Brazil
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Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) listen , is the largest and most populous country in South America.[8] It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.[8][9] Its population comprises the majority of the world's Portuguese speakers. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).[8] It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.[8]
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822.[10] Initially independent as the Empire of Brazil, the country has been a republic since 1889. The bicameral legislature (now called Congress) dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified.[10] The Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic[11] formed by the union of 26 States, the Federal District and the Municipalities (nowadays more than 5,564).[11][12]
Brazil is the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power.[13] Economic reforms have given the country new international projection.[14] It is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. It is a member of the G20. The Brazilian population is predominantly Roman Catholic, almost all Portuguese-speaking and multiethnic.[9] Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.[8] Brazil is the first most biodiverse country.[15]
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Etymology
There are two proposed origins for the name Brazil. One is the old Irish mythological island of Hy-Brazil, which according to legend was supposed to exist as in the South Atlantic. Portuguese sailors were aware of such a legend and might have named the new territory after it in the course of the 16th century, in spite of the officially adopted name of Terra de Santa Cruz.[16]
The other etyomology proposed is from the brazil-wood, the product Brazil was first explored for, whose name might be derived from Portuguese "brasa" (ember) due to the wood's reddish interior and utility in making red paints.
History
Origins
Most native tribes who live and lived within Brazil's current borders are thought to descend from the first wave of migrants from North Asia (Siberia) that crossed the Bering Land Bridge at the end of the last Ice Age around 9000 BC. In 1500 AD, the territory of modern Brazil had an estimated total population of nearly 3 million Amerindians divided in 2,000 nations and tribes.
A not-updated linguistic survey found 188 living indigenous languages with 155,000 total speakers. In 2007, Fundação Nacional do Índio (English: National Indian Foundation) reported the presence of 67 different tribes yet living without contact with civilization, up from 40 in 2005. With this figure, now Brazil has the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the World, even more than the island of New Guinea. When the Portuguese arrived in 1500, the Amerindians were mostly semi-nomadic tribes, with the largest population living on the coast and along the banks of major rivers. Unlike Christopher Columbus who thought he had reached the India, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama had already reached India sailing around Africa two years before they reached Brazil.
Nevertheless, the word índios ("Indians") was by then established to designate the peoples of the New World and stuck being used today in the Portuguese language, while the people of India are called indianos. Initially, the Europeans saw the natives as noble savages, and miscegenation of the population began right away. Tribal warfare and cannibalism convinced the Portuguese that they should "civilize" the Amerindians.[17]
Colonization
Initially Portugal had little interest in Brazil, mainly because of high profits gained through commerce with India, Indochina, China and Japan. Brazil's only economical exploitation was the pursuit of brazilwood for its treasured red dye. After 1530, the Portuguese Crown devised the Hereditary Captaincies system to effectively occupy its new colony, and later took direct control of the failed captaincies.[18][19] Although temporary trading posts were established earlier to collect brazilwood, used as a dye, with permanent settlement came the establishment of the sugarcane industry and its intensive labor. Several early settlements were founded across the coast, among them the colonial capital, Salvador, established in 1549 at the Bay of All Saints in the north, and the city of Rio de Janeiro on March 1567, in the south. The Portuguese colonists adopted an economy based on the production of agricultural goods that were exported to Europe. Sugar became by far the most important Brazilian colonial product until the early 18th century.[20][21] Even though Brazilian sugar was reputed as being of high quality, the industry faced a crisis during the 17th and 18th centuries when the Dutch and the French started producing sugar in the Antilles, located much closer to Europe, causing sugar prices to fall.
