Brazil, a vast South American country, stretches from the Amazon Basin in the north to vineyards and massive Iguacu Falls in the south. Rio de Janeiro, symbolized by its 38m Christ the Redeemer statue atop Mount Corcovado, is famed for its busy Copacabana and Ipanema beaches as well as its enormous, raucous Carnaval festival, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes, and samba music and dance.

It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. It is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world. Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America and the world's ninth largest economy.

The Cruzeiro was the currency of Brazil from 1942 to 1986 and again between 1990 and 1993. In 1994 it was replaced with the Real. Today we are looking at a 20 cruzeiros banknote issued in 1950. The obverse has the portrait of Marshal Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca; while the reverse has the Female allegory "Proclamation of the Republic".

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