Brazil (pronounced locally IPA: [ bɾɐziw ] 8 ) , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( Loudspeaker.svg listen ( help · info ) ) , is the ninth largest country in South America and the Latin American region , and the fifth largest in the world by land area ( equivalent to 47 % of the south American territory ) and one population (over 201 million ) .10 It is the only country where they speak mostly Portuguese in America and the largest lusophone country on the planet , 10 as well as being one of the nations most multicultural and ethnically diverse , as a result of strong immigration from various corners of the world .
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7491 km.10 It is bordered to the north by Venezuela , Guyana , Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; northwest by Colombia ; west by Bolivia and Peru , the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay . Several archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory , such as Fernando de Noronha ( the only inhabited these ) , Atol das Rocas , Archipelago of São Pedro and São Paulo Trindade and Martim Vaz . The country borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.10
Brazil was discovered by Europeans in 1500 , by a Portuguese expedition led by Pedro Alvares Cabral . The current territory of the country , hitherto inhabited by indigenous Amerindians divided in several thousand different ethnic and linguistic groups , from such an event becomes a colony of the Portuguese overseas empire . The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808 , when the capital of the Kingdom was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro , after French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Portugal.11 In 1815 becomes a united kingdom with Portugal . Independence , proclaimed by Dom Pedro I ( the first emperor ) , was in 1822. Initially independent as the Empire period, when it was a parliamentary constitutional monarchy , Brazil became a republic in 1889 , due to a military coup headed by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca ( first president ) , although the bicameral legislature , now called national Congress , dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824.11 its current Constitution , formulated in 1988 , defines Brazil as a federal presidential republic , 9 formed by the union of the Federal District , the 26 States and 5570 municípios.9 12 notes 2
The Brazilian economy is the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere , the seventh largest in the world by GDP nominal14 and the seventh largest by purchasing power parity (PPP ) .3 Economic reforms have given the country new international recognition , either regionally or global.15 16 the country is a founding member of the United Nations ( UN) , G20 , Community of Portuguese Language Countries ( CPLP ) , the Latin Union , the Organization of American States ( OAS ) , the Organization of Ibero-American States ( OEI ) , the Southern Common Market ( Mercosur ) and the Union of South American Nations ( UNASUR ) , besides being one of the BRIC countries . Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, ecosystems and vast natural resources in a variety of protected habitats