President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003)
Land area: 3,265,059 sq mi (8,456,511 sq km); total area: 3,286,470 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 198,739,269 (growth rate: 1.2%);
Capital (2003 est.): Brasília, 2,160,100
Largest cities: São Paulo, 18,333,000 (metro. area), 10,927,985 (city proper); Rio de Janeiro, 11,469,000 (metro. area), 6,094,183 (city proper); Salvador, 2,590,400; Belo Horizonte, 2,347,500; Recife, 1,485,500; Porto Alegre, 1,372,700
Monetary unit: Real
Officially the Federative Republic of Brazil
Brazil is the largest country and the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America. Brazil was a Portuguese colony from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815 when it became a united kingdom with Portugal. In 1822 the country became independent as the Brazilian Empire, but has been a republic since 1889, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824.