The Variety and Colorfuness of Brazil

Brazil actually is America’s largest country by its population and geographical size. Full to the top with intriguing people, plants, and animals. Also its history, religion, culture and sports make this country a great one. The official name of the country I chose is Federal Republic of Brazil. Brazil is located in South America. The government in Brazil is Democratic Federal Republic. The capital of this country is Brasilia. The actual population is about 207,721,000 persons. Brazil is 8,511,965 square miles long. Brazil main language is Portuguese. The name of their money is “Brazilian Real” . Also Brazil have more than 20 beautiful places to go. Brazil represents almost fifty percent of South America. The capital Brasilia, took almost 4 years to build. From the sky, Brasilia looks like a plane. Sao Vicente (near Sao Paulo) is the most antique city in Brazil, founded in 1532.

The country's adage is “Ordem e Progresso” which means “Order and Progress.” There is some islands that belong to Brazil, they are Saint Peter, Trindade and Fernando de Noronha. Also, Brazil is also naturally diverse. It contains dense rainforests and jungles, expanses of coastline, towering mountains, oceanic archipelagos, rivers, and rolling plains. Thanks to this variation of natural places there are many habitats available for plants and animals. Brazil hasa lot of fauna and flora.

Brazilian society is made up of different origins. Afro-Brazilians, White Brazilians, Zambo, Japanese Brazilians, German Brazilians, and a lot of more ethnicities that makes Brazil a country full of different races and cultures. As such, there are many different celebrations like Corpus Christi is a National holiday on June 15 in which the streets are adorned with figures of the Catholic liturgy. The cities of Florianópolis (Santo Catarina), Cabo Frio and Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro) Matão, Ibitinga and Sao Manoel (Sao Pablo) stand out as the best ornamented. Fiestas de Santo Amaro in Campos (January 15) religious festival of the saint of the baixade camper in which a mass is celebrated, with payments of promises and baptism. The representation of the fight between Moors and Christmas, also known as Caballada , is also performed. Oktoberfest (October 5 to 22) in Blumenau (Santa Catarina). German festival with music, dances and gastronomy, is considered the biggest after the Oktoberfest in Munich in Germany, there is also a festival gathers around 2 million tourist annually. The festival of Las Congadas consists of parades of blacks on the day of St. Benedict, commemorating the coronation of a King of the Congo on December 26. This celebration includes dances and songs from Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The best- known Conga are Lapa, and those of some municipalities of Santa Catarina and Minas Gerais. The carnival of Rio de Janeiro (4 days before Ash Wednesday) is considered as the biggest party in the world, it is a five day long celebration., It starts at midnights on the Friday before Ash Wednesday, at the end of February and the beginning of March. It is celebrated in almost every city in Brazil, the most famous being the one that takes place in Rio.

Brazil was officially discovered in 1500, when a Portuguese diploma Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Porto Seguro. Brazil's first colonizers were met by Tupinamba Indians. There's evidence that the Indians and Portuguese initially worked together to harvest trees. They both wanted to start plantations on cleared lands so, the colonizers needed labor. The Portuguese tried to enslave Indians, however, they were but unaccustomed to toiling long hours in fields and died from many European diseases. The Portuguese then turned to the African slave trade for their workforce. For two centuries after Cabral's discovery, the Portuguese had to periodically deal with foreign powers who wanted to take Brazil's resources.

Initially, the Portuguese Crown couldn't establish a strong central government in the subcontinent. For much of the colonial period, it relied on “captains”, low ranking nobles and merchants who were granted authority over captainces. Portugal's monarch dispatched a governor general (arrived with soldiers, priest, and crafts people) to oversee them and to establish a capital (today’s Salvador) in the central location of Bahia. At the end of the 17th century the news that fabulous veins of emeralds, diamonds, and gold had been found in Minas Gerais exploded in Lisbon. In 1763, the capital was moved to Rio de Janeiro for a variety of political and administrative reasons. The country had successfully staved off invasions by other Europeans nations and it had roughly taken its current shape. Portugal's policies tended toward stripping Brazil of it resources rather than developing a truly local economy.

As soon as Don Joao VI arrived in Rio, he began transforming the city. Building projects and the ports were opened to trade with other nations. Pedro I proclaimed Brazil independence on September 7, 1822, and established the Bazil Empire. Pedro II daughter, Princess Isabel, officially ended slavery in 1888. Disgruntled landowners united with the military sent the royal family back to Portugal and founded Brazil’s first republican government on November 15, 1889. In 1930, presidential candidate Getulio Vargas seized power via military. The next elected president , Juselino Kubit, decided to replace the capital Rio de Janeiro for Brasilia that was inaugurated in 1960. In 1964, for a time, military leaders took control of the Brazilian government. At the time of 1985 Brazil's government is finally returned to civilian rule. The new constitution of Brazil gave citizens more individual rights in 1988. In 1989 Fernando Collar de Mello is elected as president in the first elections since 1960. Fernando Henrique Cardoso became president in 2003 The last presidents were Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva (2003) and Dilma Rousseff (first woman president 2011).

Similar as other countries, Brazil is a melting pot of different religions. Is interesting that in the most current censuses Brazil has revealed that almost the 90% of the people from Brazil belong to some kind of religious ideal; just 17% of the population don't believe in God. Three quarters of the Brazilians are Roman Catholic, that means Brazil has the most Catholics in the world. The principal churches in Brazil are: Catholic, protestant, Methodist, Episcopal, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and Baptist. Other religions are non-christian such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Jehovah's witness, Shinto, Rastafarian, Candomble, Umbanda and Spirism. Usually, these religions included inciting Gods with chatting and dances. Religion form a very important part the identify of any nation and its culture the complexity of religion in Brazil only testifies once again to its depth as a country.

Because Brazil is such a melting pot of colors, languages and customs, its cuisine is similarly varied. Also, the types of dishes and ingredients used depend on the geographical location within Brazil. Root vegetables are commonly used. Fruits are also used extensively, even in savoury cooking. Many dishes used rice and beans as base ingredients. Common meats include beef, pork, and seafood. Popular Brazilian breakfasts are fruit-based. Some popular Brazilian appetizers include: Acanaje, Bolinos do Arroz, Emphadinos de palmito, all are based in rice, beans ,and meat. Main courses are varied, filling and very tasty. They may include: Feijoada, Vatapá, Pastel de Acelga, Moqueca de Peixe, Cururo de Camaron, Pizza, and Chamacaca, they are all based in seafood. Bread and pasties are often used to enhance and bulk up the main course of the meal. Pao de Queijo, taofa, Couve a Mineira, are some of their main dishes. With the ample fruit available in Brazil, the deserts are very delicious. Finally, the reason I choose this country was their colorful dresses, they're delicious food, and of course of history. Although Brazil is very far from my country, our traditions are very similar. Christmas and carnivals are one of the similar things we do the same.