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Brazil in ten points…

Since I leave for Brazil tomorrow, I thought it only fit to leave a few details on this country, in order to whet your appetites and arouse your interest. I think that there is a lot to be said about travelling and visiting other countries. One can learn a lot about other cultures, other languages, and get to see for oneself what the country looks like instead of living through descriptions and pictures. I think it is very fulfilling to go and experience life in another country. Brazil has a lot to be discovered and seen, and in my opinion is definitely worth going to visit. So in order to tell you a bit about this country, here are 10 brief facts about it.

1) It is the largest country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world. It spans 3 time zones and has a coastline of over 7491 km

2) It is the only portuguese speaking country in Latin America, owing to its history as a colony of Portugal until 1822

3) Capoeira is the second “national sport” after football. Capoeira originated amongst the African slaves and has strong african roots, in its music and its culture.

4) Rio Carnival is famous throughout the world and is also the biggest carnival in the world. (or at least according to Forbes)

5) Famous Brazilians include: Seu Jorge, Ivete Sangalo, Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen, Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, Chico Buarque, Elis Regina, Pelé, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and many more…

6) Brazil’s current president is Luis Inacio da Silva, also know as Lula. He has been president since 2002 though he had previously run for president in 1989 against Fernando Collor, who was later found out to have been involved in many political and financial scandals

7) Brazil has a very diverse wildlife, and is home to the Amazon tropical rainforest. Some of the interesting species that can be seen in Brazil include pumas, jaguars, ocelots, and piranhas.

8 ) In terms of political organisation, Brazil is a federal state, and is a democratic republic with a directly elected president. The president is elected for a four year term.

9) Brazil has a very diverse set of people and ethnic groups within it. It has white immigrants, african immigrants, portuguese immigrants, and japanese immigrants. There are also the indigenous Amerindian Brazilians who lived in Brazil way before all the aforementioned immigrants arrived.  All of these have made up its population as it is today, causing it to be very diverse. Therefore there is no set type of Brazilian person

10) The most known/well exported Brazilian drink is the caipirinha: a mixture of cachaça, sugar, and lime. A typical Brazilian dish is the feijoada: a bean based dish. Another typical drink from Brazil is the Guarana: a type of soda.

I hope that this will encourage you to go and find out more about Brazil, even though this is not the most intellectual article so far… Whilst I am away I will be writing a travel blog, available on http://umafrancesanobrazil.blogspot.com and Jonathan Picard will be keeping this blog up to date. Thanks for reading