196,342,592 (2008)

8,456,510 sq. km.

Brasilia (pop. 1,800,000; 2005)

In 2006, Brasil ranked 63rd in the UNDP Human Development Index and 10th in total GDP, with a per capita GDP of $5,659.74. Public debt accounts for 45.1 percent of total GDP, while 31 percent of Brasilians are beneath the poverty line.

Portuguese

O Macaco (Oh Ma-kah-koo)

In contrast to the revolutionary campaigns its colonial neighbors waged to boot the Spanish Crown, Brasil won independence though more peculiar means. As Napoleon’s French armies advanced on Portugal, King João VI opted to head for more secure surroundings, setting up the Portuguese Empire’s new capital in Rio de Janeiro. When João returned to Portugal 12 years later to defend his rule there, he left his son Pedro I as Regent of Brasil. In 1822 when the Portuguese Crown refocused its attention on colonial control of Brasil, Pedro I declared Brasil independent and himself Emperor of Brasil. This “Empire of Brasil” would last, under Pedro I and his son, Pedro II, until a republic was declared in 1889.