Portal:Brazil

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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest and easternmost country in South America and Latin America. It is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous, with over 205 million inhabitants. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language, and is by far the largest Lusophone country in the world. Brazil is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world. Brazil is a federation of 26 states and the Federal District, which contains the capital, Brasília. São Paulo is the most populous city in the country and outside Asia.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It covers roughly half of South America's land area and borders all other countries and territories on the continent except Ecuador and Chile. Brazil contains the majority of the Amazon basin and its vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources. This unique environmental heritage positions Brazil as the first among 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant internationally interest, owing to the impact of environmental degradation on global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.

The territory of present-day Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations for at least 11,000 years when Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived in 1500, claiming the land for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. Slavery was abolished in 1888. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup. A military dictatorship ruled from 1964 to 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.

Brazil is a regional and middle power, a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and an emerging global power. Categorised as a developing country with a high Human Development Index, Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy, with its GDP being the world's eighth largest by PPP, ninth largest nominally, and the largest in Latin America by all metrics. Classified as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country, Brazil ranks first in South America and 17th worldwide by share of global wealth. As one of the world's major breadbaskets, Brazil accounts for nearly one-fifth of the global grain market and is the top exporter of sugarcane, coffee, poultry, and beef. Despite its growing economic and global profile, the country nonetheless endures corruption, crime and social inequality.

Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, G4, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries; it is also an observer state of the Arab League. Due to its rich culture and history, including its global influence in music, sports, literature, dance, and the visual arts, Brazil ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. (Full article...)

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Sirius synchrotron lightsource building completed in November 2018

Sirius is a diffraction-limited storage ring synchrotron light source at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil. It has a circumference of 518.4 metres (1,701 ft), a diameter of 165 metres (541 ft), and an electron energy of 3 GeV. The produced synchrotron radiation covers the range of infrared, optical, ultraviolet and X-ray light.

Costing R$1.8 billion, it was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (Brazil) and the São Paulo Research Foundation. Discussion started in 2008, and initial funding of R$2 million was granted in 2009. Construction started in 2015, and was finished in 2018. The first electron loop around the storage ring was achieved in November 2019. Its first experiments were made during COVID-19 pandemic at MANACÁ beamline, dedicated to macromolecular crystallography. (Full article...)
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Brazil is the country of rich banks and poor people.

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Catarina approaching Brazil as a Category 1 hurricane on 27 March

Hurricane Catarina, or Cyclone Catarina (Portuguese pronunciation: [kataˈɾinɐ]) was an extraordinarily rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone, the only hurricane-strength storm on record in the South Atlantic Ocean. Catarina made landfall on Southern Brazil at peak intensity, with the equivalent of Category 2 hurricane-force sustained winds, on 28 March 2004.

The storm developed out of a stationary cold-core upper-level trough on 12 March. Almost a week later, on 19 March, a disturbance developed along the trough and traveled towards the west-southwest until 22 March when a ridge stopped the forward motion of the disturbance. The disturbance was in an unusually favorable environment with a slightly below-average wind shear and above-average sea surface temperatures. The combination of the two led to a slow transition from an extratropical cyclone to a subtropical cyclone by 24 March. The storm continued to obtain tropical characteristics and became a tropical storm the next day while the winds steadily increased. The storm attained wind speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph)—equivalent to a low-end Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale—on 26 March. At that time, it was unofficially named Catarina and was also the first hurricane-strength tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Abnormally favorable conditions persisted, resulting in Catarina intensifying further, and it would peak with 1-minute sustained winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) on 28 March. The center of the storm made landfall between the cities of Passo de Torres and Balneário Gaivota, Santa Catarina soon after. Catarina rapidly weakened upon landfall and dissipated later that day. (Full article...)

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Pereira with 200 m medley gold medal at 2007 Pan American Games

Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira (born 26 January 1986) is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, beating the then-current Olympic champion Michael Phelps. He also broke a world record in the short course 200-meter individual medley, and broke several South American and Brazilian records. During his career, he competed with swimming legends Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.

Pereira is a resident of Belo Horizonte, and became known as Ricardo Prado's successor in his native country after winning the silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2003. In 2004, he won the world title in the same event at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships. After that, Pereira won six gold medals at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, breaking the record of five gold medals won in one Pan American Games, previously held by Mark Spitz. Pereira broke the short course 200-meter individual medley world record later that same year. He represented Brazil at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2004. (Full article...)

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Praia de Botafogo
Praia de Botafogo
Credit: Luis Rizo

Botafogo is a beachfront neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mostly a middle and high-class and small commerce community, located between the hills of Mundo Novo, Santa Marta and Morro de São João. It is named after João Pereira de Sousa Botafogo, who was its landowner in colonial times. Its name literally means "set it on fire" and is related to the Italian surname Buttafuoco.

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2008 Brazilian Grand PrixAfonso, Prince Imperial of BrazilBrazilian cruiser BahiaEmpire of Brazil1937 Brazilian coup d'étatPedro Álvares CabralChagas diseaseDrymoreomysEuryoryzomys emmonsaeFôrça BrutaGiant otterGol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Joaquim José Inácio, Viscount of InhaúmaJaguarHonório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of ParanáLundomysPrincess Maria Amélia of BrazilMaster SystemBrazilian battleship Minas GeraesMinas Geraes-class battleshipNoronha skinkNoronhomysUSS OrizabaJosé Paranhos, Viscount of Rio BrancoPedro I of BrazilPedro II of BrazilPedro Afonso, Prince Imperial of BrazilBrazilian battleship São PauloLuís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of CaxiasSonic After the SequelManuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto AlegreSouth American dreadnought raceThalassodromeusTeresa Cristina of the Two SiciliesUruguayan War2014 FIFA World Cup final

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List of municipalities in Rio Grande do NorteSepultura discography

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1986 João Câmara earthquake1995 Brazilian Grand Prix2000 Brazilian Grand Prix2000 Rio 2002010 Brazilian Grand Prix2010 São Paulo Indy 3002012 Brazilian Grand Prix2014 Brazilian Grand Prix2015 Brazilian Grand PrixA Puro DolorRebeca AndradeArchaeological interest of Pedra da GáveaArise (Sepultura album)Clube Atlético MineiroBomba PatchDisappearance of Bruno BorgesBrainstorm (2000 film)Brazil v Germany (2014 FIFA World Cup)Brazil at the 1994 Winter OlympicsBrazil at the 1998 Winter OlympicsBrazil at the 2014 Winter ParalympicsBrazilian military junta of 1930Gisele BündchenCapybaraAdelir Antônio de CarliHélio CastronevesDorival CaymmiCésar CieloClube Atlético Mineiro in international club footballCavalera ConspiracyDiego CostaPhilippe CoutinhoDejaría TodoDiptychophora galvaniFortress of HumaitáFruta FrescaGanga BrutaGilberto GilMaurício GugelminHilda HilstHurricane CatarinaJorge Ben (album)Josiane LimaMitsuyo MaedaRMS Magdalena (1948)Man of the HoleMango YellowMarquinhosThe Naturalist on the River AmazonsLegacy of Pedro II of BrazilEarly life of Pedro II of BrazilPeléBrazilian monitor PiauíPlatine WarPrince Bernhard's titi monkeyMarie RennotteRevolt of the LashRevolution of the GanhadoresRio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Summer OlympicsSamba rockSarcófagoState University of CampinasTAM Airlines Flight 3054TV BahiaTaubaté pregnancy hoaxTectoyAmon TobinTransgender history in BrazilUmbandaAlessandra VieiraVinicius and TomMartha WattsWorld War II

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