What European country was Brazil once a colony of?

Colonial Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.

During the early 300 years of Brazilian colonial history, the economic exploitation of the territory was based first on brazilwood extraction (16th century), which gave the territory its name; sugar production (16th–18th centuries); and finally on gold and diamond mining (18th century). Slaves, especially those brought from Africa, provided most of the work force of the Brazilian export economy after a brief period of Indian slavery to cut brazilwood.

The independence was declared on September 7th, 1822. It was the result of a set of conflicts such as the separatist movements.