Countries of the World
Bem vindo in Brazil !




Ola ! Bem vindo ! Welcome !
My name is Lucile, I am 15 years old and I am French. This time, I really change of continent !
It's the country of the Samba and the happiness : Brazil !
Like in all my blogs, I will present you Brazil but you will also see the problems that this country meets...




Brazil is located in South America, near Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana. It is the biggest country of South America.
Its capital is Brasilia and not Rio de Janeiro like many people think. But Sao Paulo is the city the most populated in Brazil.
Its area is 8 557 000 km² for a population of 186 432 000 inhabitants.




This is the flag of Brazil and you can hear the national anthem here.


Ouviram do Ipiranga às margens plácidas
De um povo heróico o brado retumbante
E o sol da liberdade, em raios fúlgidos
Brilhou no céu da Pátria nesse instante.

Se o penhor dessa igualdade
Conseguimos conquistar com braço forte
Em teu seio ó liberdade
Desafia o nosso peito a própria morte !

Ó Pátria amada
Idolatrada
Salve ! Salve !

Brasil de um sonho intenso, um raio vívido,
De amor e de esperança à terra desce
Se em teu formoso céu risonho e límpido
A imagem do Cruzeiro resplandece

Gigante pela própria natureza
És belo, és forte, impávido colosso
E o teu futuro espelha essa grandeza

Terra adorada !
Entre outras mil
És tu, Brasil
Ó Pátria amada

Dos filhos deste solo és mãe gentil
Pátria amada
Brasil !
Deitado eternamente em berço esplêndido
ao som do mar e à luz do céu profundo
Fulguras, ó Brasil, florão da América
Iluminado ao sol do Novo Mundo !

Do que a terra mais garrida
Teus risonhos lindos campos tem mais flores
Nossos bosques tem mais vida
Nossa vida no teu seio mais amores

Ó Pátria amada
Idolatrada
Salve ! Salve !

Brasil, de amor eterno seja símbolo
O lábaro que ostentas estrelado,
E diga o verde-louro dessa flâmula

Mas se ergues da justiça a clava forte
Verás que um filho teu não foge à luta
Nem teme, quem te adora, a própria morte

Terra adorada !
Entre outras mil
És tu, Brasil
Ó Pátria amada

Dos filhos deste solo és mãe gentil
Pátria amada Brasil !


Before to have its independence ( September 7th 1822 ), Brazil was colonized by Portuguese whereas all the other countries of South America were colonized by Spaniards. Then, Portuguese is the national language of Brazil.
It's easier to learn for people who already speak a Romance language ( Spanish, Italian, French ). If you want to learn it, go on these sites :
here.
here.
here.
here.
or here.




The Brazilian currency is the Real.
1 real = 100 centavos


Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the current President of Brazil, and a founding member of the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores). Lula was elected to the post in October 27, 2002 with 61% of the votes (run-off), and took office on January 1, 2003. He was elected on the same ticket as his vice-president, José Alencar. On October 29, 2006, Lula was re-elected with more than 60% of the votes, extending his position as President until January 1, 2011.


Tabebuia is a neotropical genus of about 100 species in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. The species range from northern Mexico and the Antilles south to northern Argentina, including the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Cuba. Well-known common names include Ipê, Poui, trumpet trees and pau d'arco. This is the national flower of Brazil.




The principal religion in Brazil is Catholicism.




Discover Brazilian music with the songs that I found :
1-here.
2-here.
3-here.
4-here.
5-here.
6-here.
7-here.
8-here.
9-here.
The monuments :




The Quinta da Boa Vista ( or the Park of the Nive View ) :

It's an important park located in Rio de Janeiro. During the 19th century, it became the residence of the Emperors.
Today, its buildings are at the National museum with collections on natural history, ethnology and archaeology. It is also a Zoological Garden of Rio de Janeiro, with over 2000 species of animals.
The Quinta da Boa Vista is a very popular attraction for locals and also tourists. The fact that the North zone of Rio de Janeiro, where the Quinta is located, has very few public parks only contributes to its popularity. The main attractions are the park itself, with its green areas, centenary trees and lakes, as well as the National Museum and the Zoological Garden.


This monument ( called the Cristo Redentor ) is the symbol of Brazil, especially of Rio de Janeiro ( exactly of the Corcovado mountain ) where it is located.
It represents a statue of the Christ, a little like the Liberty Statue at the enter of New York City ( United Sates of America ).
The statue stands 39.6 metres tall and weighs 700 tons.




Copacabana is a borough located in the southern zone of the city Rio de Janeiro, famous for its 4 km beach.

The district was originally called Sacopenapã until the mid-18th century. It was renamed after the construction of a chapel holding a replica of the Virgin of Copacabana, the patron saint of Bolivia. It was incorporated into the city on July 6, 1892.