During the 17th century, private explorers from São Paulo Captaincy, nowadays called Bandeirantes, explored and expanded Brazilian borders mainly while raiding the hinterlands tribes aiming to enslave Native Brazilians. In the 18th century, the Bandeirantes found gold and diamond deposits in the modern-day state of Minas Gerais. The exploration of these mines were mostly used to finance the Portuguese Royal Court's expenditure with both the preservation of its Global Empire and the support of its luxurious lifestyle at mainland. The way in which such deposits were exploited by the Portuguese Crown and the powerful local elites, however, burdened colonial Brazil with excessive taxes. Some popular movements supporting independence came about against the taxes established by the colonial government, such as the Tiradentes in 1789, but the secessionist movements were often dismissed by the authorities of the ruling colonial regime. Gold production declined towards the end of the 18th century, starting a period of relative stagnation of the Brazilian hinterland.[22] Both Amerindian and African slaves' man power were largely used in Brazil's colonial economy.[23]
In contrast to the neighboring Spanish possessions in South America, the Portuguese colony of Brazil kept its territorial, political and linguistic integrity due to the action of the Portuguese administrative effort. Although the colony was threatened by other nations across the era of Portuguese rule, in particular by Dutch and French powers, the authorities and the people ultimately managed to protect its borders from foreign attacks. Portugal even had to send bullion to Brazil, a spectacular reversal of the colonial trend, in order to protect the integrity of the colony.[24]
Empire
In 1808, the Portuguese court, fleeing from Napoleon’s troops who had invaded Portugal, established themselves in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which thus became the seat of government of Portugal and the entire Portuguese Empire, even though being located outside of Europe. Rio de Janeiro was the capital of the Portuguese empire from 1808 to 1815. After that, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (1815-1825) was created with Lisbon as its capital. After João VI returned to Portugal in 1821, his heir-apparent Pedro became regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, within the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Following a series of political incidents and disputes, Brazil achieved its independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. On 12 October 1822, Dom Pedro became the first Emperor of Brazil, being crowned on 1 December 1822. Portugal would recognize Brazil as an independent country in 1825.
In 1824, Pedro closed the Constituent Assembly, stating that the body was "endangering liberty". Pedro then produced a constitution modeled on that of Portugal (1822) and France (1814). It specified indirect elections and created the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government; however, it also added a fourth branch, the "moderating power", to be held by the Emperor. Pedro's government was considered economically and administratively inefficient. Political pressures eventually made the Emperor step down on 7 April 1831. He returned to Portugal leaving behind his five-year-old son Pedro II. Until Pedro II reached maturity, Brazil was governed by regents from 1831 to 1840. The regency period was turbulent and marked by numerous local revolts including the Male Revolt, the largest urban slave rebellion in the Americas, which took place in Bahia in 1835.[25]
On 23 July 1840, Pedro II was crowned Emperor. His government was marked by a substantial rise in coffee exports, the War of the Triple Alliance, and the end of slave trade from Africa in 1850, although slavery in Brazilian territory would only be abolished in 1888. By the Eusébio de Queirós law,[26] Brazil stopped trading slaves from Africa in 1850. Slavery was abandoned altogether in 1888, thus making Brazil the last country of the Americas to ban slavery.[27][28] When slavery was finally abolished, a large influx of European immigrants took place.[29][30][31] By the 1870s, the Emperor's control of domestic politics had started to deteriorate in the face of crises with the Catholic Church, the Army and the slaveholders. The Republican movement slowly gained strength. The dominant classes no longer needed the empire to protect their interests and deeply resented the abolition of slavery.[32] Indeed, imperial centralization ran counter to their desire for local autonomy. By 1889 Pedro II had stepped down and the Republican system had been adopted in Brazil. In the end, the empire really fell because of a coup d'état.
Republic
Pedro II was deposed on November 15, 1889 by a Republican military coup led by general Deodoro da Fonseca,[33] who became the country’s first de facto president through military ascension. The country’s name became the Republic of the United States of Brazil. From 1889 to 1930, the dominant states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais alternated control of the presidency.[34][35] A military junta took control in 1930. Getúlio Vargas took office soon after, and would remain as dictatorial ruler until 1945. He was re-elected in 1951 and stayed in office until his suicide in 1954. After 1930, successive governments continued industrial and agricultural growth and the development of the vast interior of Brazil.[35][36] Juscelino Kubitschek's office years (1956-1961) were marked by the political campaign motto of plunging "50 anos em 5" (English: fifty years of development in five).[37]
The military took office in Brazil in a coup d'état in 1964, and remained in power until March 1985, when it fell from grace because of political struggles between the regime and the Brazilian elites. In 1967 the name of the country was changed to Federative Republic of Brazil. Just as the Brazilian regime changes of 1889, 1930, and 1945 unleashed competing political forces and caused divisions within the military, so too did the 1964 regime change.[38] Democracy was re-established in 1988 when the current Federal Constitution was enacted.[39] Fernando Collor de Mello was the first president truly elected by popular vote after the military regime.[40] Collor took office in March 1990. In September 1992, the National Congress voted for Collor's impeachment after a sequence of scandals were uncovered by the media.[40][41] The vice-president, Itamar Franco, assumed the presidency. Assisted by the Minister of Finance at that time, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Itamar Franco's administration implemented the Plano Real economic package,[40] which included a new currency temporarily pegged to the U.S. dollar, the real. In the elections held on October 3, 1994, Fernando Henrique Cardoso ran for president and won, being reelected in 1998. Brazil's current president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, elected in 2002 and reelected in 2006.
