And with the help of the government, Brazil has become one of the largest economic producers in the world Social Context Population Brazil is the largest country in South America, with the fifth largest in terms of population. As of 2014, Brazil has over 200 million people populated in every part of this country. The increase has been significant since 2010. In just over three years, Brazil has grown by over 10 million inhabitants. Today, Brazil is known as a country of young people, because 62% of its population is 29 years old or younger. Before, until 2010, Brazil's growth rate was very slow, at 1.26%, meaning Brazil was only slightly faster than the world average. Ethnicity Brazilians are classified primarily by skin color. People fit into a category, some of which would seem unusual to an American or a European. Brazilians are asked to report whether they believe they are white, black, brown or yellow. The census indicated that 55% of Brazilians were white, 38% were brown, 6% were black, 1% were other. This method of breed classification is controversial in Brazil.