BRAZIL

BRAZIL.

IV Centenary of the Colonization of Brazil.
Map of Brazil in South America.
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 03.06.1932.
Face value: 20 Brazilian réis.
Printing: Typography.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 371.
- Scott No. 359.
- StampWorld No. 379.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 513.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 236.

The first European occupants of the coasts of present-day Brazilian territory were French and Dutch. In 1530 Portugal, which considered Brazil its own territory since 1500, expelled them, and in 1532 (date that is considered the beginning of the colonization) the first city was founded on Brazilian soil, São Vicente. In 1533 King John III divided his Brazilian possessions into fourteen hereditary captaincies and granted them to Portuguese nobles; but in 1549 he was appointed a Governor General to administer all of Portuguese America. Then, between 1763 and 1808 Brazil was a Viceroyalty, and in 1808 it became a kingdom when the Portuguese royal family settled there, after the occupation of their country by Napoleonic troops. On December 16, 1815, a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was established and Brazil was granted a privilege of autonomy. On September 7, 1822, the Empire of Brazil declared their Independence, recognized by Portugal in the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, on August 29, 1825.