Map of Brazil | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By far the largest and most populous country in South America Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of the interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970s. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims: Continental shelf:200 meters or to depth of exploitation Territorial sea:200 nm

Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south

Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt

Elevation

Natural resources: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium, phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, crude oil, timber

Land use: 7% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 67% forest and woodland; 6% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador geoad0.gif" border="0" geoad1


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Population: 150,750,232 (July 1989), growth rate 2.0% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Brazilian(s; adjective - Brazilian

Ethnic groups: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black, Amerindian; 55% white, 38% mixed, 6% black, 1% other

Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Religions: 90% Roman Catholic (nominal)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 27 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: recurrent droughts in northeast; floods and frost in south; deforestation in Amazon basin

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 67 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 3.2 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 76%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil

Government type: federal republic; democratically elected president since March 1985

Capital: Brasilia

Administrative divisions: 23 states (estados, singular - estado), 3 territories* (territorios, singular - territorio), and 1 federal district** (distrito federal; Acre, Alagoas, Amapa*, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Distrito Federal**, Espirito Santo, Fernando de Noronha*, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Paraiba, Parana, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia, Roraima*, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Sergipe; note - the 1988 Constitution proposes to change Amapa and Roraima from territories to states, to subsume Fernando de Noronha under Pernambuco, and create a new state of Tocantins from part of Goias

Dependent areas

Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)

National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)

Constitution: 5 October 1988

Legal system: based on Latin codes; dual system of courts (state and federal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: compulsory between ages 18-70; voluntary 16-17, and over 70

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government - President Jose SARNEY Costa (acting President on 15 March 1985 and President since 22 April 1985)

Legislative branch: Brazilian Army, Navy of Brazil, Brazilian Air Force

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB - Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC - International Wheat Council, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Marcilio Marques MOREIRA; Chancery at 3,006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 745-2,700; there are Brazilian Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, and New York, and Consulates in Dallas, Houston, and San Francisco; US - Ambassador Harry W. SHLAUDEMAN; Embassy at Avenida das Nocoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal (mailing address is APO Miami 34,030; telephone Õ55å (6) 321-7,272; there are US Consulates General in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and Consulates in Porto Alegre and Recife

Flag description: green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 23 white five-pointed stars (one for each state) arranged in the same pattern as the night sky over Brazil; the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress)

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The economy is based on large developing agricultural and industrial sectors supported by good natural resources. During the period 1984-87 real GDP grew at an annual rate of 6.3%. In 1987, however, the economy started to stagnate, dropping growth to 2.9%. The agricultural sector employs about a third of the labor force and accounts for 12% of GDP and nearly 40% of exports. During the past decade industry has been the key contributor to economic growth and accounts for about 35% of GDP and 60% of exports. Stemming runaway inflation and servicing a huge external debt of $118 billion (the largest among less developed countries) are current problems facing the government.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: coffee, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, soybeans, cotton, manioc, oranges; nearly self-sufficient in food except for wheat; illegal producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption

Industries: textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking, capital goods, tin

Industrial production growth rate: 0.9% (1987)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 6.0% (September 1988)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $27.8 billion; expenditures $40.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $8.8 billion (1986)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $26.2 billion (f.o.b., 1987)
Commodities: coffee, metallurgical products, chemical products, foodstuffs, iron ore, automobiles and parts
Partners: US 28%, EC 26%, Latin America 12%, Japan 7% (1986)

Imports: $16.6 billion (c.i.f., 1987)
Commodities: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal
Partners: US 23%, EC 23%, Latin America 13%, Middle East and Africa 17%, Japan 6% (1986)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $117.5 billion (December 1988)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: cruzados (Cr$) per US$1 - 650.00 (December 1988), 39.229 (1987), 13.656 (1986), 6.200 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 52,160,000 kW capacity; 201,624 million kWh produced, 1,340 kWh per capita (1987)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $1.5 billion, 6.0% of central government budget (1988)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 4,022 total, 3,375 usable; 371 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 23 with runways 2,240-3,659 m; 491 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil, 2,000 km; refined products, 3,804 km; natural gas, 1,095 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 50,000 km navigable

Merchant marine: 289 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,835,895 GRT/9,780,538 DWT; includes 85 cargo, 2 cargo-training, 2 refrigerated cargo, 11 container, 14 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 55 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 14 combination ore/oil, 81 bulk; note - in addition, 1 naval tanker and 4 military transports are sometimes used commercially

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: short section of boundary with Paraguay is in dispute (Guaira Falls area of the Rio Parana; two short sections of boundary with Uruguay are in dispute (Arroyo de la Invernada area of the Rio Quarai and the islands at the confluence of the Rio Quarai and the Uruguay; claims a Zone of Interest in Antarctica

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs