Brazil

Brazil is a country-continent — the world's 5th country by area (8.5 million km², 16 times the size of France) and 5th by population (215 million inhabitants). From equatorial north to the latitude of Argentina in the south, from the Atlantic coast to Amazonian depths, it's a nation of dizzying dimensions condensing on its own much of South America's natural and cultural diversity. 60% of the territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest, the planet's largest green lung, shared with eight neighbouring countries but with Brazil holding the majority share.

History here is singular. Discovered in April 1500 by Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, the country was colonised for three centuries by Portugal — it's the only large Lusophone nation in the Americas. The slave trade deported 4-5 million Africans to Brazilian shores, mainly to the sugar-producing Northeast (Bahia, Pernambuco), creating an exceptionally rich cultural blend. Abolition of slavery came only in 1888 — the last country in the Americas to do so. The capital Brasília was built from scratch on the Central Plateau and inaugurated in 1960 by Juscelino Kubitschek — a modernist masterpiece by Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa, UNESCO-listed in 1987.

Brazil's tourism proposition revolves around five large complementary regions. Rio and the Southeast (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Búzios, Paraty) concentrates most international arrivals — Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Copacabana, world-famous Carnival. The Northeast (Salvador da Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará, Maranhão) offers the authentic Afro-Brazilian soul — UNESCO Pelourinho, capoeira, candomblé, coconut palm beaches. The Brazilian Amazon (Manaus, Belém, Rio Negro lodges) delivers the ultimate ecotourism experience — virgin forest, endemic wildlife, indigenous peoples. The Pantanal (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul) is the world's wildlife-watching paradise — the planet's largest wetland, jaguars, caimans, capybaras, colourful birds. The South (Iguazu, Curitiba, Florianópolis) concentrates the Iguazu Falls (UNESCO 1986), among the world's most impressive.

Brazilian culture is among the world's most vibrant and joyful. Carnival in Rio (4 days between late February and early March) is the planet's largest popular festival — over 2 million people in the streets, samba school parades at the Sambódromo (€5 billion economic impact). Samba, bossa nova (born in Rio in the 1950s), capoeira (Bahia, martial art-dance UNESCO 2014) and football (Pelé, Garrincha, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar — 5 World Cups) are identity pillars. Gastronomy — feijoada (national bean and pork dish), churrasco (southern grills), Amazonian açaí, caipirinha (national cocktail with cachaça) — is rich, generous and accessible.

Brazil in 2026 remains a country on the move, fascinating and contradictory — extreme wealth on Avenida Paulista alongside poverty in Rocinha favelas, Brasília's modernity and preservation of Amazonian indigenous peoples, paradise beaches and major social challenges. For the traveller, it's an unforgettable, intense and culturally dense destination — provided you respect a few elementary urban safety rules.