Brazil, officially known as the Federative Republic of Brazil (In Portuguese, República Federativa do Brasil), is a federal presidential republic located in South America and made up of 26 federal states and a federal district, which are further divided into 5565 municipalities. The country is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, to the direct south by Uruguay, the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay, to the west by Bolivia and Peru, and finally in the northwest by Colombia. The only South American countries that do not have a border with Brazil are Chile and Ecuador. The Atlantic Ocean stretches along Brazil’s eastern and southern coasts. Besides the mainland, Brazil also has some major groups of islands in the Atlantic Ocean as the rocks of São Pedro and São Paulo, Fernando de Noronha, Trindade and Martim Vaz, the Holy Spirit, and a complex small islands and coral called Atol das Rocas. The name “Brazil” is derived from the colony’s first export, “Brazil wood,” which is used in the dyeing of fabrics.

8,514,876,599 square kilometers of land area, equivalent to 47% of the entire continent of South America, and with over 190 million inhabitants, Brazil is the fifth largest country in land area as well as population in the world. Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in the Americas, though many people also speak Spanish, German, and to a lesser extent, other European and indigenous languages. It is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse countries in the world. It is the ninth largest economy in purchasing power parity (2008), the eighth largest in nominal GDP (2009), and largest Latin American economy. Brazil today has a strong presence in the world, both regionally and globally. In 2005, it was in the 39th position among countries in terms of quality of life in the world. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, Mercosur, the CPLP, the Union of South-American and is one of the BRIC countries, along with Russia, India, and China.

Brazil was the principal colony of the Portuguese Empire from the landing of Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it became united with the Kingdom of Portugal. However, just seven years later in 1822, the country declared its independence, creating the Empire of Brazil. In 1889 the monarchy was abolished, making Brazil a Federal Republic with what has currently evolved into a bicameral legislature, or Congress. Since the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic in 1889, Brazil has been governed by three branches (except during the times when the country was ruled by a dictatorship)which are the judiciary, legislature and executive, in which the head of the latter, the President, is elected every four years by popular vote.

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