Chapter 14: Educating Young Adolescents in Brazil

Brazil is a country in South America and occupies the central-west part of the continent. It is considered to be the fifth largest country in the world in terms of its geographical area (8,511,996 km²). According to a study by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE, 2000)—[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]—the country has 189,335,187 inhabitants and a population density of 22 inhabitants/km². Portuguese is its official language. There is religious freedom in Brazil. The vast majority of the population is Catholic; however, other religions coexist harmoniously, such as Protestantism, Spiritism, Islam, and Judaism.

The Brazilian economy is the eighth largest in the world and the largest in South America. The country is part of the G-20, a group of countries with emerging economies. In 2005, its Human Development Index—HDI (Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento [PNUD], 2005) was 0.800, and thus became part of the group of countries with High Human Development.