- Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world.
- Brazil’s official name is República Federativa do Brasil (Federative Republic of Brazil).
- Brazil has the 2nd highest number of airports in the world, after the U.S.
- Brazil has 19 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- Brazil’s Capital, Brasilia, looks like an aeroplane from above.
- The country of Brazil occupies half of South America’s total landmass.
- 4,600 miles of Brazil’s coastline lies on the Atlantic Ocean.
- Brazil was once ruled by the Portuguese.
- Pedro Álvares Cabral was sailing for India when he landed on the Brazilian coast on April 22, 1500, claiming Brazil for the Portuguese Empire.
- Brazil is the largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nation in the world and the only one in the Americas.
- The Portuguese established sugar plantations in Brazil during the 16th century.
- Brazil shares a border with nine countries – every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.
- The Macaw is the national animal of Brazil.
- The highest point is Pico da Neblina at 2994 meters (9820 feet).
- Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.
- Brazil is the world’s first country to ban tanning beds.
- ‘Rubber’ made Brazil a wealthy nation during the late 18th century.
- It occupies the ninth spot on the list of the most billionaires in the world.
- Brazil is the world’s largest market for crack cocaine.
- Natives of Rio de Janeiro’s city proper are called Cariocas.
- In areas around Brazil and Argentina, the earth’s magnetic field has been found to be weakening, specifically for the last 180 years.
- 92% of all newly sold cars in Brazil use ethanol as fuel, which is produced from sugar cane.
- An island in Brazil called Snake Island has up to 5 snakes per square meter. Civilians are not allowed to visit the island.
- 35% of men from rural Brazil have had sex with an animal, a study found.
- Brazil has the tenth-largest railway and third-largest roadway network in the world.
- The Brazilian national dish is feijoada, a black bean stew with dried, salted, and smoked meat.
- Brazil boasts the largest population of Catholics in the world at 73.6% of its population.
- Brazil once tried to sell an aircraft carrier on eBay.
- The biggest Japanese community outside of Japan is in Brazil.
- Rio de Janeiro means “January River” and it was called that by mistake. A Portuguese explorer thought the bay was the mouth of a river.
- There’s an underground river 4 KM (2.4 mi) beneath the Amazon River in Brazil, that might be as long, but hundreds of times wider.
- When Pele and Garrincha played together, Brazil never lost a game of soccer.
- In every city in Brazil, there is at least one soccer stadium.
- Brazil became the first South American country to accept women into its armed forces, in the 1980s.
- Brazil has 64 national parks and more than 200 conservation units. One of the interesting parks – Lencóis Maranhenses National Park is home to sand dunes that are formed by wind and ocean currents. The dunes can reach heights of 40 meters.
- Brazil produces large quantities of iron ore but also copper, gold and diamonds.
- Brazil is self-sufficient in energy.
- Brazil’s first printing press was set up in 1808.
- There’s a colony in Brazil founded by 2,000 to 4,000 Confederate refugees who left the U.S. after losing the Civil War.
- The name Brazil comes from ‘Brazilwood’ – the name of a tree in Brazil.
- The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914
- ‘Silva’ is the most popular surname in Brazil.
- There is a group of people in Brazil called the Bororo who all have the same blood type: “O.”
- Henry Ford organized his own Amazon rubber plantations in 1927: Fordlândia and Belterra. Both failed due to poor disease control over crops.
- The Brazilian national drink is the caipirinha which is cachaca (sugarcane liquor) mixed inside a glass with sugar, ice, and crushed lime slices.
- Brazil has a city called “Nao-Me-Toque.” It literally means “Don’t Touch Me.”
- About 4 million slaves were taken from Africa to Brazil, about 40% of all in the Americas.
- The Brazilian national drink is the caipirinha which is cachaca (sugarcane liquor) mixed inside a glass with sugar, ice, and crushed lime slices.
- The Brazilian National Championship soccer tournament takes six months to play and has up to 44 competing teams.
- Rio de Janeiro’s beaches have 1.7 million times the disease-causing viruses of what would be considered hazardous on a California beach.
