Brazil
The largest country in South America, Brazil takes up about half of the continent. It is one of the world’s largest and most economically important countries. It is also filled with some of the greatest natural treasures on Earth. In particular, the Amazon River basin, including the Amazon rainforest, is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of plant and animal life. The Iguazú Falls in the south constitute one of the country’s most famous natural wonders. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in South America. While language distinguishes it from its neighbours, however, the country has much in common historically and culturally with the rest of the region. The capital is Brasília.
Brazil’s population is a mix of several different ethnic groups. These include descendants of the original Indians, the Portuguese who colonised the region beginning in the 1500s, and the Africans whom the Portuguese brought as slaves to work their plantations and mines. Starting in the mid-1800s, thousands of European settlers from Italy, Germany and parts of eastern Europe began to move to the country.