Copacabana begins at Princesa Isabel Avenue and ends at Posto Seis (lifeguard watchtower Six) near the Forte de Copacabana (Fort Copacabana). Beyond Copacabana, there is the small Arpoador beach, followed by the famous borough of Ipanema.

According to Riotur, the Tourism Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro, there are 63 hotels and 10 hostels in Copacabana.


Iguaçu Falls :

Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu.

Their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y and ûasú. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls in the Argentine side is named. The falls were rediscovered by Boselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentinian falls is named after him.




The Brazilian Carnival is an annual festival in Brazil held 40 days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. The carnival, celebrated as a profane event and believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnalia, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh.Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a Portuguese festivity called "entrudo".


Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school in 1999.==Rio de Janeiro== is a bum Modern Brazilian Carnival finds its roots in Rio de Janeiro in the 1845, when the city's bourgeoisie imported the practice of holding balls and masquerade parties from Paris. It originally mimicked the European form of the festival, over time acquiring elements derived from Native American and African cultures.

In the late 19th century, the cordões (literally laces or strings in Portuguese) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were groups of people who would parade through the streets playing music and dancing. Today they are known as blocos (blocks), consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or specials t-shirts according to certain themes or to celebrate the Carnival. Blocos are generally associated with particular neighbourhoods or suburbs and include both a percussion or music group and an entourage of revellers.

This "blocos" have become a big part of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival. There are more than 100 "blocos" nowadays and each year this number increases. Some are big, some are small, most concentrate in square and later parade though the streets and a few stay in the same place all the time. Each "bloco" has its place or street to parade and the big ones usually close the streets for car traffic. They usually start in January and last till the end of Carnival, so since the beginning of the year you can see a group of people dancing samba in any street of Rio in the weekends and during Carnival every day.

"Blocos" parade in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico, and in the centre of Rio. Usually the people who organize the "bloco" write their own music, which is played at all time during the parade, along with old carnival favourites called in Portuguese "Marchinhas de carnaval", and sambas that have become classics. Some important "blocos" are "O cordão do bola preta", that goes through the heart of Rio's historical center, and "Suvaco do Cristo" (Christ's armpit in Portuguese), in the neighbourhood, near Rio's Botanic Garden. Monobloco is another bloco that has become so famous that their band plays all year round in parties and small concerts.


Samba schools are very large, well-financed organizations that work year round in preparation for Carnival. Parading in the Sambadrome runs over four entire nights and is part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single samba school will be declared that year's winner. Blocos deriving from the samba schools also hold street parties in their respective suburbs, through which they parade along with their followers.


The Pantanal is the world’s largest area of wetlands, a flat landscape, with gently sloping and meandering rivers. The region, whose name derives from the Portuguese word “pântano” (meaning “swamp” or “marsh” ), is situated in South America, mostly within the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. There are also small portions in Bolivia and Paraguay. In total, the Pantanal covers about 195 000 square kilometers (75,000 sq mi).

The Pantanal floods during the wet season, submerging over 80% of the area, and nurturing the world's richest collection of aquatic plants. It is thought to be the world’s most dense flora and fauna ecosystem. It is often overshadowed by the Amazon Rainforest, partly because of its proximity, but is just as vital and interesting a part of the neotropic.




The Amazon River or River Amazon of South America is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top ten largest rivers flowing into the ocean combined.

The Amazon River accounts for approximately 1/5 of the world's total river flow, and it has the largest drainage basin in the world. There is an ongoing dispute regarding its length, and along with the Nile it is one of the contenders for the position as the longest river in the world. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea (o rio-mar in Portuguese), and at no point is it crossed by bridges. In 1500, Vicente Yañez Pinzón was the first European to sail into the river. Pinzón called the river flow "Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce", later shortened to "Mar Dulce" (sweet sea).




Important problems in Brazil :

Is Brazil a rich country ? Not really...even though Brazil wants to be a developped country, it's still a poor country. Why ?

First, I can say that 30% of the Brazilian population is poor and 50% of the population is not poor but not rich.
The poors live in "Favelas" ( which means shanty towns in Portuguese language ). And many illnesses are developped.
Problems with "El Nino" ( and "La Nina" ). It'll be a great problem in the future years.
Deforestation in the Amazon. Many types of plants and animals'll be lost.


Thanks very much to have visited my blog !

You can discover other countries with my other blogs about India ( blog of the month on September 2007 ),
about Sudan,
about Korea ( blog of the month on February 2007 ), about Sri Lanka ( blog of the month on October 2006 ),
about China ( blog of the month on July 2007 ),
about Vietnam ( blog of the month on April 2007 ), about Japan ( blog of the month on May 2007 ),
about Tanzania
or about France


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Bem vindo in Brazil ! (Countries of the World)    -    Author : Lucile (France) - Brazil


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