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- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
- Map references:
- South America
- Area:
- total area:
- 8,511,965 sq km
- land area:
- 8,456,510 sq km
- comparative area:
- 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
- International disputes:
- 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
- Climate:
- mostly tropical, but temperate in south
- Terrain:
- mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and
- narrow coastal belt
- 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 sq km (1989 est.)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Geography
- 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
- natural hazards:
- recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south
- 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
- Note:
- largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South
- American country except Chile and Ecuador
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 160,737,489 (July 1995 est.)
- 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.)
- Population growth rate:
- 1.22% (1995 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 21.16 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Death rate:
- 8.98 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 57.2 deaths/1,000 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.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Brazilian(s)
- adjective:
- Brazilian
- Ethnic divisions:
- Caucasion (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed
- Caucasion and African 38%, African 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab,
- Amerindian) 1%
- Religions:
- Roman Catholic (nominal) 70%
- Languages:
- Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1991)
- total population:
- 80%
- male:
- 80%
- female:
- 80%
- Labor force:
- 57 million (1989 est.)
- by occupation:
- services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- Federative Republic of Brazil
- conventional short form:
- Brazil
- local long form:
- Republica Federativa do Brasil
- local short form:
- Brasil
- Digraph:
- BR
- 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
- 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
- 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
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Government
- Political parties and leaders:
- National Reconstruction Party (PRN), Daniel TOURINHO, president; Brazilian
- Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Luiz HENRIQUE da Silveira, president;
- Liberal Front Party (PFL), Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president; Workers' Party (PT),
- Rui Goethe da Costa FALCAO, president; Brazilian Workers' Party (PTB), Jose
- Eduardo ANDRADE VIEIRA, president; Democratic Workers' Party (PDT), Anthony
- GAROTINHO, president; Progressive Renewal Party (PPR), Espiridiao AMIN,
- president; Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Artur DA TAVOLA,
- president; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Roberto FREIRE, president;
- Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Joao AMAZONAS, secretary general; Liberal
- Party (PL), Alvero VALLE, president
- Other political or pressure groups:
- left wing of the Catholic Church and labor unions allied to leftist Workers'
- Party are critical of government's social and economic policies
- Member of:
- 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 US:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Paulo Tarso FLECHA de LIMA
- chancery:
- 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 745-2700
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 745-2827
- consulate(s) general:
- Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and
- San Francisco
- consulate(s):
- Houston
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Melvyn LEVITSKY
- embassy:
- Avenida das Nacoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal
- mailing address:
- Unit 3500; APO AA 34030
- telephone:
- [55] (61) 321-7272
- FAX:
- [55] (61) 225-9136
- consulate(s) general:
- Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo
- consulate(s):
- Porto Alegre, Recife
- Flag:
- 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)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- 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.
- National product:
- GDP - purchasing power parity - $886.3 billion (1994 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- 5.3% (1994 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $5,580 (1994 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 1,094% (1994 est.)
- Unemployment rate:
- 4.9% (1993)
- Budget:
- revenues:
- $113 billion
- expenditures:
- $109 billion, including capital expenditures of $23 billion (1992)
- Exports:
- $43.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
- commodities:
- 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.)
- commodities:
- 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)
- External debt:
- $134 billion (1994)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Economy
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 9.5% (1993); accounts for 39% of GDP
- Electricity:
- capacity:
- 55,130,000 kW
- production:
- 241.4 billion kWh
- consumption per capita:
- 1,589 kWh (1993)
- 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
- Agriculture:
- 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
- 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
- Economic aid:
- recipient:
- US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $2.5 billion; Western (non-US)
- countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $10.2 million; OPEC
- bilateral aid (1979-89), $284 million; former Communist countries (1970-89),
- $1.3 billion
- Currency:
- 1 real (R$) = 100 centavos
- 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
- Fiscal year:
- calendar year
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Transportation
-
-
- Railroads:
- total:
- 30,612 km (1992)
- broad gauge:
- 5,369 km 1.600-m gauge (1,108 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 194 km 1.440-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 24,739 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified); 13 km 0.760-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 310 km 1.600-m/1.000-m gauge (78 km electrified)
- Highways:
- total:
- 1,670,148 km
- paved:
- 161,503 km
- unpaved:
- gravel/earth 1,508,645 km (1990)
- Inland waterways:
- 50,000 km navigable
- Pipelines:
- crude oil 2,000 km; petroleum products 3,804 km; natural gas 1,095 km
- Ports:
- Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife,
- Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria
- 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
- Airports:
- total:
- 3,467
- with paved runways over 3,047 m:
- 5
- with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m:
- 19
- with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m:
- 126
- with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 286
- with paved runways under 914 m:
- 1,652
- with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m:
- 76
- with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 1,303
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Communications
-
-
- Telephone system:
- 9.86 million telephones; telephone density - 61/1,000 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
- Radio:
- broadcast stations:
- AM 1,223, FM 0, shortwave 151
- radios:
- NA
- Television:
- broadcast stations:
- 112 (Brazil has the world's fourth largest television broadcasting system)
- televisions:
- NA
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Brazil
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes Marines), Brazilian Air Force,
- Federal Police (paramilitary)
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 44,301,765; males fit for military service 29,815,576; males
- reach military age (18) annually 1,703,438 (1995 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $5.0 billion, 0.9% of GDP (1994)
-