random fun facts about brazil!
after gaining "independence" from portugal in 1822, the ruling portuguese prince nominated himself emperor and made us an 'empire' before we ever became a republic
the current president, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (from the Partido dos Trabalhadores, workers' party, our left-wing party) was elected in 2022, and the next presidential elections are actually later this year!
brazil holds five victories at the FIFA Football World Cup since 2002 and is the only country to have as many
we have 26 states + one federal district, Brasília, which is the country's capital
slavery was abolished on May, 13 of 1888, and the event is usually attributed to Princess Isabel signing the Lei Áurea out of the kindness of her heart, but it actually was a result of the abolishment movement that had been going on for years and of international pressures
speaking of international pressures, did you know that in 1964, we underwent a military dictadorship that lasted until 1985 and was backed up by the US?
another not so fun a fact, abortion is illegal here with a penalty of up to 3 years in jail for performing one on yourself or consenting for someone else to do it
neutral pronoun usage in official documents/speeches by government entities directed at the general population was also made illegal this year
on the brighter side, gay marriage was made legal in 2011, and refusing to acknowledge legal recognition to gay couples was made illegal in 2013 (same source)
simone de beauvoir has visited us before! she passed by the then-in-construction capital of Brasília in 1960 and she fucking hated the city lmao
due to the criminalization of african spirituality and religion during the slavery period, lots of black folks disguised their talk of certain entities as catholic saints instead. for example, St. George (São Jorge in Brazil) was used as a disguise for Ogum (or Ogun, yoruba orisha), and the association still pertains to this day
you can ingress a public university for free if you have a passing grade in the ENEM, the "national exam of high school" (exame nacional do ensino médio, in portuguese). it is a two-day test with each day being one week apart on a sunday every year, held on the entire country, and consists of 180 questions pertaining to the areas of Humanities, Languages, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, as well as requiring undertakers to write a strictly-structured 7 to 30-long essay discussing the theme elected by the exam comittee. last year, the ENEM essay theme was "perspectives pertaining the aging of the brazilian population", and in the year before, it was "challenges to the valorization of african heritage in brazil". this year's theme will not be officially announced until after the exam has ended. a "passing grade" depends on the course you choose to apply for and it might change every year (usually they range in the 400-700pts zone), but the max grade is of a thousand points.
if you look at it, the brazilian flag has a small phrase written on it: it reads "ordem e progresso" (transl. order and progress)
racism is technically illegal here
unlike in countries like the US, Uganda and others, in Brazil, valentine's day is actually today :)
