Brazil
hideBrazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) listen (help·info), is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822. Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified. Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
Brazil is the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest by purchasing power parity. Economic reforms have given the country new international projection. It is a founding member of the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations. A predominantly Roman Catholic, Portuguese-speaking, and multiethnic society, Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.
For more information about Brazil, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with brazil
Brazil: Deforestation sees biggest drop in 20 yrs
Nov 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped nearly 46 percent from August 2008 to July 2009 - the biggest annual decline in two decades, the government said Thursday.
Google ordered to pay 500,000 dlrs to F1 racer Barrichello
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Internet giant Google has been ordered to pay 500,000 dollars in damages to Formula 1 racer Rubens Barrichello for hosting fake online profiles of him on its social network Orkut.
Nokia recalls millions of dangerous chargers
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, issued on Monday a global recall for 14 million faulty chargers made by a subcontractor this year.
EU: bluefin tuna catches to be reduced
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The EU Commission says over 45 countries who catch tuna have agreed to cut catches of the threatened Atlantic bluefin tuna next year.
Search results for brazil
The end of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?
Dec 03, 2009 |
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A new article in the December 4 issue of Science addresses how the combined efforts of government commitments and market transition could save forest and reduce carbon emissions in Brazil. The Policy Forum brief, entitled "The E ...
Netherlands reports mutant swine flu death
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Dutch authorities said Thursday a patient infected by a mutant strain of the swine flu virus had died, but added that this was not the cause of death.
Balancing protein intake, not cutting calories, may be key to long life
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Research into Ageing suggests.
Scientists: Man controlled robotic hand with thoughts
Dec 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A group of European scientists said Wednesday they have successfully connected a robotic hand to an amputee, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial limb and control it with his thoughts.
Scientists trace shark fins to their geographic origin for first time using DNA tools
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Millions of shark fins are sold at market each year to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy, but it has been impossible to pinpoint which sharks from which regions are most threatened ...
Burning coal worse for climate than clearing rain forests
Nov 26, 2009 |
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Deforestation has had a big influence on the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the past three centuries, but its impact is tapering off relatively. Nowadays, the burning of fossil fuels is a more crucial factor. ...
China reports 8 cases of mutated swine flu virus
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- China has detected eight people infected with mutated forms of the swine flu virus, a health official said Wednesday, but flu drugs and vaccines still work against it.
Got a pain? -- Have a cup of Brazilian mint
Nov 24, 2009 |
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For thousands of years it has been prescribed by traditional healers in Brazil to treat a range of ailments from headaches and stomach pain to fever and flu.
Denmark: 65 world leaders for UN climate summit
Nov 22, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Sixty-five world leaders have said they will attend the Copenhagen climate summit in December, and several more have responded positively to invitations, Danish officials said Sunday.
Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss (w/ Video)
Nov 22, 2009 |
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Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid ...
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