Background: Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal Brazil became an independent nation in 1822 and a republic in 1889. By far the largest and most populous country in South America Brazil overcame more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country when in 1985 the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S 55 00 W

Map reference: South America

Area
Total: 8,511,965 km²
Land: 8,456,510 km²
Water: 55,455 km²
Note: 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
Total: 16,884.4 km
Border countries: (10) Argentina 1,261 km; , Bolivia 3,423 km; , Colombia 1,644 km; , French Guiana 730.4 km; , Guyana 1,606 km; , Paraguay 1,365 km; , Peru 2,995 km; , Suriname 593 km; , Uruguay 1,068 km; , Venezuela 2,199 km

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin

Climate: mostly tropical but temperate in south

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m

Natural resources: bauxite gold iron ore manganese nickel phosphates platinum tin uranium petroleum hydropower timber

Land use
Arable land: 6.93%
Permanent crops: 0.89%
Other: 92.18% (2005)

Irrigated land: 29,200 km² (2003)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south

Geography
Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

Population
Note: Brazil conducted a census in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,799,170; that figure was about 3.3% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, and is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census; estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)
Growth rate: 1.04% (2006 est.)
Below poverty line: 22% (1998 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Brazilian
Adjective: Brazilian

Ethnic groups: white 53.7% mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5% black 6.2% other (includes Japanese Arab Amerindian) 0.9% unspecified 0.7% (2000 census)

Languages: Portuguese (official) Spanish English French

Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6% Protestant 15.4% Spiritualist 1.3% Bantu/voodoo 0.3% other 1.8% unspecified 0.2% none 7.4% (2000 census)

Age structure
0-14 years: 25.8% (male 24,687,656/female 23,742,998)
15-64 years: 68.1% (male 63,548,331/female 64,617,539)
65 years and over: 6.1% (male 4,712,675/female 6,769,028) (2006 est.)

Median age
Total: 28.2 years
Male: 27.5 years
Female: 29 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.04% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 16.56 births/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 6.17 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.03 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; there is a lucrative illegal wildlife trade; 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; wetland degradation; severe oil spills
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 28.6 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 32.3 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 24.7 deaths/1000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.97 years
Male: 68.02 years
Female: 76.12 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 660,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 15,000 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.4%
Male: 86.1%
Female: 86.6% (2003 est.)

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: federative republic

Capital
Name: Brasilia
Geographic coordinates: 15 47 S, 47 55 W

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $1.536 trillion (2005 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 2.3% (2005 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $8,300 (2005 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 8.4%
Industry: 40%
Services: 51.6% (2005 est.)

Agriculture products: coffee soybeans wheat rice corn sugarcane cocoa citrus; beef

Industries: textiles shoes chemicals cement lumber iron ore tin steel aircraft motor vehicles and parts other machinery and equipment

Industrial production growth rate: 3.4% (2005 est.)

Labor force: 90.41 million (2005 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 20%
By occupation industry: 14%
By occupation services: 66% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.8% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: 22% (1998 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.7%
Highest 10: 31.27% (2002)

Distribution of family income gini index: 59.7 (2004)

Budget
Revenues: $140.6 billion
Expenditures: $172.4 billion; including capital expenditures of $N/A (2004)

Public debt: 51.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.9% (2005 est.)

Current account balance: $14.19 billion (2005 est.)

Exports: $115.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Commodities: transport equipment iron ore soybeans footwear coffee autos
Partners: US 19.6% China 7.5% Argentina 6.9% Germany 5.3% Mexico 4.3% (2005)

Imports
Commodities: machinery electrical and transport equipment chemical products oil
Partners: US 19.7% Germany 8.7% Argentina 8.2% China 6.2% Nigeria 6.1% (2005): $78.02 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $53.8 billion (2005 est.)

Debt external: $188 billion (2005 est.)

Exchange rates: reals per US dollar - 2.4344 (2005) 2.9251 (2004) 3.0771 (2003) 2.9208 (2002) 2.3577 (2001)

Electricity
Production: 387.5 billion kWh (2004)
Consumption: 359.6 billion kWh (2004)
Exports: 6 million kWh (2004)
Imports: 37.4 billion kWh; note - supplied by Paraguay (2004)

Natural gas
Production: 15.79 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 21.74 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2005 est.)
Imports: 5.947 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Proven reserves: 240 billion m³ (2005)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 42.382 million (2004)
Mobile cellular: 86.21 million (2005)

Telephone system
General assessment: good working system
Domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations
International: country code - 55; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to Mercosur Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station

Internet
Country code: .br
Hosts: 6,508,431 (2006)
Users: 25.9 million (2005)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 1.3% (2005 est.)

Military service age and obligation: 21-45 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - nine to 12 months; 17-45 years of age for voluntary service; an increasing percentage of the ranks are 'long-service' volunteer professionals; women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in early 1980s when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks; women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps (2001)

Airports: 4,276 (2006)
With paved runways total: 714
With paved runways over 3047 m: 8
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 24
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 164
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 464
With paved runways under 914 m: 54 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 3,562
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 81
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1,634
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1,847 (2006)

Heliports: 417 (2006)

Pipelines: condensate/gas 244 km; gas 11,669 km; liquid petroleum gas 341 km; oil 5,212 km; refined products 4,755 km (2006)

Railways
Total: 29,252 km
Broad gauge: 4,877 km 1.600-m gauge (939 km electrified)
Standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 23,785 km 1.000-m gauge (581 km electrified)
Dual gauge: 396 km 1.000 m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails) (78 km electrified) (2005)

Roadways
Total: 1,724,929 km
Paved: 94,871 km
Unpaved: 1,630,058 km (2000)

Waterways: 50,000 km (most in areas remote from industry and population) (2005)

Merchant marine
Total: 137 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,038,923 GRT/3,057,820 DWT
By type: bulk carrier 21, cargo 21, chemical tanker 8, container 8, liquefied gas 12, passenger/cargo 12, petroleum tanker 47, roll on/roll off 8
Foreign owned: 15 (Chile 1, Germany 7, Norway 2, Spain 4, UK 1)
Registered in other countries: 5 (Ghana 1, Liberia 3, Marshall Islands 1) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Gebig Itaqui Rio de Janeiro Rio Grande San Sebasttiao Santos Sepetiba Terminal Tubarao Vitoria

Disputes international: unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering smuggling arms and illegal narcotics trafficking and fundraising for extremist organizations; uncontested dispute with Uruguay over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada boundary streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina; in 2004 Brazil submitted its claims to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to extend its maritime continental margin

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis; trace amounts of coca cultivation in the Amazon region used for domestic consumption; government has a large-scale eradication program to control cannabis; important transshipment country for Bolivian Colombian and Peruvian cocaine headed for Europe; also used by traffickers as a way station for narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia; upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling; important market for Colombian Bolivian and Peruvian cocaine; illicit narcotics proceeds earned in Brazil are often laundered through the financial system; significant illicit financial activity in the Tri-Border Area