In April 1500, the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral reached the coast of Brazil and formally claimed the region in the name of Portugal.

In 1555 the French founded a colony on the shores of Rio de Janeiro Bay, the France Antarctique, soon destroyed by the Portugueses who established on its site the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Dutch also established themselves in Brazil, around Recife in the 1630s.

Exploited for brazilwood, sugarcane and gold, it was a colony of Portugal from 16th to the 18th centuries.

Salvador is Brazil's was the country's capital until 1763.
On 7 September 1822, Brazil declares its independence from Portugal. In the late 19th the country attracted over 5 million European, Arab and Japanese immigrants.

The country was under dictatorship during three periods : 1930-1934, 1937-1945, and 1964-1985.

Getulio D. Vargas / TIME Cover: August 12, 1940, Art Poster by TIME Magazine	Juscelino Kubitschek / TIME Cover: February 13, 1956, Art Poster by TIME Magazine

Brazil is today South America's largest economy.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became President in 2002.