Brazil

República Federativa do Brasil

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Brazil.svg/125px-Flag_of_Brazil.svg.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Brasaorepublica.png/125px-Brasaorepublica.png Flag & Coat of Arms of Brazil
Motto: Ordem e Progresso (Portuguese: "Order and Progress")
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/LocationBrazil.png
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	Fish & Coal Pigs, Fish, Gold, Coal, Oil, Rubber

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. Brasilia 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

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.

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%
• amerindian 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.

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 (also in Paraguay), 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.

Military

Army

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 refering 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 refered 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 recieve black pants rather than khaki.