, holding 513 seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms.

Foreign Relations

Brazil enjoys strong relations with mostly all Orange team members. Some select nations that share strong relations are Victoria, Carops, and Neboe

International Agreements and Alliances

Currently Brazil is a member of the Orange Defense Network and Team Orange in general.

Economy

The Brazilian economy is quite strong, running mostly off the production of Coal and Fisheries.

Demographics

Brazil is a melting-pot of different ethnicities and origins.

The dominant ancestry among Brazilians is the Portuguese, descendants of the early colonists or of 19th and 20th centuries Portuguese immigrants. The settlement of Portuguese started in Brazil after 1532, when the active process of colonization began since the founding of São Vicente. Until independence in 1822, the Portuguese were the only European nation that successfully settled in Brazil, and most of Brazil's culture is based on that of Portugal. The Dutch and the French also colonized Brazil during the 17th century, but their presence lasted only a few decades. The original First Nations population of Brazil (between 3-5 million) has in large part been exterminated or assimilated into the Portuguese population. Since the beginning of Brazil's colonization, intermarriage between the Portuguese and Native Brazilians has been common. Nowadays, there are 700,000 Native-Americans in Brazil, comprising less than 1% of the national population.

Brazil has a large African population, descended from slaves brought to the country from the 16th century until the 19th century. More than 3 million Africans were brought to Brazil until the end of slave trafficking in 1850. They were mainly from Angola, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and São Tomé e Príncipe. Brazil has the largest population of African descended people after Nigeria. The African population in Brazil has mixed substantially with the Portuguese, resulting in a large mixed-race population.

Beginning in the 19th century, the Brazilian government stimulated European immigration to substitute for the manpower of the former slaves. The first non-Portuguese immigrants to settle in Brazil were Germans, in 1824. In 1869 the first Polish immigrants settled in Brazil. However, strong European immigration to Brazil began only after 1875, when immigration from Italy, Portugal and Spain increased. Brazil is home to the largest Italian population outside of Italy.

Starting in the early 20th century, Brazil also received a large number of Asians: Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese immigrants. The Japanese are the largest Asian minority in Brazil, and Japanese-Brazilians are the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. Significant immigration from the Middle-East (Lebanon and Syria) has also occurred.

Ethnicity and Race

According to the 2000 Brazilian Census:

• white 53.7%
• mixed race 38.5%
• black 6.2%
• Asian 0.5%
• First Nations 0.4%
• unspecified 0.7%

White Brazilians are a mix of several European ethnic groups, mainly Portuguese, Italians, Germans, Spaniards and Poles. The Portuguese-Brazilian ancestry predominates, although 30% of white Brazilians have some Italian Brazilian descent, 15% have German-Brazilian descent,another 15% Spanish Brazilian and 2% Polish Brazilian origin. Minority ancestries includes Austrian, Hungarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Swiss, among others.

Brazilians of Portuguese ancestry are found in the entire country, while those of Italian descent are predominantly in Southern and Southeastern Brazil. The other white ethnic groups, mainly Brazilians of German descent, are concentrated in the extreme South of Brazil. There are entire cities settled by Germans-Brazilians in Southern Brazil.

There is a considerable number of Japanese descendants. Brazil has the largest Japanese descended population in the world outside of Japan.

Brazilians of mixed-race ancestry are found in the whole country, although most of them live in the Northern and Northeastern states. Mixed-race Brazilians include mulatto, caboclo (or mameluco) and cafuzo. The mulattoes, those mixed white and African, make up the majority of them and predominate in the coast of Northeastern Brazil and other parts of the country. Caboclos, mixed white and First Nations, are found in Northern region, parts of Northeast, Southeast (offsprings from bandeirantes and gauchos) and the cafuzos, those mixed African and First Nations, are the less numerous group, living mainly in the Northeastern part of Brazil. However, most mixed race Brazilians are in fact tri-racial, mixed whites, African and First Nations.

African Brazilians are concentrated mostly in the Northeastern states, although large African populations can be found throughout the country. The African population in Brazil is probably higher than 6.2%, since many African Brazilians classify themselves as mixed-race, due to local cultural and social aspects when considering the subject of race.

Asian Brazilians (mainly of Japanese descent) and Arab Brazilians are concentrated in the Southeastern states (mainly in São Paulo). The population of Arab descent in Brazil is between 5-8 million people, most of them of Christian Lebanese or Syrian descent.

