GMT - 3 (GMT - 2 from third Sunday in October to third Saturday in March).

Real (R$) = 100 centavos.

Language

Portuguese; Spanish, English, Italian, French and German are also spoken in tourist areas.

The exotic city of Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is surrounded by jungle and connected to the sea by a 1600-kilometre (1000-mile) stretch of the Amazon River. It contains the Teatro Amazonas (Amazonas Theatre), built in 1896 in the Italian Renaissance style, with its majestic neo-classical façade, a number of fine restaurants and hotels and a free-trade zone which is excellent for cheap shopping.

Special purchases include gems (particularly emeralds), jewellery (particularly silver), permissible antiques, leather or snakeskin goods.

Pato no tucupi (duck in rich wild green herb sauce) and tacacá (thick yellow soup with shrimps and garlic).

South AmericaBrazil

Brazil