Country Facts - Brazil

The People

Nationality
Brazilian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Caucasian (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish)	55%
Mulatto	38%
Black	6%
Other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian)	1%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	80%
Other	20%

Languages Spoken

Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Education and Literacy

Public education is free at all levels, and the government helps fund private schools. Literacy for the adult population is 83.3 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 79 million (1999)
By occupation:

Services	53%
Agriculture	23%
Industry	24%

Geography

Land Mass Total

3,286,488 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km)
Note: Includes Arquip élago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de S ão Pedro e S ão Paulo.

Land

3,265,076 sq mi (8,456,510 sq km)

Water

21,411 sq mi (55,455 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 9,128 mi (14,691 km)
Border countries: Argentina 760 mi (1,224 km), Bolivia 2,112 mi (3,400 km), Colombia 1,020 mi (1,643 km), French Guiana 418 mi (673 km), Guyana 695 mi (1,119 km), Paraguay 801 mi (1,290 km), Peru 969 mi (1,560 km), Suriname 370 mi (597 km), Uruguay 612 mi (985 km), Venezuela 1,367 mi (2,200 km)

Coastline

4,654 mi (7,491 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Mostly tropical, but temperate in south.

Terrain

Flat to rolling lowlands in north; plains, hills, mountains, and a narrow coastal belt.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Pico da Neblina 9,888 ft (3,014 m)

Natural Resources

Bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber.

Land use

Arable land	6%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	92%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south.

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, S ão Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities.
Note: President Cardoso in September 1999 signed into force an environmental crime bill which for the first time defines pollution and deforestation as crimes punishable by stiff fines and jail sentences.

Geography Note

Brazil is the largest country in South America and shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.

Demographics

Population

176,029,560 (July 2002)
Note: Brazil took an intercensal count in August 1996 which reported a population of 157,079,573; that figure was about 5% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, which 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.

Age structure

0-14 years:	28%	Male: 25,140,954	Female: 24,199,276
15-64 years:	66.4%	Male: 57,424,151	Female: 59,409,928
65 years and over:	5.6%	Male: 3,992,017	Female: 5,863,234

(2002)

Growth Rate

0.87% (2002)

Life Expectancy

63.55 years (2002)
female: 67.91 years
male: 59.4 years

GDP Per Capita

purchasing power parity
US$7,400 (2000)

Infant Mortality

35.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.68 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.97 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. The maintenance of large current account deficits via capital account surpluses became problematic as investors became more risk averse to emerging market exposure as a consequence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the Russian bond default in August 1998. After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a $41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the real would no longer be pegged to the U.S. dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998, and the country posted moderate GDP growth. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001 - to less than 2 percent - because of a slowdown in major markets and the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures. Investor confidence was strong at yearend 2001, in part because of the strong recovery in the trade balance.
After a fiscally rancorous beginning to 2002, the Brazilian economy went from "pillar to post" until the IMF finally offered a US$30 billion "stand-by" agreement in August to prop up the currency prior to elections. Brazil started off 2003 with plans to make drastic budgetary cuts that would provide a 4 percent plus annual surplus if held in place. Foreign investors are waiting to see how the politics of the newly elected (and formerly socialist) "Lula" will pan out during the coming months. Calls for new social spending are rising daily but the tax coffers can barely handle the present demands.

Unemployment

6.4% (2001)

Inflation Rate

7.7% (2001)

Industries

Textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment.

Exports

US$57.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$57.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1.34 trillion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 24.4%, Argentina 11.2%, Germany 8.7%, Japan 5.5%, Italy 3.9%, Netherlands (2001)

Top Import Partners

US 23.2%, Argentina 11.2%, Germany 8.7%, Japan 5.5%, Italy 3.9% (2001)

Top Exports

Manufactures, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos .

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, chemical products, oil, electricity, autos and auto parts

Industries

Textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment

Debt - external

US$251 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$1.012 billion (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8:30a.m. or 9a.m. to 5:30p.m. or 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 6p.m. Shopping centers from 10a.m. to 10p.m.	Saturday 9a.m to 12:30p.m. or 1p.m.
Banks	10a.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Note: Business hours in rural areas are rarely consistent. Each locale sets its own pace in this large nation.
Note: Banks have currently changed their hours as a consequence of the current power shortage. (11/01) At the moment, hours are: 9a.m. to 3p.m....

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Carnival¹	February 28 to March 4	February 20 to 24	February 5 to 8
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Tiradentes Day	April 21	April 21	April 21
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Civil Holiday³	July 9	July 9	July 9
Independence Day	September 7	September 7	September 7
Our Lady Aparecida	October 12	October 12	October 12
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
All Souls Day	November 2	November 2	November 2
Proclamation of the Republic	November 15	November 15	November 15
Immaculate Conception	December 8	December 8	December 8
Christmas Day*¹	December 25	December 25	December 25
New Year's Eve (Half Day)	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	Carnival takes place one week before the beginning of Lent. Mainly a Catholic observance.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	Only in State of Sao Paulo.
*¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press