10 Crazy Facts about Brazil

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Today we explore 10 crazy facts about Brazil you probably didn’t know. B part of BRIC (other letters stand for Russia, China and India), Brazil is one of the world fastest growing economies. It is posed to overtake Germany by 2032. Its current GDP is larger than those of Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico combined, ranking Brazil 7th in the world. Not bad for a country that exist for less than 200 years and have struggled with one of the worst hyperinflation in history just 20 years ago.

Ksenia Ragozina / Shutterstock.com

Ksenia Ragozina / Shutterstock.com

Former Portuguese colony, Brazil is the only country in South America where Spanish isn’t official language, apart from Belize where the official language is English. It is the 5th largest country in the world by both population and area and it takes up 47% of the entire South American continent, where it borders every country, sans Chile and Ecuador.

Brazil is incredibly ethnically diverse country, due to large numbers of immigrants coming to the country in 19th and 20th century. Brazil is the home of some 1.5 million Japanese or nipo-brasileiro, the largest Japanese population outside Japan, so at least some of the 50 crazy facts about Japan can be found in Brazil as well. About 10 million people in Brazil claim Lebanese origin, which is three time the population of Lebanon itself.  Adding to the mix are some 5 million slaves brought to Brazil from Africa. In comparison, only 388,000 were brought to the United States. Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery, in 1888.

Sport is very popular in Brazil, witnessed by two entries on our list being about it.  Football is by far the most popular, followed by motorsport, volleyball and in recent years basketball. Brazil also has its own indigenous sports, like capoeira martial art.

Apart from sports, several other crazy facts on our list are related to Brazil’s amazing geographic features. Let’s find out which.

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