BRAZIL
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 8,511,965 km2; land area: 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 area: slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries: 14,691 km total; 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); has noted possible Latin claims in
Antarctica
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, crude oil, timber
Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
19%; forest and woodland 67%; other 6%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: recurrent droughts in northeast; floods and frost in
south; deforestation in Amazon basin; air and water pollution in Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo
Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries
with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
PEOPLE
Population: 155,356,073 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991)
Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Brazilian(s); adjective--Brazilian
Ethnic divisions: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black,
Amerindian; white 55%, mixed 38%, black 6%, other 1%
Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 90%
Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy: 81% (male 82%, female 80%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); services 42%, agriculture
31%, industry 27%
Organized labor: 13,000,000 dues paying members (1989 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Federative Republic of Brazil
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
Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
Constitution: 5 October 1988
Legal system: based on Latin codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
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
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Fernando
Affonso COLLOR de Mello (since 15 March 1990); Vice President
Itamar FRANCO (since 15 March 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
National Reconstruction Party (PRN), Daniel TOURINHO, president;
Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Orestes QUERCIA,
president;
Liberal Front Party (PFL), Hugo NAPOLEAO, president;
Workers' Party (PT), Luis Ignacio (Lula) da SILVA, president;
Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Luiz GONZAGA de Paiva Muniz, president;
Democratic Labor Party (PDT), Leonel BRIZOLA, president;
Democratic Social Party (PDS), Amaral NETTO, president;
Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Mario COVAS, president;
Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), Salomao MALINA, secretary general;
Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Joao AMAZONAS, president;
Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Eduardo CAMPOS, president
Suffrage: voluntary at age 16; compulsory between ages 18 and 70;
voluntary at age 70
Elections:
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;
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;
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;
Communists: about 30,000
Other political or pressure groups: left wing of the Catholic
Church and labor unions allied to leftist Worker's Party are critical of
government's social and economic policies
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, 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, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Marcilio Marques MOREIRA;
Chancery at 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 745-2700; there are Brazilian Consulates General in Atlanta,
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 Nocoes,
Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal (mailing address is APO Miami 34030);
telephone 55 (6) 321-7272; there are US Consulates General in Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and Consulates in Porto Alegre and Recife
Flag: 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)
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 government is seeking an IMF standby loan despite several failed
agreements over the past decade. Relations with foreign commercial
banks remain strained because of mounting interest arrears on Brazil's
long-term debt. 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. A major long-run strength is Brazil's vast natural
resources.
GDP: $388 billion, per capita $2,540; real growth rate - 4.6%
(1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,795% (December 1990)
Unemployment rate: 4.4% (1990)
Budget: revenues $36.5 billion; expenditures $48.2 billion,
including capital expenditures of $4.6 billion (1988)
Exports: $31.4 billion (1990);
commodities--iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear,
coffee
partners--EC 29%, US 23%, Latin America 10%, Japan 7% (1989)
Imports: $20.4 billion (1990);
commodities--crude oil, capital goods, chemical products,
foodstuffs, coal;
partners--US 21%, Middle East and Africa 20%, EC 20%, Latin
America 18%, Japan 7% (1989)
External debt: $122 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate - 8.9% (1990); accounts
for 35% of GDP
Electricity: 55,773,000 kW capacity; 214,116 million kWh produced,
1,400 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals,
cement, lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts,
metalworking, capital goods, tin
Agriculture: accounts for 12% 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 modest eradication program
to control cannabis and coca cultivation
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $2.5
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $9.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $284 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $1.3 billion
Currency: cruzeiro (plural--cruzeiros); 1 cruzeiro (Cr$) = 100
centavos
Exchange rates: cruzeiros (Cr$) per US$1--193.189 (January 1991),
68.300 (1990), 2.834 (1989), 0.26238 (1988), 0.03923 (1987), 0.01366
(1986), 0.00620 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 29,694 km total; 25,268 km 1.000-meter gauge, 4,339 km
1.600-meter gauge, 74 km mixed 1.600-1.000-meter gauge,
13 km 0.760-meter gauge; 2,308 km electrified
Highways: 1,448,000 km total; 48,000 km paved, 1,400,000 km gravel
or earth
Inland waterways: 50,000 km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil, 2,000 km; refined 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: 263 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,898,838
GRT/9,975,272 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 59 cargo, 1 refrigerated
cargo, 13 container, 7 roll-on/roll-off, 60 petroleum, oils, and
lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 11 liquefied gas, 14
combination ore/oil, 79 bulk, 2 combination bulk; additionally, 2 naval
tanker and 4 military transport are sometimes used commercially
Civil air: 176 major transport aircraft
Airports: 3,751 total, 3,078 usable; 401 with permanent-surface
runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 22 with runways 2,240-3,659 m; 533
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good system; extensive radio relay facilities;
9.86 million telephones; stations--1,223 AM, no FM, 112 TV, 151
shortwave; 3 coaxial submarine cables 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
stations with total of 3 antennas; 64 domestic satellite stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Brazilian Army, Navy of Brazil (including Marines),
Brazilian Air Force, Federal Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 40,559,052; 27,364,392 fit for
military service; 1,637,434 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $1.1 billion, 2.6% of GDP (1990)