1. Brazil By Amine

2. History Brazil was under the rule of Portugal for three centuries. It became an independent country in 1822, under the rule of Emperor Pedro I. In 1889, the country became a republic after overthrowing Emperor Pedro II. The current President is Dilma Rousseff, who was elected on January 1, 2011.

3. Flag The motto on the flag is “Ordem E Progresso”, which means “order and Progress”. The green represents the forests of the country. The yellow represents their mineral wealth. There are 27 stars on the flag that represent the 27 states of Brazil.

4. Population The total area of Brazil is 8,456,510 sq kilometers. It is the 5 th largest country in the world. Brazil has the largest and most populous cities in South America. The population is 203,429,773. It is the 5 th most populated country in the world.

5. Cities The most populated cities are: Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, and Brasilia. The capital is Brasilia.

6. The official language is Portuguese. Brazil is South America’s leading economic power. The literacy rate is 88.6% Men: 88.4% Women: 88.6% The economy is driven by agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and services.

7. Agriculture Coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus and beef. About 20% of their workforce is in agriculture.

8. Industries Textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, motor vehicles, and machinery. About 14% of the workforce is in industry.

9. Religion 74% of the country is Roman Catholic and 15.4% is protestant. Brazil has one of the highest Christian populations in the world.

10. Military Brazil spends 1.7% of their GDP on their military. The Brazilian military consists of the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Navy, and the Brazilian Air Force.

11. Currency The Brazilian currency is the Real (R$) It has been used since 1994. The Real is worth about half of a U.S. dollar.

12. Current Events Recently, Brazil has had many floods and landslides killing almost 600 people in the Rio De Janeiro state. There is a big debate going on about the building of the world’s third largest dam being built on the Xingu River. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is endangering many of the species that live there.

13. The Amazon The Amazon is the largest remaining rainforest in the world. The Amazon contains about 20% of the species on Earth. The Amazon river is the second largest river in the world.

14. Christ the Redeemer statue. The statue is in Rio De Janeiro on Corcovado Mountain. It is known as Christ the Redeemer and it is 129.9 ft. tall. Construction started in 1922 and was finished in 1931.

15. Cathedral of Brasillia. Construction started in 1958 and was completed in 1960 The columns represent two hands going upward to Heaven.

16. Sources https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the- world-factbook/geos/br.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the- world-factbook/geos/br.html http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/C hrist_the_Redeemer_(statue) http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/C hrist_the_Redeemer_(statue) http://www.aboutbrasilia.com/travel/brasilia- cathedral.html http://www.aboutbrasilia.com/travel/brasilia- cathedral.html http://www.v- brazil.com/information/currency.html http://www.v- brazil.com/information/currency.html http://www.x-rates.com/d/BRL/table.html

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