Brazil is located on the east coast of South
America covering nearly half of that continent. The Atlantic Ocean
lies to the east of Brazil. It shares borders with every
country in South America except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil
is slightly smaller than the United States. Brazil has
a republic form of government with the president and vice
president elected to four year terms. The capital is Brasilia.
Brazil gained its independence from Portugal in 1822 and
is the only Latin American country which derives its language
and culture from Portugal. The Brazilian currency is the
Real.
The July 2006 estimate of the population was 188,078,227 with a population growth rate of 1.04 percent. Despite the current life expectancy of 71.97 years, Brazil has a high infant mortality rate.
Portuguese is the official language of Brazil; other languages spoken are Spanish, English, and French. Brazil has an 86.4 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15. Over 89 percent of the population is either Roman Catholic or Protestant with 7.4 percent declaring they have no religion.
Brazil's largest (and most famous) natural feature is the Amazon rain forest. Deforestation of the Amazon Basin is an ongoing concern to the world.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Brazil.
Databases
Enter Brazil in these databases: