BRAZIL



Brazil 1232
Photo by: Celso Diniz

Federative Republic of Brazil

República Federativa do Brasil

CAPITAL : Brasília

FLAG : The national flag consists of a green field upon which is a large yellow diamond twice as wide as it is high. Centered within the diamond is a blue globe showing constellations of the southern skies dominated by the Southern Cross. Encircling the globe is a white banner bearing the words Ordem e Progresso.

ANTHEM : Hino Nacional Brasileiro, beginning "Ouviram do Ipiranga" ("Listen to the cry of Ipiranga").

MONETARY UNIT : On 1 July 1994, the real ( R $), a paper currency of 100 centavos, replaced the cruzeiro real ( CR $) at the rate of R $1: CR $2,750. R $1 = US $0.3333 (or US $1 = R $3.0) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : The metric system is the legal standard, but some local units also are used.

HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; Tiradentes, 21 April; Labor Day, 1 May; Independence Day, 7 September; Our Lady of Aparecida (Patroness of Brazil), 12 October; All Souls' Day, 2 November; Proclamation of the Republic, 15 November; Christmas, 25 December. Movable holidays include the pre-Lenten carnival, usually in February, Good Friday, and Corpus Christi.

TIME : At noon GMT, the time in Fernando de Noronha is 10 AM ; Rio de Janeiro, 9 AM ; Manaus, 8 AM ; Rio Branco, 7 AM .


LANGUAGES

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese, which is spoken by virtually all inhabitants except some isolated Indian groups. Substantial variations in pronunciation and word meaning, however, distinguish it from the language as it is spoken in Portugal. Spanish is also spoken. A large percentage of the educated have learned either French or English. German, Italian, and Japanese are used in immigrant communities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baaklini, Abdo I. The Brazilian Legislature and Political System. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1992.

Becker, Bertha K. Brazil: A New Regional Power in the World-economy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Besse, Susan K. Restructuring Patriarchy: The Modernization of Gender Inequality in Brazil, 1914–1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

Burns, E. Bradford. A History of Brazil , 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Garretón, Manuel Antonio, and Edward Newman, eds. Democracy in Latin America: (Re)constructing Political Society. New York: United Nations University Press, 2001.

Graham, Richard (ed.). Brazil and the World System. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.

Hartness, Ann. Brazil in Reference Books, 1965–1989: An Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991.

Health in the Americas, 2002 edition. Washington, D.C.: Pan American Health Organization, Pan American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office of the World Health Organization, 2002.

Herndon, William Lewis. Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, 1851–1852. New York: Grove Press, 2000.

Kinzo, Maria D'Alva G. (ed.). Brazil: The Challenges of the 1990s. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Levine, Robert M. Brazilian Legacies. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1997.

Macdonald, Norman P. The Making of Brazil: Portuguese Roots 1500–1822. Sussex, England: Book Guild, 1996.

Mahar, Dennis J. Government Policies and Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon Region. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1989.

McElrath, Karen (ed.). HIV and AIDS: A Global View, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Meade, Teresa A. A Brief History of Brazil. New York: Facts On File, 2003.

Page, Joseph A. The Brazilians. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1995.

Parkin, Vincent. Chronic Inflation in an Industrialising Economy: the Brazilian Experience. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Payne, Leigh A. Brazilian Industrialists and Democratic Change. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

Roett, Riordan. Brazil: Politics in a Patrimonial Society. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1992.

Smith, Joseph. History of Brazil, 1500–2000: Politics, Economy, Society, Diplomacy. New York: Longman, 2002.

Vincent, Jon S. Culture and Customs of Brazil. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.

Williams, Daryle. Culture Wars in Brazil: The First Vargas Regime, 1930–1945. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2001.

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