Country Profiles: Brazil

Brazil is located in South America. Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822, after three centuries of Portuguese rule. With an area of 8,514,877 sq km, it is slightly smaller than the entire U.S.

Brazil shares a border with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It is mostly flat to rolling lowlands in the north with some plains, hills, mountains, and a narrow coastal belt.

People who live in Brazil are called Brazilians, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2012, there are 199,321,413 people in Brazil. The ethnic groups that reside in Brazil are mostly white (53.7%) with some mulatto (mixed black and white, 38.5%) and black (6.2%). Several languages are spoken there (such as Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, and English), but Portuguese is the official (and most widely spoken) language. Roman Catholics make up approximately 73.6% of the population, while Protestants make up an additional 15.4%.

The country's official name is Federative Republic of Brazil. The capital is Brasilia, and the country is made up of 26 states and 1 federal district. Though Brazil gained independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822, a constitution was not drafted until October 1988. The constitution can be found here through here. The currency is the reals(abbreviated BRL), which stands at 1.6728 BRL per USD as of 2011.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Brazil Government Site

Brazil, CIA World Factbook

U.S. Relations with Brazil, U.S. Department of State

2011 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Brazil, U.S. Department of State.

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.




Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science

Country Profiles: Bouvet Island

Bouvet Island is located in Antarctica. A territory of Norway, this uninhabited, volcanic island is almost entirely covered in glaciers. Discovered in 1739 by the French naval officer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, Bouvet was not actually claimed until 1825, when the UK raised their flag over it. The UK waived its claim in 1928, in favor of Norway. In 1971, it was designated a nature reserve. With an area of 49 sq km, it is about a third of the size of Washington, D.C.

Bouvet Island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is mostly volcanic, and the coast is mostly inaccessible.

Bouvet Island is completely uninhabited. As a nature reserve, it does not have any of the usual aspects of other countries, such as a constitution, capital, currency, etc. It also uses the Norway flag.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Bouvet Island, CIA World Factbook

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.




Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research
Planning and Urban Studies
Political Science