Brazil, the largest and easternmost country in South America, boasts a land area ranking fifth globally and a population ranking seventh. Unique among its neighbours, Brazil's official language is Portuguese. The nation is considered one of the world's most ethnically diverse nations, shaped by centuries of mass immigration. Evidence of human habitation in Brazil dates back at least 11,000 years, with pottery fragments found from 8,000 years ago. With a coastline stretching over 7,000 kilometers and borders shared with all South American countries except Ecuador and Chile, Brazil covers roughly half of the continent's land area. It’s also earned a place among the 17 "megadiverse" countries globally. This ecological richness results in diverse environments, from equatorial rainforests in the north to semiarid deserts in the northeast, temperate coniferous forests in the south, and tropical savannas in central Brazil. Once a significant part of Brazil's agricultural economy, cocoa production declined in the 1980s due to the spread of Witches' Broom, a fungal disease. However, over the past decade, global and local demand for fine flavor cocoa has surged, leading to substantial growth in the number of Brazilian chocolate producers and an improvement in chocolate quality. Brazil made its debut in international chocolate awards in 2015, winning 23 awards in 2017 and 64 awards by 2018. Today, it has more than 75 artisan makers.