9. The Empire Of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was an empire of the 19th century and it consisted of modern day Brazil and Uruguay. Brazil was a colony of the Kingdom of Portugal but gained its independence on September 7th, 1822 when the son of King Dom João VI, Pedro (pictured), successfully waged war against him and Portugal. The resulting country was sparsely populated but ethnically diverse. The new country experienced political stability and economic growth, but continued to have prejudice against women and slaves. The Empire fell when Pedro II failed to produce an heir as he only had a daughter and that was deemed unacceptable, and was over taken in 1889.