Government and politics
The Brazilian Federation is based on the union of three autonomous political entities: the States, the Municipalities and the Federal District.[11] A fourth entity originated in the aforementioned association: the Union.[11] There is no hierarchy among the political entities. The Federation is set on six fundamental principles:[11] sovereignty, citizenship, dignity of the people, social value of labor, freedom of enterprise, and political pluralism. The classic tripartite branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial under the checks and balances system), is formally established by the Constitution.[11] The executive and legislative are organized independently in all four political entities, while the judiciary is organized only in the federal and state levels.
All members of the executive and legislative branches are directly elected.[42][43][44] Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams.[42] Voting is compulsory for those aged 18 or older.[11] Four political parties stand out among several small ones: Workers' Party (PT), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), and Democrats (formerly Liberal Front Party - PFL). Practically all governmental and administrative functions are exercised by authorities and agencies affiliated to the Executive.
The form of government is that of a democratic republic, with a presidential system.[11] The president is both head of state and head of government of the Union and is elected for a four-year term,[11] with the possibility of re-election for a second successive term. The current president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He was elected on October 27, 2002,[45] and re-elected on October 29, 2006.[46] The President appoints the Ministers of State, who assist in governing.[11] Legislative houses in each political entity are the main source of laws in Brazil. The National Congress is the Federation’s bicameral legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Judiciary authorities exercise jurisdictional duties almost exclusively.
Law
Brazilian law is based on Roman-Germanic traditions.[47] Thus, civil law concepts prevail over common law practices. Most of Brazilian law is codified, although non-codified statutes also represent a substantial part of the system, playing a complementary role. Court decisions set out interpretive guidelines; however, they are not binding on other specific cases except in a few situations. Doctrinal works and the works of academic jurists have strong influence in law creation and in law cases. The legal system is based on the Federal Constitution, which was promulgated on 5 October 1988, and is the fundamental law of Brazil. All other legislation and court decisions must conform to its rules.[48] As of April 2007, there have been 53 amendments. States have their own constitutions, which must not contradict the Federal Constitution.[49] Municipalities and the Federal District do not have their own constitutions; instead, they have "organic laws" (leis orgânicas).[11][50] Legislative entities are the main source of statutes, although in certain matters judiciary and executive bodies may enact legal norms.[11]
Jurisdiction is administered by the judiciary entities, although in rare situations the Federal Constitution allows the Federal Senate to pass on legal judgments.[11] There are also specialized military, labor, and electoral courts.[11] The highest court is the Supreme Federal Tribunal. This system has been criticised over the last decades due to the slow pace at which final decisions are issued. Lawsuits on appeal may take several years to resolve, and in some cases more than a decade elapses before definitive rulings are made.[51]
Foreign relations and the military
Brazil is thought to be a political and economic leader in Latin America,[52][53] even though this claim is partially contested by Argentina and Mexico, who oppose the country's aim of obtaining a permanent seat as the representative of the region in the UN Security Council. As Brazil's domestic economy has grown and diversified, the country has become increasingly involved in international economic and trade policy discussions. For example, Brazil has been a leader of the G-20 group of nations in the WTO Doha Round talks. The U.S., Western Europe, and Japan are primary markets for Brazilian exports and sources of foreign lending and investment. China is a growing market for Brazilian exports. Brazil also has bolstered its commitment to nonproliferation through ratification of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signing a full-scale nuclear safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), acceding to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, and joining the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Some social and economic problems prevent Brazil from effectively exerting global power.[54] Between World War II and 1990, both democratic and military governments sought to expand Brazil's influence in the world by pursuing a state-led industrial policy and an independent foreign policy. More recently, the country has aimed to strengthen ties with other South American countries, engage in multilateral diplomacy through the United Nations and the Organization of American States.[55] Brazil's current foreign policy is based on the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power.[56] Brazilian foreign policy has generally reflected multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and nonintervention in the affairs of other countries.[57] The Brazilian Constitution also determines the country shall seek the economic, political, social and cultural economic integration of the nations of Latin America.[11][58][59][60]
