Brazil declared independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822, a milestone commemorated as Brazil’s Independence Day.
The separation followed years of political tension. In 1808, the Portuguese royal court moved to Rio de Janeiro after Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal, making Brazil the center of the Portuguese Empire. When King John VI returned to Lisbon in 1821, his son Pedro remained in Brazil.
Portuguese authorities ordered Pedro to return to Europe, but he refused in January 1822 in an episode remembered as the Dia do Fico, or “Day of Staying.” On 7 September, he proclaimed independence beside the Ipiranga River in São Paulo province. He became Brazil’s first emperor, Pedro I.
Brazil’s independence differed from many Spanish American revolutions because the new country retained a monarchy and largely preserved its territorial unity. Formal Portuguese recognition came in 1825 through the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, after negotiations involving Britain.