- published: 05 Aug 2015
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Studies of race in Brazil are often brought up as examples showing that the concept of "race" is a social construct, and that what is understood as "race" in one society is not the same that is understood as such in another.
Brazilian society is made up of a confluence of people of several different origins, from the original Native Americans, with the influx of Portuguese colonizers,Black African slaves, and recent European,Arab and Japanese immigration. Other significant groups include Koreans, Chinese, Paraguayans and Bolivians.[citation needed]
In the 19th and 20th century Brazilian culture has promoted racial integration and mixing. However, race relations in Brazil have not been without turbulence, especially in relation to the disadvantageous role of Black and Native Brazilians, groups severely exploited in the country's colonial past that tend to occupy least prestigious positions in modern society.
The Brazilian population was formed by the influx of Portuguese settlers and African, mostly Bantu and West African populations(such as the Yoruba, Ewe, and Fanti-Ashanti) slaves into a territory originally inhabited by various indigenous populations, mainly Tupi, Guarani and Ge In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in what is known as Great Immigration, new groups arrived, mainly of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and German origin, but also from Japan, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
Brazil i/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.