- published: 11 Nov 2015
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Coordinates: 10°S 52°W / 10°S 52°W / -10; -52
Brazil (i/brÉ™Ë?zɪl/; Portuguese: Brasil [bɾaË?ziw] ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen ), is the largest sovereign state in both South America and the Latin American region. It is the world's fifth-largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, and the only one in the Americas.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491Â km (4,655Â mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and occupies 47.3 percent of the continent of South America. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.
Christina MarÃa Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. In the early 1990s, she appeared on television series Star Search and The Mickey Mouse Club. In 1998, Aguilera signed with RCA Records and recorded her self-titled debut album, which was released in 1999. The album was a commercial success in the United States, spawning three U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)", and helped Aguilera win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. In 2000, RCA released Aguilera's Spanish-language album Mi Reflejo and holiday-theme album My Kind of Christmas. Her 2002 fourth studio album, Stripped, ventured into various genres including hip hop, Latin, and rock, and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for its second single "Beautiful".
Aguilera's 2006 fifth studio album, Back to Basics, was inspired by blues, soul, and jazz music of the 1920s-40s. The album peaked at number one on record charts of thirteen countries and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for its first single "Ain't No Other Man". In 2010, RCA released Aguilera's electronic-influenced album, Bionic, which failed to match the success of her previous albums; later that year, she starred in the film Burlesque. The following year, Aguilera was featured on Maroon 5's top-ten single "Moves like Jagger" and became an original coach on the U.S. television series The Voice, having since appeared on five of its nine seasons. Her 2012 seventh studio album, Lotus, became the lowest-selling album of her career. However, she later experienced rehabilitated commercial success in 2013, being featured on the top-ten singles "Feel This Moment" and "Say Something", which won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.