The United States was the first country to recognize Brazil's independence in 1822. The two countries have traditionally enjoyed friendly, active relations encompassing a broad political and economic agenda. Deepening U.S.-Brazil engagement and cooperation are reflected in the continuing high-level contacts between the two governments, including reciprocal visits by Presidents Bush and Lula in March 2007. Ongoing topics of discussion and cooperation include trade and finance; hemispheric economic integration; biofuels;[61] regional security; nonproliferation and arms control; human rights and trafficking in persons; international crime, including financial support to terrorist groups; counter-narcotics; and environmental issues. Existing bilateral agreements include an Education Partnership Agreement, which enhances and expands cooperative initiatives in such areas as standards-based education reform, use of technology, and professional development of teachers; a Mutual Legal Assistance treaty, ratified in 2001; and agreements on cooperation in energy, the environment, science and technology, and transportation.[62]
The Armed forces of Brazil comprise the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Navy, and the Brazilian Air Force.[11] The Military Police (States' Military Police) is described as an ancillary force of the Army by constitution, but under the control of each state's governor.[11] The Brazilian armed forces are the largest in Latin America. The Brazilian Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Brazilian armed forces, being the largest air force in Latin America, with about 1000 manned aircraft in service.[63] The Brazilian Navy is responsible for naval operations and for guarding Brazilian territorial waters. It is the oldest of the Brazilian Armed forces and the only navy in Latin America that operates an aircraft carrier, the NAeL São Paulo (formerly FS Foch of the French Navy).[64] Finally, the Brazilian Army is responsible for land-based military operations, with a strength of approximately 290,000 soldiers.
Subdivisions
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According to the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, Brazil is a federation of 26 states (estados), one federal district (Distrito Federal) and, also, the municipalities. None of these units have the right to secede from the Federation.[11]
States are based on historical, conventional borders and have developed throughout the centuries; though some boundaries are arbitrary. The states can be split or joined together in new states if their people express so in a plebiscite. States have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Union government. They have a governor and legislative body (Assembléia Legislativa) elected directly by their people. They also have independent Courts of Law for common justice. Despite that, states are not so free to create their own laws as in the United States. For example, criminal and civil laws can only be voted by the Brazilian bicameral Congress.[11]
Municipalities can be split or joined together in new municipalities if their people express so in a plebiscite, following some rules of the Federal Constitution and keeping the border within the former state. Municipalities have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Union and state government.[11] They have a mayor (prefeito) and a legislative body (Câmara de Vereadores) elected directly by their people, but they have no separated Courts of Law. Indeed, a Court of Law organized by the state can encompass many municipalities in a single comarca (justice administrative division).
The federal district (Distrito Federal) contains the capital city, Brasília. The federal district is not a state on its right, but shares some characteristics of a state and some of a municipality. It can not be divided in municipalities and its Courts of Law are part of the Federal Judiciary System.[11]
The Brazilian Constitution allows the existence of incorporated territories, but they are no more. In 1943, with the entrance of Brazil into the Second World War, the Vargas regime detached seven strategic territories from the border of the country in order to administrate them directly: Amapá, Rio Branco, Acre, Guaporé, Ponta Porã, Iguaçu and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. After the war, the first three territories were retained as states, with Rio Branco and Guaporé being renamed Roraima and Rondônia, respectively. Ponta Porã and Iguaçu territories resorted to the original state they belonged. The Mato Grosso state incorporated the territory of Ponta Porã and the northern part of Iguaçu. Central Iguaçu went to the state of Paraná, and southern Iguaçu went to the state of Santa Catarina. In 1988, Fernando de Noronha became part of the state of Pernambuco.
Since the first years of the Republican regime, a square-shaped territory was carved out of Goiás in preparation for the new capital. In 1960, the new city of Brasília was founded and the Distrito Federal moved out. The previous federal district became the state of Guanabara until 1975 when it was merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro, becoming the municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
In 1977, Mato Grosso state was split into two states. The northern area retained the name Mato Grosso while the southern area became the new state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with Campo Grande as its capital. In 1988, the northern portion of Goiás state became the state of Tocantins, with Palmas as its capital.
Regions
The Brazilian regions are not political or administrative divisions. Although defined by law, Brazilian regions are useful mainly for statistical purposes and, sometimes, to define the application of federal funds in development projects.
The national territory was divided in 1969 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), for demographic and statistical purposes, into five main regions: North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South.
The North region covers 45.27% of the land area of Brazil, and has the lowest number of inhabitants. With the exception of Manaus, which hosts a tax-free industrial zone, and Belém, the biggest metropolitan area of the region, it is fairly unindustrialized and undeveloped. It accommodates most