January 1: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes office as president of Brazil. His cabinet includes Celso Amorim as foreign minister; Antônio Waldez Góes da Silva becomes Governor of Amapá, Carlos Eduardo de Souza Braga becomes governor of Amazonas, Paulo César Hartung Gomes becomes governor of Espírito Santo, Blairo Borges Maggi becomes governor of Mato Grosso, Simão Robison Oliveira Jatene becomes governor of ParáStatistics Capital: Belem do Para Area:1. 164,5 km² Inhabitants:5. 570 Pop. km² Timezone:GMT-3 (east)GMT-4 (west) ISO 3166-2:BR-PA Map Par is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northern part of the country. Neighboring states are (from north cloc, Cássio Rodrigues da Cunha Lima becomes governor of ParaíbaParaiba is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It contains the easternmost land of the Americas. History In the mid- 1500s, Portuguese settlers from Pernambuco founded Filipeia de Nossa Senh, Roberto Requião de Mello e Silva becomes governor of ParanáStatistics Capital: Curitiba Area:199,544 km² Inhabitants:9,150,000 ? Pop. density:? inh. km² Timezone: GMT -3 ISO 3166-2:BR-PR Governor:Roberto Requiao Map Other meanings: Parana, Argentina, River Paran Paran is one of the states of Brazil, located in th, José Wellington Barroso de Araújo Dias becomes governor of PiauíStatistics Capital: Teresina Area: 250,934km² Population:2,750,000 Pop. density: inh. km² Timezone: GMT -3 ISO 3166-2: Governor: Barroso de Araujo (since 2003) Map Piau is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, in th, Wilma Maria de Faria becomes governor of Rio Grande do NorteStatistics Capital: Natal Area:53,015 km² Population:2,770,730 2000 Pop. density:52. km² Timezone: GMT -3 ISO 3166-2:BR-RN Governor: Wilma Maria de Faria Map Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the count, Germano Antônio Rigotto becomes governor of Rio Grande do SulStatistics Capital: Porto Alegre Area:282,062 km² Inhabitants:10,167,800 2000 Pop. density:36. km² Timezone:GMT-3 Governor:Germano Antonio Rigotto ISO 3166-2:BR-RS Map Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil. It is bordered on the north by t, Ivo Narciso Cassol becomes governor of RondôniaStatistics Capital: Porto Velho Area:238,512. 8 km² Inhabitants:1,241,276 ? Pop. km² Timezone:GMT-4 ISO 3166-2:BR-RO Governor:Ivo Narciso Cassol Map Rondonia is a state of Brazil, located in the northern-western part of the country. To the west is a short, and Marcelo de Carvalho Miranda becomes governor of TocantinsTocantins can refer to: Tocantins State Tocantins River..
January 1: Pavel Chernov takes office as prime minister of Karelia.
January 1: Pascal Couchepin takes office as President of the Confederation and Interior Minister of Switzerland; Ruth Metzler-Arnold becomes vice president; Claude Lässer becomes president of the Council of State of Fribourg, Stefan Engler president of the government of Graubünden, Gérald Schaller president of the government of Canton of Jura, Margrit Fischer-Willimann Schultheiss of Luzern, Christian Wanner Landammann of Solothurn, and Jean-Claude Mermoud president of the Council of State of Vaud, and Walter Suter Landammann of Zug.
January 4: Democrat Ed Case is elected in a Hawaii special Congressional election, replacing Patsy Mink, who had been elected to Congress posthumously in November 2002.
February 5: The head of the pro- Moscow administration of Chechnya, announces the dismissal of their Prime Minister, who is later replaced by Anatoly Popov.
June 3: Republican Randy Neugebauer defeats fellow Republican Mike Conaway in a Texas Congressional special runoff election to succeed Larry Combest , who resigned in November 2002. Both men had advanced to the runoff in a May 2003 primary.
September 9: Indiana lieutenant governor Joe Kernan becomes acting governor when governor Frank O'Bannon suffers a stroke, and is officially sworn in as governor when O'Bannon dies a few days later. Both are Democrats.