BRAZIL - Federative Republic of Brazil

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, )is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles)  and with over 211 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north. It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile.

It also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.  Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse.Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and 34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W.  Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8,515,767.049 km² . Brazil is the only country in the world that has the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn running through it. 

The first stamps of Brazil were issued on 1 August 1843 and are known as "Bull's Eyes" due to their distinctive appearance. On 1 July 1844 a new series was issued which is known as the slanted numeral series. Subsequent stamps were in a similar format until the first pictorial stamps were issued in 1866 depicting Emperor Dom Pedro II . In 1866 the emperor was represented on all issues until 1884, first with a black beard. For many years stamps from Brazil had Brasil Correio displayed on them. However today the trend is to just have the country name and year, e.g. Brasil 2000.

This is a special airmail cover sent by David, from the famous Brazilian Bioreserve and tourist island called Fernando de Noronha.