Brazil

Continent: South America
Capital: Brasilia
Abolition Date:1888 - Abolition in Brazil.
Start Date: 1500
Currency: Cruzeiro Real

Languages Spoken: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Population: As estimated in 2006 was 188,078,227
National Anthem: Brasilia

1500 : Pedro Cabral of Portugal discovers Brazil. Around 1550, the Portuguese began to trade African slaves to work the sugar plantations.

Although Portugal abolished slavery in mainland Portugal on the February 12th, 1761, slavery continued in her overseas colonies.

First, foreign slave trade was banned in 1850. Then, in 1871, the sons of the slaves were freed. In 1885, slaves aged over 60 years were freed. In 2004 the government acknowledged to the United Nations that at least 25,000 Brazilians work under conditions "analogous to slavery." The top anti-slavery official puts the number of modern slaves at 50,000. More than 1,000 slave laborers were freed from a sugar cane plantation in 2007 by the Brazilian government, making it the largest anti-slavery raid in modern times in Brazil.

1888 Slavery abolished in Brazil. (Argentina in 1813, Colombia in 1821, and Mexico in 1829).

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