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Brazil's national bird is the Rufous-bellied thrush. The songbird with its characteristic orange belly was named a Brazilian national symbol in 2002.

▲Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world, and with some 210 million inhabitants, it occupies 47% of the South American continent, an area covering nearly 3.2 million sq miles (8.5 million sq km)..

▲Did you know that Rio was the capital of Portugal from 1808 to 1821? When Napoleon invaded Portugal, its royal family fled to Brazil and established Rio as the empire's capital, making it the only European capital in history located outside of Europe.

▲The statue of Christ the Redeemer weighs 635 tons (635,000 kg) and was considered one of the seven wonders of the world in 2007.

▲Voting isn't just a right in Brazil, it's compulsory.

▲With a record five world titles and as the only country to have qualified for all FIFA World Cups, it's clear the beautiful game is not so much a sport and more of a religion to most Brazilians.

▲According to TripAdvisor, Baia do Sancho, in the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, is the best beach in the world. The beaches of the 21 islands in this region attract millions of tourists every year.

▲Since 2008, Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that reimburses the costs of gender-reassignment surgery through its national health system.

▲Brazil has a total of 2,498 airports within its borders, making it the second country in the world with the most airports within its borders, after the United States.

▲Like in Portugal, the most common surname in Brazil is Silva.

▲The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. The country has the largest Portuguese-speaking population in the world.

▲Before the arrival of the Portuguese, more than 1,000 languages were spoken in Brazil. Only 180 of them have survived to this day. Out of those surviving languages, only 11 are spoken by more than 5,000 people.

▲Brazil has been the world's largest coffee producer for more than 150 years.

▲Brazil is the country with the largest number of Catholics in the world: 123 million.

▲The Amazon rainforest has the greatest biodiversity on the planet.

▲São Paulo has the largest communities of Portuguese, Japanese, Italians, and Lebanese people outside of their respective countries.

▲In 2016, Brazil became the first ever South American country to host the Olympics.

▲Sixty percent of the Amazon rainforest is located on Brazilian territory. It extends partly into Peru, Colombia, and areas of Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guiana.

▲These days Neymar is Brazil's most talked-about footballer, but Pelé remains the country's most famous footballer ever. The three-time World Cup winner is considered by many to be the best footballer of all time!

▲Brazil shares borders with all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador.

▲Brazil was a Portuguese colony for more than 300 years. The country gained its independence in 1822.

▲Brazil is a federal republic consisting of 26 states and 5,579 municipalities.

▲The capital of Brazil is Brasília, which was built in 1960. Before that, Rio de Janeiro had been the capital for 197 years.

▲Thirteen Brazilian cities have more than one million inhabitants.

▲In addition to being Brazil's most populous city, São Paulo is considered to be the helicopter capital of the world, with a fleet of more than 410 flying every day.

▲According to data from the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think-tank, the country is home to 25 of the world's 50 most dangerous cities.

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São Vicente in the state of São Paulo is the oldest city in Brazil and was founded in 1532. It was the first place the Portuguese settled after arriving on the American continent.

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Members of the Bororo tribe all share the same blood type, type O.

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The middle line in the Milton Corrêa football stadium in Macapá is commonly believed to be perfectly aligned with the equator. This would mean that each opposing side is positioned on different hemispheres.

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Brazil is the first country in the world to have banned tanning booths.

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It is estimated that about 1.5 million Japanese descendants live in Brazil.

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Did you know that Brazil has won five FIFA World Cup titles, making it the world's most successful footballing nation? Or that samba, one of the most popular Brazilian musical genres, was invented in the 1800s? Even today, this immense country remains a mysterious land of dreams.

Click through the following gallery to learn more about the vast, diverse, and fascinating country.