Brazil

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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world in both area and population. It borders Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the département of French Guiana to the north, Uruguay to the south, Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest, Bolivia and Peru to the west, and Colombia to the northwest. The only South American countries not bordered by Brazil are Ecuador and Chile.

Tropical climate is predominant. In the south of the country, subtropical climate prevails. Brazil is traversed by the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn lines. It is home to varied fauna and flora and extensive natural resources.

Brazil was colonized by Portugal in 1500 and has been a sovereign nation since 1822. The republican system has been adopted since 1889. Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the indissoluble association of the States, the Federal District, and the Municipalities. There are currently 26 States and 5,564 Municipalities.

The Brazilian population tends to concentrate along the coastline in large urban centers. While Brazil has one of the largest populations in the world, population density is low and the inner continental land has large demographical empty spaces. It is a multiracial country composed of European, Amerindian, African and Asian elements, more often found in the same individual than separated into different communities.

Contents 1 Places, projects and networks 2 Comment 2007 3 Topic links 3.1 Cycling 3.2 Food 3.3 Participatory budgeting 4 Related topics 5 References

[edit] Places, projects and networks

• Curitiba
• Porto Alegre

[edit] Comment 2007

• The only way to save the rainforest is to save the Indians, by recognising their land rights, says Brazilian shaman. October 10 ^[1] "...you want to buy pieces of rainforest, or to plant biofuels. These are useless. The forest cannot be bought; it is our life and we have always protected it. Without the forest, there is only sickness, and without us, it is dead land. The time has come for you to start listening to us. Give us back our lands and our health before it’s too late for us and too late for you." Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, winner of the UN Global 500 award, who is traveling to London and Germany, to launch a report by Survival about the crisis in indigenous peoples’ health. Research from Survival shows that more than 162 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest - over 15,000 times more rainforest than is involved in the Cool Earth scheme - have already been secured – through their protection as indigenous territories. Research by Brazilian and USA scientists shows that the most effective way to stop logging in the Amazon is to protect Indian lands, which occupy one fifth of the Brazilian Amazon. But the lands of many tribes remain unprotected. topic

[edit] Topic links

The headings in this section provide links to some of the topics in the Ideas Bank. Click on the Ideas Bank link, or the category listing to see a full list of topics.

[edit] Cycling

• Information on Critical Mass bicycle rides in Brazil at Critical Mass Wikia.

[edit] Food

• Information on Solar cooking resources in Brazil at Solar Cooking Wikia.

[edit] Participatory budgeting

• [1] - PB in Brazil

[edit] Related topics

• Environment of Brazil
• Social issues in Brazil

[edit] References

1. ↑ Survival International, October 10

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Brazil. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Sustainable Community Action wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.