The World Indigenous Games officially started in Brazil in the city of Palmas. The multi-sport event has attracted 1,800 indigenous athletes from 24 countries and regions. The games will end on November 1. Brazil is home to nearly 900,000 indigenous people from 305 different indigenous ethnicities. The indigenous peoples, coming from all over the country and the world will mingle with each other. Indigenous peoples from countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia and Brazil sang and danced at the ceremony, dressed in traditional outfits.
Indigenous athletes will compete in a variety of sporting events, ranging from a few western-style competitions (football, athletics) to many indigenous traditional games. From Brazil alone, 24 different indigenous groups are taking part.
Sandwiched between Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games next summer in Rio de Janeiro, the Indigenous Games are being advertised as a low-budget. Every athlete will get a medal, no matter in what place they finish. There will be no obsessing over drug testing or landing sponsorship deals.
Interesting Facts…
- Palmas is the capital and largest city in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, newly organized under the 1988 constitution.
- According to IBGE estimates from 2014, the city had 265,090 inhabitants.
- Brazil has the 2nd highest number of airports in the world, after the U.S.
- 8 of the 12 host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil are among the 50 most violent cities in the world.
- Brazilian prisoners can reduce their sentence by 4 days for every book they read and write a report on.
- 92% of all new sold cars in Brazil use ethanol as fuel, which is produced from sugar cane.
Try it…
Who is Brazil’s President and what is its currency?
