Map of Brazil | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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: 14,691 km total; Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643 km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru 1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims: Continental shelf:200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

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


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Population: 152,505,077 (July 1990), growth rate 1.9% (1990)

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: 26 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: recurrent droughts in northeast; floods and frost in south; deforestation in Amazon basin; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 69 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)

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

Capital: Brasilia

Administrative divisions: 24 states (estados, singular--estado), 2 territories* (territorios, singular--territorio), and 1 federal district** (distrito federal; Acre, Alagoas, Amapa*, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Distrito Federal**, Espirito Santo, 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, Tocantins; note--the territories of Amapa and Roraima will become states on 15 March 1991

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; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: voluntary at age 16; compulsory between ages 18 and 70; voluntary at age 70

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Fernando Affonso COLLOR de Mello (since 15 March 1990; Vice President Itamar FRANCO (since 15 March 1990)

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

Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, 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 Richard MELTON; Embassy at Avenida das Nocoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal (mailing address is APO Miami 34,030; telephone p55o (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, a mixture of private enterprises of all sizes and extensive government intervention, experienced enormous difficulties in the late 1980s, notably declining real growth, runaway inflation, foreign debt obligations of more than $100 billion, and uncertain economic policy. Government intervention includes trade and investment restrictions, wage/price controls, interest and exchange rate controls, and extensive tariff barriers. Ownership of major industrial facilities is divided among private interests, the government, and multinational companies. Ownership in agriculture likewise is varied, with the government intervening in the politically sensitive issues involving large landowners and the masses of poor peasants. In consultation with the IMF, the Brazilian Government has initiated several programs over the last few years to ameliorate the stagnation and foreign debt problems. None of these has given more than temporary relief. The strategy of the new Collor government is to increase the pace of privatization, encourage foreign trade and investment, and establish a more realistic exchange rate. One long-run strength is the existence of vast natural resources.

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: accounts for 12% of GDP; world's largest producer and exporter of coffee and orange juice concentrate and second-largest exporter of soybeans; other products--rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, beef; self-sufficient in food, except for wheat

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: 3.2% (1989 est.)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 2.5% (December 1989)

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: $34.2 billion (1989 est.)
Commodities: coffee, metallurgical products, chemical products, foodstuffs, iron ore, automobiles and parts
Partners: US 28%, EC 26%, Latin America 11%, Japan 6% (1987)

Imports: $18.0 billion (1989 est.)
Commodities: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal
Partners: Middle East and Africa 24%, EC 22%, US 21%, Latin America 12%, Japan 6% (1987)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $109 billion (December 1989)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: novos cruzados (NCr$) per US$1--2.83392 (1989), 0.26238 (1988), 0.03923 (1987), 0.01366 (1986), 0.00620 (1985; note-- 25 tourist/parallel rate (December 1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 52,865,000 kW capacity; 202,280 million kWh produced, 1,340 kWh per capita (1989)

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
Percent of gdp: 0.6% of GDP, or $2.3 billion (1989 est.)

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: 3,774 total, 3,106 usable; 386 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,240-3,659 m; 503 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: 271 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,855,708 GRT/9,909,097 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 68 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 12 container, 9 roll-on/roll-off, 56 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 14 combination ore/oil, 82 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: short section of the boundary with Paraguay (just west of Guaira Falls on the Rio Parana) is in dispute; 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: illicit producer of cannabis and coca, mostly for domestic consumption; government has an active eradication program to control cannabis and coca cultivation