Brazil is a Presidential Federative Republic and the functions of Head of State and Head of Government are accumulated by the President of the Republic. Our currency is the Real, created in 1994, and the official language is Portuguese, introduced in the country during Portuguese colonization.

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, the fifth largest in the world in terms of territorial extension and sixth largest in population, with more than 213 million inhabitants. Despite being remembered and commonly called the country of football and carnival, we are a multiethnic and multicultural country. This is because, throughout our history, the Brazilian population has incorporated the indigenous natives who lived here, the colonizing European people and the African peoples brought in as slaves, as well as immigrants from various countries, such as Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Japanese and Syrian-Lebanese. Even today, in fact, we are considered a welcoming and receptive people and it is not difficult to find foreigners from all over the globe living here.

The Brazilian territory is divided into five geographic regions (North, Northeast, Midwest, South and Southeast) and 26 states and each of them has very rich cultural and culinary characteristics, which confirms the country’s multiculturalism. The Amazon rainforest, the largest tropical forest in the world and famous for its biodiversity, is located in the northern region of Brazil, where the great indigenous reserves are also located. The Pantanal is located, In the MidWestern region, an area that houses one of the largest reserves of biodiversity on the planet. The country has a coastline of 7,367 km and around 2,095 beaches, bathed in the east by the Atlantic Ocean.

In general, the climate in the country is tropical, but it can vary according to each region, being more arid and drier in the Northeast and subtropical, including the possibility of snowing in the South, come winter.

In addition to carnival (which lasts from four to seven days, depending on the region and city), Brazil has other famous festivals, such as the São João, “junina” and “julina” festivals (which take place in June and July), and “quermesses” (so called in the state of São Paulo), including the Festa de São João in Campina Grande, in Paraíba, the largest of its kind in the world, and which receives millions of Brazilian and foreign tourists.

To access more photos from Brazil, visit the Ministry of Tourism album on Flickr and the Ministry of Tourism website.