The green color of the Brazilian flag represents the rainforest, yellow represents gold which can be found in abundance and blue represents the ocean.
Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese captain Pedro Alvares Cabral in the year  1500 and it remained a Portuguese colony until the declaration of independence in 1822. With the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic in 1889, Brazil became a democratic republic governed by the presidential system.
In Brazil, the president, senators, governors, mayors, and congressmen are chosen by direct elections every four years. Electronic ballots were used nationwide during the 2002 elections when 110 million voters chose their representatives.

Brazil has thirteen cities with population over 1 million inhabitants, the two largest are São Paulo (10 million) and Rio de Janeiro (5,6 million).  The official language in Brazil is Portuguese.
Brazil is a Catholic country, but it is also a country of religious openness, of a variety of faiths, of syncretism. This is what gives a sort of bitter - sweet character to Brazilian religiosity. 81% of the Brazilians are catholics, 18% protestants and 1% consists of jews and muslims. About 20% of the catholics frequently go to some African religion ritual such as Candomblé.   
The Brazilian educational system includes both public (federal, state and municipal) and private institutions, ranging from pre-school, elementary and secondary, to university and post-graduate levels. Education is compulsory for ages 7 through  14. Public education is free at all levels. Non-profit private schools are also eligible to receive public funding.
Besides soccer, which Brazil is a five time world champion, volleyball, tennis, basketball, swimming, beach volley, surfing, car racing and sailing are among the main sport branches where Brazilians are most successful.