Brazil is thought to have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years by semi-nomadic populations before the first Portuguese explorers, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, disembarked in 1500. Over the next three centuries, it was resettled by the Portuguese and exploited mainly for brazilwood (Pau-Brasil) at first, followed by sugarcane (Cana-de-Açúcar) agriculture, coffee beans and gold mining. The colony's source of manpower was initially composed of enslaved Amerindians, and after 1550, mainly African. In 1808, Queen Maria I of Portugal and her son and regent, the future João IV of Portugal, fleeing from the armies of Napoleon, relocated to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the royal family, nobility and government. This is the only recorded trans-continental relocation of a royal family.

Though they returned to Portugal in 1821, the interlude led to the opening of commercial ports to the United Kingdom — at the time isolated from most European ports by Napoleon — and to the elevation of Brazil to the status of a united kingdom under the Portuguese Crown. Upon João VI´s departure, the remaining royal government in Rio moved to dissolve the Kingdom of Brazil and return it to the status of colony. This resulted in the small scale conflicts known as the Brazilian War of Independence. On 7 September 1822 Prince regent (later Pedro IV of Portugal) declared independence, establishing the independent Empire of Brazil A treaty recognizing the Empire's independence was signed on 29 August 1825 with Britain and Portugal. As the crown remained in the hands of the House of Bragança, this was more the severance of the Portuguese empire in two, than an independence movement as seen elsewhere in the Americas.

The Brazilian Empire was formally a democracy in the British style, although in practice, the emperor-premier-parliament balance of power more closely resembled the autocratic Austrian Empire. Slavery was abolished in 1888, through the "Golden Law", created by Princess Isabel, and intensive European immigration created the basis for industrialization. Pedro I was succeeded by his son, Pedro II — who in old age was caught by a political dispute between the Army and the Cabinet, a crisis arising from the Paraguay War. In order to avoid a civil war between Army and Navy, Pedro II renounced the throne on 15 November 1889, when a federal republic (officially, the Republic of the United States of Brazil) was established by Field Marshal Deodoro Da Fonseca.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil atached over 5 million European, Arab and japanese immigrants together . That period also saw Brazil industrialise, further colonise, and develop its interior. Brazilian democracy was replaced by dictatorship three times — 1930–1934 and 1937–1945 under Getúlio Vargas, and 1964–1985, under a succession of generals appointed by the military. Since 1985, Brazil has been internationally considered a democracy, specifically a presidential democracy; that status was affirmed in a 1993 plebiscite, in which voters were asked to choose between a presidential or parliamentary system; voters also decided not to restore the country's constitutional monarchy.

Due to the relatively explosive economic and demographic rise of the country in the last century, Brazil's ability to protect its environmental habitats has increasingly come under threat. Extensive logging in the nation's forests, particularly the Amazon, both official and unofficial, destroys areas the size of a small country each year, and potentially a diverse variety of interesting plants and animals.

With abundant Fauna and flora, Brazil is home to many thousands of species, most of them still undiscovered. By 2020, it is estimated that at least 50% of the species resident in Brazil will be eradicated.

As several of these specimens possess special characteristics, or are built in an interesting way, some of their capabilities may be copied for use in technology. The revenues derived from such plans may still hold the key to preserve the country's animal and plant species.

Brazil Pictures