The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and his son Pedro II. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom John VI, fled from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. John VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir-apparent, Pedro, to rule the Kingdom of Brazil as regent. On 7 September 1822, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and, after waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, was acclaimed on 12 October as Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil. The new country was huge, sparsely populated, and ethnically diverse.
A locomotive in Bahia province (Brazilian northeast), c. 1859
Brazilian artillery in position during the Paraguayan War, 1866
Emperor Pedro II surrounded by prominent politicians and national figures c. 1875
Belém, a medium-sized city and capital of Pará province (Brazilian north), 1889
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,215 square kilometres (68,037 sq mi) and has a population of around 3.4 million, of whom nearly 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo.
Monument to the last four Charrúa, the indigenous people of Uruguay
The Portuguese established Colonia do Sacramento in 1680.
The oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals in 1825 prior to the beginning of the Cisplatine War, in which Uruguay gained independence from the Empire of Brazil
Manuel Oribe served as President of Uruguay and led the Blancos in the Civil War.