Historical profile

1500 First sighted by Portuguese mariner, Pedro Alvares Cabral. The area was claimed by the Portuguese crown.

Sugar cane plantations were started by the Portuguese, with Indian slave labour. The Indians were decimated by disease and the survivors fled to the interior. The Portuguese turned to Africa as another source of slaves.

1807 Portuguese imperial court moved to Brazil after the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon's armies and Brazil became a kingdom within the Portuguese empire. Following Napoleon's retreat, Prince Pedro, the son of João VI, became regent of Brazil.

1822 Brazil gained independence from Portugal and Emperor Pedro became Brazil's first monarch. The immediate post-independence period was marked by minor civil wars, slave rebellions and attempts at secession, with many in the south favouring a republican form of government.

1831 Pedro I abdicated following a period of political turmoil. He was succeeded by his five-year-old son, Pedro II, under a regency.

1840 Emperor Pedro II was granted full powers as monarch at the age of 14, ending the regency period. Although his reign was characterised by stability and a move towards political liberalism, wealth was concentrated in the hands of a small feudal elite while the rest of the population remained illiterate and poor.

1850 Pedro II abolished the slave trade.

1864–70 Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay were at war with Paraguay, ending with Paraguay's defeat and ruination.

1888 Pedro II abolished slavery, leading to a revolt by the country's landed gentry.

1889 The monarchy was overthrown by a revolution led by Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca and the king was sent into exile. A federal republic was established, although ruled in the interest of coffee plantation owners.

1929 Turmoil caused by the Wall Street crash led to a military coup which installed a civilian politician, Gertulio Vargas, as president in 1930.

1937 Vargas assumed dictatorial powers and began a revolution in welfare provision and reformed laws governing industry.

1939–45 Brazil remained neutral in the Second World War, but received a large number of exiled Nazis after the defeat of Germany.

1945 Vargas was ousted in a military coup. Elections were held under a new caretaker government and a new constitution was promulgated.

1951 Vargas was narrowly elected president.

1954 Vargas commited suicide after the military gave him the option of resigning or being overthrown.

1956 Juscelino Kubitschek, a strong democrat, came to power after fresh elections. Construction of the new capital, Brasília, began.

1960 Brasília was declared the country's new capital city.

1964 João Goulart was elected president, but after months of hyperinflation leading to the country's virtual bankruptcy he was overthrown by the military. General Humberto Castello Branco was installed as president, overseeing a period of political repression and economic growth based on state-owned industries.

1974 General Ernesto Geisel became president and introduced reforms which allowed limited political activity and elections.

1982 Brazil defaulted on its foreign debt repayments, which were among the world's biggest.

1985 Tancredo Neves was elected president, but died before his inauguration. His vice-president, José Sarney, was declared president, taking over a country wracked by hyperinflation.

1986 Sarney introduced the Cruzado Plan which froze prices and wages in an effort to control inflation. However, growing public opposition led to the abandonment of the controls thereby maintaining hyperinflation.

1988 A new constitution was promulgated, reducing presidential powers.

1989 Fernando Collor de Mello was elected president. He introduced a radical economic reform, which involved trade liberalisation, privatisation and a controversial freeze on savings and bank accounts. However, this failed to meet expectations, inflation remained high and the country defaulted on its debt repayments.

1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Collor resigned after being accused of corruption, of which he was later cleared. He was replaced by Vice President Itamar Franco.

1994 Fernando Henrique Cardoso won the presidential election.

1997 The constitution was changed to allow presidents to run for a second term in office.

1998 President Cardoso was re-elected.

2000 Brazil's 500th anniversary celebrations were disrupted by protests by indigenous peoples on the issue of land reform and against the legacy of European colonialism, including genocide and the destruction of their cultures.

2001 Corruption scandals rocked the political establishment and a number of senior figures in government and Congress resigned.

2002 Luiz Inácio da Silva (known as Lula), leader of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) (Workers' Party), was elected president.

2003 Lula was sworn in as president on 1 January, heading a broad coalition government, led by the PT. In May, the centrist Partido do Movimento Democratico Brasileiro (PMDB) (Democratic Movement Party) joined the coalition, ensuring a congressional majority to pass social security and tax reforms.

2004 In April, the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) launched its biggest wave of farm occupations to force speedier expropriation and redistribution of unused farmland. The campaign is known as `Red April'.