1. Brazil

2. Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest in the world in size, but also in population. It is bordering all South American countries, except Ecuador and Chile. Brazil was colonized by Portugal and is the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America. Also it has the largest Roman Catholic population in the world.

3. Brazil's population is very diverse with many races and ethnic groups. In general, Brazilians are descended from the following groups of migration: Amerindians, descended from groups that migrated from Siberia across the Bering Strait around 9000 BC. Portuguese colonists and settlers, arriving from 1500 onward. Diverse groups of immigrants from Europe, Asia and the Middle East arriving in Brazil during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. African slaves brought to the country from 1530 until the end of the slave trade in 1850.

5. Brazil is the place to be for people who like Samba, Carnival and beaches. Of course it has lots more to offer, like its colonial cities with their Portuguese architecture and some of the world's most amazing nature scenes. Some characteristics of this very diverse country are music, dance, soccer and love of life. The vibrant atmosphere, beautiful nature, diverse landscape and people make sure you want to come back again and again!SambaCarnival

6. Amazon Rain forest, largest rain forest in the world.

7. Amazon River

8. The lungs of the planet.

10. Indigenous peoples in Brazil

11. On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted peoples.FUNAIBrazilNew Guineauncontacted peoples

12. In the last census (2006), 519,000 Brazilians classified themselves as indigenous, even though millions of Brazilians have Amerindian ancestry. indigenous

13. Most of the indigenous population left in Brazil lives in the rainforest.

14. Their homes

16. Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. It became the capital in the mid 1950’s because the government wanted to encourage development in the interior & ease the population in crowed cities.

17. Capital building

18. Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is the President of Brazil.

19. The Trans-Amazonian Highway was inaugurated in 1972 to further develop the interior.

20. This new access to the remote Amazon Rainforest has resulted in deforestation & spreading disease to the formerly isolated Indian tribes.

21. Extensive logging in the nation's forests, particularly the Amazon, both official and unofficial, destroys areas the size of a small country each year, and potentially a diverse variety of plants and animals.logging

22. Deforestation affects the entire Amazon rainforest ecosystem, including its soils. Slash-and-burn agriculture exposes poor, thin tropical soils that can sustain crops for only a few years before vital nutrients wash away. Lack of nutrients decreases biodiversity and species richness as well.

24. Deforestation also accelerates the rate of soil erosion, which in turn leads to greater amounts of surface runoff and increased sedimentation in rivers and streams. The combination of these factors leads to flooding and changes in soil properties.

26. NASA image over the Amazon

28. Brazil leads the world in hydro electric power.

29. Brazilian Indians ride a bus in Altamira, Brazil, in 2008. Amazon Indians and activists continue to protest a proposed hydroelectric dam on the nearby Xingu River

30. Rio de Janeiro

31. Christ Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

33. Host city of the 2016 Olympic games

35. 1 st time the games will be held in South America.

37. Soccer is the # 1 sport in Brazil

40. Most of the people in Brazil live in the Southeast in or near Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo. These mega cities have lead to massive overcrowding.

41. A favela (Brazilian Portuguese for slum) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. shanty townBrazil

42. Shanty towns are units of irregular self-constructed housing that are typically unlicensed and occupied illegally.

43. These areas of irregular and poor-quality housing are often crowded onto hillsides, and as a result, these areas suffer from frequent landslides during heavy rain.landslides

44. Favelas have been troubled by drug- related crime and gang warfare. They are also home to thousands of street kids.drug- related crimegang

46. Brazilian street kids will abuse glue as a drug because it is cheap and subsides their hunger.

47. Sometimes the daytime is the only safe time they can sleep.

48. As the worlds eyes will be Brazil during the 2016 Olympic games, the Brazilian government has began constructing walls around favelas.

50. Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. Population is almost 20 million.

51. It is also the wealthiest city in Brazil.

52. Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world.

53. The most colorful feast day in Brazil is Carnival. In Rio people in costumes ride on floats through the streets.

59. Carnival takes place to the music of the samba, a Brazilian dance with African influences.

60. Capoeira is a martial art and dance that developed in Brazil from African origins.

61. Capoeira can be described as "Martial Dance" that consists of music, dance, athletic movements, martial arts and combat theories altogether. African slaves in Brazil developed this Martial Art about 400 years ago where the slaves practiced Capoeira as a way to protect themselvesMartial Dance

62. The art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu began with the teachings of the Japanese master Mitsuyo Maeda, who immigrated to Brazil. Maeda taught many different people his techniques, including police officers, military officials, and Carlos Gracie - a student who surpassed many at the practice and theory of the martial art. Mitsuyo Maeda

63. Brazilian Food

64. What they want you to know about Brazil.

66. Most of people see Brazil as a country with beautiful beaches, pretty girls, violence, much beer or caipirinha, crazy parties (like Carnival)and great soccer players but it's not like that! If you ask a person what's the capital of Brazil probably he/she will say it's Rio de Janeiro or even "Buenos Aires" (?). I know it's not everybody's point of view but I just want to show people that Brazilians are not that mean and crazy. Once a girl asked me if I had TV and computer at home (come on, did she think we were talking by telepathy? o.O), I was just like: OMG! I feel sorry for her because she said her teacher told her about it. What kind of teacher says there are only indigenous people in Brazil? I'm still looking for an answer... I know there are many violent people here but it's like everywhere. The biggest problem is that only negative things about my country are shown on TV. Do journalists write about Santos Dumont (yes, he invented the plane and the wristwatch)? About Itaipu Binacional (yes, it's the greatest hydroelectric power plant the world has ever known, the construction iron and steel utilised in Itaipu would be sufficient to build 380 Eiffel Towers, can you imagine that?)? I'm not putting the blame on the journalists (sorry if you thought so)...I just cannot explain it xD We are normal people, like you who live in Europe, Asia or Africa. Ohh, just wanna say something else: America is a continent, not a single country. I know you learnt at school that North America + Central America + South America = America ;) As you already know Brazilian population is really mixed! There are afro americans (6,3%); caucasians (49,9%); indigenous (0,4%; pardos (42,6% [you know...when the person is not black and not caucasian]) and asians (0,5%). Imagine a place with all those cultures, it's Brazil :D