Rio de Janeiro

The culture of Brazil is rooted in the culture of Portugal. The Portuguese settlers & immigrants brought the Catholic faith, the Portuguese language and several traditions & customs that however determine the modern-day Brazilian culture. As a multiracial country, its culture likewise absorbed extra determines. The Amerindian peoples shaped Brazil’s language & cuisine and the Africans, brought as slaves, largely acted upon Brazil’s music, dance, cuisine and language. Italian and German immigrants came in prominent numbers and their influences are felt closer to the South of Brazil. The Brazilian Carnival is an annual celebration in Brazil took hold forty days prior to Easter & ... Read Full Story

At least 12 people, including two policemen, were killed during shootouts between rival drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro on the weekend, officials said. Police said the gangs are battling for control of drug trafficking in the northern sector of the Brazilian coastal city recently chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Gunfire also downed one police helicopter, causing the death of two officers, the report by the web portal G1 said. Armed men also destroyed at least five city buses and two schoolrooms in different neighbourhoods of the zone. Authorities speculated that the attacks on police and civilian targets were meant to distract ... Read Full Story

The Brazilian Carnival, properly spelled Carnaval, is an annual festival in Brazil held four days before Ash Wednesday. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry—hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove meat." Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to sex in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection. Modern Brazilian Carnival originated in Rio de Janeiro in 1641, when the city's bourgeoisie imported the practice of holding balls ... Read Full Story