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Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Map references: South America, Standard Time Zones of the World
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
More detailed territorial information from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. IBGE
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, Suriname5 97 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km
Coastline:
7,491 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone
24 nm
continental shelf 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
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: iron ore, manganese,
bauxite, nickel, uranium, phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, petroleum,
ti
mber
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.)
Environment:
current issues
deforestation in Amazon
Basin; 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 h
azards
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 S
ea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling;
signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Tropical Timber
Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries
with ever
y
South American country except Chile and Ecuador
Life expectancy at birth:
total population
62.25 years
male 57.41 years
female 67.32 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.44 children born/woman (1994 est.)
More detailed population information from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
Nationality:
noun Brazilian(s)
adjective Brazilian
Ethnic divisions: Portuguese,
Italian, German, Japanese,
Amerindian, black 6%, white 55%, mixed 38%, other 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic
(nominal) 70%
Languages: Portuguese
(official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy: age 15
and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population 81%
male 82%
female 80%
Labor force: 57 million
(1989 est.)
by occupation
services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry
27%
More Detailed Labor Information from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
General Outlook of the People
Brazilians are friendly, warm, and happy people. Above all they are free-spirited and resent being told what to do. Brazilians are gregarious, outgoing, and love to be around people. The hot climate allows them to spend a great deal of time outdoors, often just chatting with friends or watching people. Women should be aware that it is common for Brazilian men to stare at them or make comments as they walk by; women should not respond in any way to such actions. Brazilians can be very opinionated, and the vigor with which they argue for their convictions often leads foreigners to believe that they are angry. Visitors should not be offended by such behavior. Brazilians tend to view time more as a sequence of events rather than hours, minutes, and seconds. For this reason they may appear to have an extremely casual attitude about time.
Excerpt adapted from Jaime Sichman
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
(See the each of the State flags.)
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 October 1994; results - Fernando Henrique Cardoso 54%,
Luis Inacio
LULA da
Silva 24%; Others 22%; Itamar Franco was the previous President
cabinet Cabinet; appointed
by the president
Legislative branch:
bicameral National
Congress (Congresso Nacional)
Judicial branch: Supreme
Federal Tribunal
Political parties and leaders: National
Reconstruction Party (PRN),
Daniel TOURINHO, president; Brazilian Democratic
Movement Party (PMDB), Luiz HENRIQUE da Silveira, preside
nt; Liberal Front
Party (PFL), Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president; Workers' Party (PT), Luis Inacio
LULA da Silva, president; Brazilian Workers' Party (PTB), Rodrigues PALMA,
president; Democratic Workers' Party (PDT), Leonel BRIZOLA, president; Progressive
Rene
wal Party (PPR), Paulo MALUF, president; Brazilian Social Democracy Party
(PSDB), Tasso JEREISSATI, president; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Roberto
FREIRE, president; Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Joao AMAZONAS, secretary
general; Liberal Party (PL
), Flavio ROCHA, 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, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA,
LORCS, MERCOSUR, NAM (observer), OAS, ONUSAL,
OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM
II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOMUR, UNPROFOR, UPU, WCL, WHO,
WFTU, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission Ambassador Paulo Tarso FLECHA de LIMA
ch
ancery
3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone
(202) 745-2700
FAX (202) 745-2827
consulate(s) general
Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong (Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands),
Los Angeles,
Miami, New York, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulate(s)
Houston and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission Ambassador Melvyn LEVITSKY
embassy
Avenida das Nacoes, Lote 3, Bra
si
lia, Distrito Federal
mailing address
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
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)
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
i
n
creased foreign competition. The government also obtained an IMF standby
loan in January 1992 and reached agreements with commercial bankers on the
repayment of interest arrears and on the reduction of debt and debt service
payments. Galloping inflation (
the rate doubled in 1992 and by March 1994
had risen to 42% per month) continues to undermine economic stability. Itamar
FRANCO, who assumed the presidency following President COLLOR'S resignation
in December 1992, was out of step with COLLOR'S reform age
nda;
initiatives
to redress fiscal problems, privatize state enterprises, and
liberalize trade
and investment policies are gaining momentum under the
new administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Brazil's natural
resources remain
a major, long-term economic strength.
Inflation in 1995 is forecasted to be around 30%.
National product:
GDP -
purchasing power equivalent - $1.04 trillion (1997 est.)
National product real growth rate: 2-3% (1998)
National product per capita:
$6,300 (1997 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):5% (1997 est)
GDPcomposition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 38%
services: 49% (1995)
Inflation rateconsumer price index: 4.8% (1997)
Labor force:
total: 57 million (1989 est.)
by occupation: services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
Unemployment rate: 7% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $87.5 billion
expenditures: $96 billion, including capital expenditures of
$NA (1996)
Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment
Industrial production growth rate: 4.5% (1997 est.)
Electricitycapacity: 57.64 million kW (1995)
Electricityproduction: 264.895 billion kWh (1995)
note: imported about 36.95 billion kWh of electricity from
Paraguay
Electricityconsumption per capita: 1,878 kWh (1995)
Agricultureproducts: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef
Exports:
total value: $53 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear,
coffee, motor vehicle
parts
partners: EU 28%, Latin America 23%, US 20%, Argentina 12%
(1996)
Imports:
total value: $61.4 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products,
foodstuffs, coal
partners: EU 26%, US 22%, Argentina 13%, Japan 5% (1996)
Debtexternal: $192.9 billion (December 1997)
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: $119 billion (1993)
Industrial production:
growth rate 9.5% (1993); accounts for 39% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity 63,765,000 kW
production 242.184 billion
kWh
consumption per capita 1,531 kWh (1992)
Industries:
textiles and o
ther
consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber,
iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking, capital goods,
tin
Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GDP; world's largest
producer and exporter of coffee and orange juice conc
entrate 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; governm
ent
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
Economic aid:
recipient
US commitments, including E
x-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: CR$ per US$1 - 0.90 (May 95)
Railroads: 30,133
km total; 24,690 km 1.000-meter
gauge, 5,120 km 1.600-meter gauge,
310 km mixed 1.600-1.000-meter gauge, 13
km 0.760-meter gauge; 2,150 km electrified
Highways:
total 1,670,148 km
paved 161,503 km
unpaved
gravel/earth 1,508,645 km (1990)
Inland waterwa
ys:
50,000
km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil 2,000 km; petroleum products
3,804 km; natural gas 1,095 km
Ports: Belem, Fortaleza,
Ilheus, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande,Salvador,
Santos
Merchant marine: 220 ships (1,000 GRT
or over) totaling 5,139,176 GRT/8,695,682 DWT, bulk 53, cargo 40, chemical
tanker 14, combination ore/oil 12, container 11, liquified gas 11, oil tanker
62, passenger-cargo 5, refrigerated car
go 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 11
note in addition, 1 naval tanker is sometimes used commercially
Airports:
total 3,581
usable 3,024
with permanent-surface runways 436
with runw
ays over 3,659 m
2
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 22
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
598
Telecommunications: good system; extensive microwave radio relay
facilities; 9.86 million telephones; broadcast stations - THousands of
AM/FM and TV stations, shortwave; 3 coaxial submarine cables, 3 Atlantic
Ocean
INTELSAT earth stations and 64 domestic satellite earth stations
Branches:
Brazilian Army,
Navy of Brazil (including Marines), Brazilian Air Force,
Military Police (paramilitary)
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 43,489,704; fit
for military service 29,286,530; reach military age (18) annually 1,674,930
(1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion
- $1.1 billion, 3% of GDP (1990)
accesses
October 10, 1995.