13 Lesser-Known Historical Facts about Brazil:
1. The indigenous Tupi-Guarani people inhabited Brazil long before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500.
2. The Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral is credited with discovering Brazil for Europe.
3. The Amazon Rainforest, covering much of northern Brazil, is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.
4. The city of Salvador was Brazil's first capital and a major port for the Atlantic
slave trade.
5. The Brazilian Gold Rush in the 18th century attracted thousands of Portuguese settlers.
6. Brazil declared independence from Portugal in 1822, with Pedro I becoming the first emperor.
7. The abolition of slavery in Brazil occurred in 1888, making it the last country in the Americas to do so.
8. The construction of Brasília, the modernist capital, began in 1956 and was
completed in 1960.
9. The Carnival of Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest and most famous festivals in the world.
10. The Iguazu Falls, located on the border of Brazil and Argentina, is one of the largest waterfall systems globally.
11. The Brazilian football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, more than any other country.
12. The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, completed in 1931, is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
13. The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided the New World between Spain and Portugal, affecting Brazil's boundaries.
