Statistical information Brazil 1992

Brazil in the World

Brazil - Introduction 1992

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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.

Brazil - Geography 1992

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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 8,511,965 km²
Land:

8,456,510 km²; includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha,
Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries:

14,691 km; 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 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes:

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)

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

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

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography

Brazil - People 1992

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Population: 158,202,019 (July 1992), growth rate 1.8% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Brazilian(s; adjective - Brazilian

Ethnic groups:

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

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

Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 90%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 25 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1992)

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

Current issues note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 67 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 69 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 3.0 children born/woman (1992)

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: 81% (male 82%, female 80%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment

Brazil - Government 1992

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Country name
Conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil

Government type: federal republic

Capital: Brasilia

Administrative divisions:

26 states (estados, singular - estado) 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 former territories of
Amapa and Roraima became states in January 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
Chamber of Deputies: last held 3 October 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - PMDB 21%, PFL 17%, PDT 9%, PDS 8%, PRN 7.9%, PTB 7%, PT 7%, other 23.1%; seats - (503 total as of 3 February 1991) PMDB 108, PFL 87, PDT 46, PDS 43, PRN 40, PTB 35, PT 35, other 109
Federal Senate:

last held 3 October 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (81 total as of 3
February 1991) PMDB 27, PFL 15, PSDB 10, PTB 8, PDT 5, other 16

President:

last held 15 November 1989, with runoff on 17 December 1989 (next to be held November 1994); results - Fernando COLLOR de Mello 53%,
Luis Inacio da SILVA 47%; note - first free, direct presidential election since 1960

Communists: less than 30,000

Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Federal Senate (Senado Federal) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados)

Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24,
G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES,
LAIA, LORCS, MERCOSUR, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WFTU, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation:

Ambassador Rubens RICUPERO; Chancery at 3,006
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 745-2,700; there are Brazilian Consulates General in 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 Nacoes, Lote 3,
Brasilia, Distrito Federal (mailing address is APO AA 34,030); telephone 55 (61) 321-7,272; FAX 55 (61) 225-9,136; there are US Consulates General in
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and Consulates in PortoAlegre and Recife

Diplomatic representation

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

Brazil - Economy 1992

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Economy overview:

The economy, with large agrarian, mining, and manufacturing sectors, entered the 1990s with declining real growth, runaway inflation, an unserviceable foreign debt of $122 billion, and a lack of policy direction.
In addition, the economy remained highly regulated, inward-looking, and protected by substantial trade and investment barriers. Ownership of major industrial and mining facilities is divided among private interests - including several multinationals - and the government. Most large agricultural holdings are private, with the government channeling financing to this sector. Conflicts between large landholders and landless peasants have produced intermittent violence. The Collor government, which assumed office in March 1990, is embarked on an ambitious reform program that seeks to modernize and reinvigorate the economy by stabilizing prices, deregulating the economy, and opening it to increased foreign competition.
The government in December 1991 signed a letter of intent with the IMF for a 20-month standby loan. Having reached an agreement on the repayment of interest arrears accumulated during 1989 and 1990, Brazilian officials and commercial bankers are engaged in talks on the reduction of medium- and long-term debt and debt service payments and on the elimination of remaining interest arrears. A major long-run strength is Brazil's vast natural resources.

GDP: exchange rate conversion - $358 billion, per capita $2,300; real growth rate 1.2% (1991)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: 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: growth rate--0.5% (1991; accounts for 39% of GDP

Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
Organized labor: 13,000,000 dues paying members (1989 est.)

Labor force

Unemployment rate: 4.3% (1991)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $164.3 billion; expenditures $170.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $32.9 billion (1990)

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: $31.6 billion (1991)
Commodoties: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee
Partners: EC 31%, US 24%, Latin America 11%, Japan 8% (1990)

Imports: $21.0 billion (1991)
Commodoties: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal
Partners:

Middle East and Africa 22%, US 21%, EC 21%, Latin America 18%,
Japan 6% (1990)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: cruzeiros (Cr$) per US$1 - 1,197.38 (January 1992), 406.61 (1991), 68.300 (1990), 2.834 (1989), 0.26238 (1988), 0.03923 (1987)

Brazil - Energy 1992

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Electricity
Production: 58,500,000 kW capacity; 229,824 million kWh produced, 1,479 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita

Brazil - Communication 1992

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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions

Brazil - Military 1992

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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:

exchange rate conversion - $1.1 billion, 0.3% of
GDP (1990)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups

Brazil - Transportation 1992

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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:

3,563 total, 2,911 usable; 420 with permanent-surface runways; 2
with runways over 3,659 m; 22
with runways 2,240-3,659 m; 550
with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

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

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 50,000 km navigable

Merchant marine:

245 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,693,500
GRT/9,623,918 DWT; includes 3 passenger-cargo, 49 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 13 container, 9 roll-on/roll-off, 57 petroleum tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 11 liquefied gas, 14 combination ore/oil, 71 bulk, 2 combination bulk; in addition, 2 naval tankers and 4 military transport are sometimes used commercially

Civil air: 198 major transport aircraft

Ports and terminals

Brazil - Transnational issues 1992

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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and coca, mostly for domestic consumption; government has a modest eradication program to control cannabis and coca cultivation; important transshipment country for Bolivian and Colombian cocaine headed for the US and Europe