The dominant religion in Brazil is Roman Catholicism, although it has had no official religion since the founding of the republic (1889), but it also has a large Protestant population, a significant following for syncretic candomblé(African-derived spiritual sects) and small Eastern Orthodox, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish minorities. Although the remainder of the population are purely black or indigenous (7%) or Lusitanian or other European (48%), Brazil’s sizeable mixed race populations sets it apart from other postcolonial nations in Latin America. Due to Portuguese policies of tolerance and assimilation, around 45% of the population are mixed race, identifying as mulattoes (people of mixed African and European ancestry) or mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry). The official and universal language is Portuguese, except amongst indigenous communities along the Amazon Basin who speak around 150 discrete languages. It is divided into five major regions but its tropical and subtropical climate means that most of the population are concentrated along the eastern coastline, where there are many iconic coastal cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Encompassing around half of the continent’s landmass with a population of over 200 million, it is the fifth largest country by area and by population in the world. In the context of ‘World Music’, samba offers a powerful fusion of rhythm, dance and spectacle and, beyond its popularity on record and in performance, samba has become a staple popular music for parades, processions and even protest marches around the globe.īrazil, or República Federativa do Brasil (in Portuguese), is located in eastern and central South America. Samba is enacted most spectacularly in the Brazilian Carnival celebrations, which have captured the global imagination in its pulsating rhythms, its decadent revelry, its extroverted performativity and its extravagant exhibitionism. Its combination of heterogeneous musical and cultural influences has enabled it to symbolise the buoyant diversity of the country itself. Yet, out of this assembly, sambain particular has emerged as a national cultural expression. The musics of Brazil are as socially diverse and culturally mixed as its people.

Who owns samba music