Official Name of Brazil
República Federativa do Brasil // Federative Republic of Brazil

Official Language
Portuguese

Capital
Brasília, since 1960. Rio de Janeiro is the former capital.

Official Time in Brasilia
The time now in Brasília is shown at the Brazilian National Observatory's website

Time Difference with the Philippines
The difference in time between Brasília and Manila is normally 11 hours. During some months that difference may be of 10 hours. Brazil has three standard different time zones. Know what time is now in the cities of Rio Branco, Manaus, and Brasilia, each corresponding to a different time zone, in the site of the National Observatory in Brazil. Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have the same time. Some States usually set their watches one hour more during the spring and summer months (October to February)

Population
The Official Census in 2000 indicated that Brazil had almost 170 million inhabitants. An updated estimate of Brazil's present population may be found on the page of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).

Population Growth
The rate of population growth in Brazil presently stands between 1 % and 2 % a year. Some related information may be sought at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations' website.

Land Area of Brazil
8,514,876.599 square kilometers. For more information please go to the page of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE)

Larger Cities (click on the name to know their present populations) :
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Brasília, Curitiba, Recife, Porto Alegre.

States of Brazil
Click here to go see the map of Brazil at the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística's website that will display information on each State.

Maps of Brazil
See here two maps of Brazil by Great Regions and States downloaded from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), or go directly to that site . A large variety of thematic maps may be downloaded from there - understanding Portuguese will help. For road, railway and hydrographic maps go to the page of the Ministry of Transport. Pictures from satellite for weather forecast may be found at the National Institute for Space Research or for agriculture monitoring at EMBRAPA. Please go to the site of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (Ministry of
Science and Technology) for a detailed map of the Legal Amazon.

Geographical Position

Background:

Brazil is situated in South America and has the largest part of its territory in the Southern Hemisphere, between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822 and a republic in 1889. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil overcame more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country when in 1985 the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader.

Location:
                        Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates:
                        100 00’ S, 550 00’ W
Area:
                        Total Area:     8,511,965 sq km
                        Land Area:     8,456,510 sq km
                        Water:             55,455 sq km

Brazil's Bordering Countries
They are Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname, as well as the Department of French Guyana, which are almost all the countries of South America, with the exception of Chile and Ecuador

History
You may see a chronology of Brazilian history in a nutshell if you go to the Brazilian Tourism Portal of the Ministry of Tourism

Government and Political Parties
Government and Political Parties The organization of the Federative Republic of Brazil comprises the Union, the States, the Federal District and the Municipalities. The Powers of the Union are the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Elections are by universal suffrage. The term of office of the President and of the Vice-President is four years. The National Congress is composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

Head of State and Government of Brazil
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Constitution
(official text in Portuguese)

The Brazilian National Flag, the National Anthem and other National Symbols
See pictures and explanations at the site of the Embassy of Brazil in London where you may also listen to the Brazilian National Anthem

National Day
September 7. This is the date in which Brazil achieved Independence in 1822. Brazil was discovered in 1500 and colonized by Portugal until the year 1822. Brazil was a Monarchy up to 1889 and is a Republic since then

The Brazilian Currency is the Real
If you would like to see what the Real bank notes and coins look like click here.

Exchange Rate of the Real Today
You may find it in the Banco Central do Brasil's site

Economic Indicators
Data on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other economic indicators may be downloaded from the site of the Banco Central do Brasil(Central Bank of Brazil, Ministry of Finance)

Climate
Although most of Brazil lies in the tropics, more than 60 percent of the population live in areas which are cooled either by altitude, sea winds or polar fronts. While the coastal cities of Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Salvador can get extremely hot, plateau cities such as São Paulo, Brasília and Belo Horizonte have mild climates, and the southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba have a climate similar to that of southern Europe.

Despite the popular image of the Amazon as a region of blistering heat, temperatures of more than 32°C (90°F) are in fact rare. The annual average temperature in the region is 22-26°C (72-79°F), with not much variation between the warmest and the coldest months. The hottest part of Brazil is the northeast, where temperatures of more than 38°C (100°F) are frequently recorded during the dry season between May and November. Along the Atlantic coast from Recife to Rio de Janeiro, average temperatures range from 23 to 27°C (73-81°F). Inland, on higher ground, temperatures are lower, ranging from 18 to 21°C (64-70°F). South of Rio the seasons are more defined and the range of temperatures significantly wider, with the annual average falling between 17 and 19°C (63-66°F).

Brazil's most intense rain falls around the mouth of the Amazon near the city of Belém, and also in the upper regions of Amazonia where more than 2,000 millimetres (78 inches) of rain fall every year. Most of Brazil has moderate rainfall of between 1,000 and 1,500 millimetres (39 to 59 inches) a year, most of it coming between December and April. The driest part of the country is the northeast, where rainfall is irregular and the evaporation rate very high, making it difficult to grow crops.

Today's temperatures in Brazilian cities (maximum and minimum degrees Celsius)
Please check with the Brazilian National Meteorology Institute

Weather forecasts for some Brazilian cities and satellite image of Brazil
See the charts of temperature, rainfall, cloudiness and other weather information for today and forecasts for the next days in Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian National Meteorology Institute's website or see an updated satellite image of Brazil from the National Institute for Space Research

Indigenous People
Useful information may be found here.

For more information please go to:
Ministry of External Relations, Cultural Department - Brasil in Brief
>> visit website

Ministry of External Relations - Brazil in Focus
>> visit website

Ministry of External Relations, Cultural Department - Brazil Today
>> visit website

Ministry of External Relations, Cultural Department - Publications
>> visit website