Brazil, officially denominated the Federative Republic of Brazil (Brasil or
Republica Federativa do Brasil), is the fifth-largest country (with a total area
of 8,514,877km2) and the fifth most populous country in the world with an
estimated population of 190 million inhabitants. The capital is Brasilia. The
official language is Portuguese. The currency is the real (current exchange rate
is approx. USD 1.00 = BRL 1.92). The main religion is Roman Catholicism.
Brazilian law is based on Roman-Germanic traditions. Thus, civil-law concepts
prevail over common-law practices.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over
7,367km. It borders Uruguay to the south, Argentina and Paraguay to the
south-west, Bolivia and Peru to the west, Colombia to the north-west and
Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana to the north.
Brazil was discovered by Portugal in 1500 – by Pedro Alvares Cabral,
a Portuguese navigator and explorer – and remained Portuguese until its
independence in 1822. Its current constitution defines Brazil as a federative
republic. The federation is formed by the association of the states, the
Brazilian federal district and the municipalities. There are currently 26 states
and 5,564 municipalities. The president is the head of state and head of
government and is elected for a four-year term, with the possibility of
re-election for a second successive term. The current president of Brazil, Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, was elected on 27 October 2002, and re-elected on
29 October 2006. The classic tripartite division of power, encompassing the
executive, legislative and judiciary branches, is formally established by the
constitution.
The Brazilian topography is varied and includes mountains, plains, highlands,
scrublands, savannas, rainforests and a long coastline. The extensive Amazon
Rainforest covers most of Brazil's terrain in the north, while small hills and low
mountains occupy the south. Along the Atlantic coast there are several
mountain ranges, with the highest altitude being 2,900 metres. Major rivers
include the Amazon, the second-longest in the world and the largest in terms
of volume of water, the Parana and its major tributary the Iguazu River,
where the Iguazu Falls are located.
The Brazilian winter is from June to August, with average winter temperatures
in the coldest southern states of between 10°C and 18°C. Brazil has five climatic
regions: equatorial, tropical, semi-arid, highland tropical and subtropical.
Temperatures along the equator are high, with average lows of around 25ºC.
Southern Brazil has subtropical temperate weather, normally with frost in the
winter and occasional snow in mountainous areas such as Rio Grande do Sul
and Santa Catarina. Temperatures in the cities of Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte
and Brasilia are moderate, usually ranging between 15ºC and 30ºC. Rio de
Janeiro, Recife and Salvador, located on the coast, have warm climates with
average temperatures ranging from 23ºC to 27ºC.
Precipitation levels fluctuate widely. They are higher in the humid Amazon
basin and lower in the more arid landscapes of the north-east. Most of Brazil
has moderate rainfall of 1,000 to 1,500 millimetres a year, with most of the
rain falling in the summer (i.e. between December and April) south of the
equator.
Brazil's GDP (gross domestic product) is the highest in Latin America with
large and developed agricultural, manufacturing, mining and service sectors.
According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Brazil has
the ninth-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity
and the tenth-largest in terms of market exchange rates. Most large industry
is agglomerated in the south-eastern and southern states. The north-east is
the poorest region of Brazil.