WHY BRAZIL

The country hosting the PPTR 2012 is one of the mostly interbred nations in the planet that in over 500 years of history has guaranteed its unity reconciling diversity and tolerance.

With a territory of 8.5 million squared kilometers, occupying almost half (47%) of the area of South America , Brazil possesses 20% of the world's biodiversity. An example of such richness is the Amazon Forest , with 3.6 million squared kilometers. Brazil is the 5 th most populated country in the world, with about 180 million inhabitants, and its population is mostly concentrated in urban and coastal areas.

The country is an example of a consolidated democracy, with a presidential governmental regime, and is presently divided into 26 states, one Federal District and 5.563 cities. The capital since 1960 is Brasília, a planned city in the central west region built especially to be the Seat of the Government.

Brazil occupies the position of 7th greatest world economy. With its wide production and technological sophistication, the country maintains commercial relationships with over one hundred other countries and its economy is responsible for three fifths of the continent's industrial activity. One of the most dynamic sectors in this exchange is agribusiness, which maintains the country for two decades now as one of most productive countries in the countryside. In 2006, Brazil reached self-sufficiency in petroleum and remains a pioneer in research and oil and gas extraction from deep waters.

Portuguese colonization, marked by intense African immigration, influences to this day the nation's religious habits. The mainly Christian population, Catholic in its majority, concentrates, in some regions, a strong religious syncretism which manifests itself in many rites and popular festivities.

Brazil projects itself internationally also for the ability in sports, notoriously soccer - the true national passion - and by the beauty and warmth of its people. Carnaval, soap operas, craftworks and natural beauties complete the profile of a country that has built its identity being the land of the immigrants and their descendants!