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: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: South America

Area
Total area total: 8,511,965 km²
Land: 8,456,510 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than the US
Note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Land boundaries: total 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
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 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: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber

Land use
Arable land: 7%
Permanent crops: 1%
Meadows and pastures: 19%
Forest and woodland: 67%
Other: 6%

Irrigated land: 27,000 km² (1989 est.)

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: 160,737,489 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 1.22% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Brazilian(s)
Adjective: Brazilian

Ethnic groups: Caucasion (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed Caucasion and African 38%, African 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%

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

Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 70%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 31% (female 24,641,868; male 25,515,775)
15-64 years: 64% (female 51,966,272; male 51,254,165)
65 years and over: 5% (female 4,393,530; male 2,965,879) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.22% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 21.16 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 8.98 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities
Current issues natural hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south
Current issues international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 57.2 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 61.82 years
Male: 56.57 years
Female: 67.32 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.39 children born/woman (1995 est.)

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1991)
Total population: 80%
Male: 80%
Female: 80%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
Conventional short form: Brazil
Local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil
Local short form: Brasil

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

Dependent areas

Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)

National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)

Constitution: 5 October 1988

Legal system: based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age

Executive branch
Chief of state and head of government: President Fernando Henrique CARDOSO (since 1 January 1995) election last held 3 October 1994; next to be held October 1998); results - Fernando Henrique CARDOSO 53%, Luis Inacio LULA da Silva 26%, Eneas CARNEIRO 7%, Orestes QUERCIA 4%, Leonel BRIZOLA 3%, Espiridiao AMIN 3%; note - second free, direct presidential election since 1960
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional)
Federal Senate Senado Federal: election last held 3 October 1994 for two-thirds of Senate (next to be held October 1996 for one-third of the Senate); results - PMBD 28%, PFL 22%, PSDB 12%, PPR 7%, PDT 7%, PT 6%, PTB 6%, other 12%
Chamber of Deputies Camara dos Deputados: election last held 3 October 1994 (next to be held October 1998); results - PMDB 21%, PFL 18%, PDT 7%, PSDB 12%, PPR 10%, PTB 6%, PT 10%, other 16%

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, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, MERCOSUR, NAM (observer), OAS, ONUSAL, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOMUR, UNPROFOR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Paulo Tarso FLECHA de LIMA
In the us chancery: 3,006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 745-2,700
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 745-2,827
In the us consulates general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and San Francisco
In the us consulates: Houston
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Melvyn LEVITSKY
From the us embassy: Avenida das Nacoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal
From the us mailing address: Unit 3,500; APO AA 34,030
From the us telephone: [55] (61) 321-7,272
From the us FAX: [55] (61) 225-9,136
From the us consulates general: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo
From the us consulates: Porto Alegre, Recife

Flag description: green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars (one for each state and the Federal District) 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, 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, launched an ambitious reform program that sought to modernize and reinvigorate the economy by stabilizing prices, deregulating the economy, and opening it to increased foreign competition. Itamar FRANCO, who assumed the presidency following President COLLOR's resignation in December 1992, was out of step with COLLOR's reform agenda; initiatives to redress fiscal problems, privatize state enterprises, and liberalize trade and investment policies lost momentum. Galloping inflation - by June 1994 the monthly rate had risen to nearly 50% - had undermined economic stability. In response, the then finance minister, Fernando Henrique CARDOSO, launched the third phase of his stabilization plan, known as Plano Real, that called for a new currency, the real, which was introduced on 1 July 1994. Inflation subsequently dropped to under 3% per month through the end of 1994. The newly elected President CARDOSO has called for the implementation of sweeping market-oriented reform, including public sector and fiscal reform, privatization, deregulation, and elimination of barriers to increased foreign investment. Brazil's natural resources remain a major, long-term economic strength.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5.3% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $5,580 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 11% 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, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, mining (iron ore, tin), steel making, machine building - including aircraft, motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts and assemblies, and other machinery and equipment

Industrial production growth rate: 9.5% (1993; accounts for 39% of GDP

Labor force: 57 million (1989 est.)
By occupation services: 42%
By occupation agriculture: 31%
By occupation industry: 27%

Unemployment rate: 4.9% (1993)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $113 billion
Expenditures: $109 billion, including capital expenditures of $23 billion (1992)

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: $43.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
Commodoties: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee, motor vehicle parts
Partners: EC 27.6%, Latin America 21.8%, US 17.4%, Japan 6.3% (1993)

Imports: $33.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
Commodoties: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal
Partners: US 23.3%, EC 22.5%, Middle East 13.0%, Latin America 11.8%, Japan 6.5% (1993)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $134 billion (1994)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: R$ per US$1 - 0.85 (January 1995); CR$ per US$1 - 390.845 (January 1994), 88.449 (1993), 4.513 (1992), 0.407 (1991), 0.068 (1990)
Note: on 1 August 1993 the cruzeiro real (CR$), equal to 1,000 cruzeiros, was introduced; another new currency, the real, was introduced on 1 July 1994, equal to 2,750 cruzeiro reals


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Electricity
Capacity: 55,130,000 kW
Production: 241.4 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 1,589 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 9.86 million telephones; telephone density - 61/1000 persons; good working system
Local: NA
Intercity: extensive microwave radio relay systems and 64 domestic satellite earth stations
International: 3 coaxial submarine cables; 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $5.0 billion, 0.9% of GDP (1994)

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: 3,467
With paved runways over 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 19
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 126
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 286
With paved runways under 914 m: 1,652
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 76
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1,303

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
Total: 215 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,128,654 GRT/8,664,776 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 52, cargo 34, chemical tanker 13, combination ore/oil 12, container 12, liquefied gas tanker 11, oil tanker 64, passenger-cargo 5, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 11

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: short section of the boundary with Paraguay, just west of Salto das Sete Quedas (Guaira Falls) on the Rio Parana, is in dispute; two short sections of boundary with Uruguay are in dispute - Arroio Invernada (Arroyo de la Invernada) area of the Rio Quarai (Rio Cuareim) and the islands at the confluence of the Rio Quarai and the Uruguay River

Refugees and internally displaced persons

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