Brazil, South American Political Geography

Related Category: South American Political Geography

Brazil has the largest population in South America and is the fifth most populous country in the world. The people are also diverse in origin, and Brazil often boasts that the new "race" of Brazilians is a successful amalgam of African, European, and indigenous strains, a claim that is truer in the social than the political or economic realm. Portuguese is the official language, and Spanish, English, and French are also widely spoken. Some 90% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic. Most of the estimated 150,000 indigenous peoples (chiefly of TupI or GuaranI linguistic stock) are found in the rain forests of the Amazon River basin; 12% of Brazil's land has been set aside as indigenous areas. There are more than 50 universities in the country.