Federal Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: Republica Federativa do Brasil; English: The Federative Republic of Brazil), Brazil for short. With a total area of 8,514,900 square kilometers, it is the largest country in South America. It ranks fifth in the world. Total population 210 million (2020). It borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
The country is divided into 26 states and one federal district. Brazil was once inhabited by Indians. On April 22, 1500, Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral arrived in Brazil. It became a Portuguese colony in the 1530s. Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1808, and the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil.
After Napoleon's defeat, the Portuguese monarchy returned to Lisbon, while Prince Pedro remained in Brazil as regent. On September 7, 1822, Prince Pedro proclaimed Brazil's independence from Portugal as Pedro I and established the Brazilian Empire.
On November 15, 1889, General Fonseka staged a coup, overthrew the monarchy and established the United States of Brazil. On March 31, 1964, the military came to power and became a dictatorship, which was changed to the current name in 1967. In January 1985, the military government stepped down.
In 1989, general elections were held for the first time by direct popular vote. Brazil is a member of the Rio Group, Mercosur, the South American Progress Forum and the Group of 20. It is also known as the ABC country, along with Argentina and Chile. As one of the BRICS countries, Brazil has abundant natural resources and a complete industrial base. Its GDP ranks first in South America and is the seventh largest economy in the world.
Football is the mainstream sport in the cultural life of Brazilians, so Brazil enjoys the reputation of "the Kingdom of football".