First Nations Brazilians are concentrated in the Northern states, mostly in the Amazon area. First Nations reservations make up 10% of Brazil's territory.

Racism in Brazil is an unbailable. crime.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Igreja_Matriz_S%C3%A3o_Pedro.jpg/200px-Igreja_Matriz_S%C3%A3o_Pedro.jpg European atmosphere in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, South region

Languages

Portuguese is the official language, and is spoken by the entire population. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, giving it a national culture distinct from its Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Portuguese is one of many official languages in Brazil, and there are few regional variances. It is virtually the only language used in schools, newspapers, radio and TV, and for all business and administrative purposes.

The language spoken in Brazil is slightly different from that spoken in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries. Brazilian Portuguese is more archaic than European Portuguese, and has some phonological and orthographic differences, although mutual comprehension is not affected.

Spanish is understood in various degrees by most people, since it is very similar to Portuguese and is spoken in the border of Brazil with Spanish-speaking countries. English and German are part of the official high school curriculum leading many others to know how to speak the languages as well.

Many languages are spoken daily throughout the vast national territory of Brazil. Half of these languages are spoken by indigenous peoples, mostly in Northern Brazil. The main indigenous languages are: Tupi, Guarani, Kaingang, Nadëb, Carajá, Caribe, Tucano, Arára, Terêna, Borôro, Apalaí, Canela and many others.

Still others are spoken by communities of descendants of immigrants, who are for the most part bi, tri, or quadralingual, in rural areas of Southern Brazil. These communities speak dialects of Italian, German, Polish or Japanese languages. The most dominant spoken Brazilian German dialect is Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, a Brazilian variation of the Hunsrückisch dialect of German. Talian is the main spoken Italian dialect in Brazil, and is based on the Venetian Language, which has its origin in Northern Italy.

Religion

About 74% of the population in Brazil are Roman Catholic. Followers of Protestantism are rising in number, currently at 15.4%. Spiritism constitutes 1.3% of the population and is the country with the most adepts of this religion. African traditional religions such as Candomblé, Macumba, and Umbanda are the next largest groups. There is a small number of members of the Jewish community (located mostly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro but also in Brasília, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and other major towns) while Buddhism, Shinto, and other Asian religions are also sizeable. Around 0.01% of the population are Muslim. Some practice a mixture of different religions, such as Catholicism, Candomble and indigenous American religion combined.

Military

Browncoats

Napoleonic Armies all were dressed in a well mannered, and clean cut way. They proudly displayed bright colors that allowed nations to determine one army from another. In the days of the prior to the Revolution, it was popular to just refer to the armies as Blue or Redcoats depending on which nation (French or British) was in control of an area. However once the revolution began, this same term could not be applied to Brazilians who had no uniforms. The term "Browncoats" became popular with Brazilian Generals when referring to their own troops due to the fact they often wore brown or dirty clothes. This quickly found it's way to the people and strangely enough was embraced. To this day the military in general, organization and individuals, are often referred to as the Browncoats. Today a uniform dress browncoat uniform is issued to all branches of the military. It is a basic trenchcoat, with a red scarf. Khaki pants, and brown shirts are also provided. Women uniforms are different, as they are issued a smaller jacket that is much tighter and cannot be closed. Female recruits receive black pants rather than khaki.

Brazilian Mounted Police

In Brazil, the Brazilian Mounted Police (BMP or Mounties) is the national police force. They are well known for their teal uniforms and politeness. The Mounties have been immortalized as symbols of Brazilian culture in numerous movies, which often feature the image of the Mountie as stoic, polite, and with the motto that the Mountie "always gets his man."

Its missions include:

• The policing of countryside areas and of small towns, usually populations under 10000, outside of the usual protection of the State Police.
• Criminal investigations under judiciary supervision.
• Crowd control and other security activities.
• The security of airports and military installations, as well as all investigations relating to the military, including in foreign interventions.
• Participations in ceremonies involving foreign heads of states or heads of governments.

While administratively a part of the armed forces, thus under the aegis of the Department of War, it is operationally attached to the Department of Interior for its missions within Brazil, and criminal investigations are run under the supervision of judges. Its members operate in uniform and exceptionally in plainclothes when in areas like airports.