Brazil

Located in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fourth-largest in the world.

Brazil is bounded on the North by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the North East, Eeast, and South Eeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the South by Uruguay, on the South West by Argentina and Paraguay, on the West by Bolivia and Peru, and on the North West by Colombia. Brazil is a multicultural and multiethnic society, with people often having a mixed heritage of European, American, Asian, and African cultures. You can discover a melting-pot of geographic and cultural diversity. Brazil is a global leader in many industries, such as energy, agricultural, technology, and industrial sectors.

:: Background of Brazil ::

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 and crime remain pressing problems.

:: Geography of Brazil ::

Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S, 55 00 W

Area:
total: 8,511,965 sq km
land: 8,456,510 sq km
water: 55,455 sq km
note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Area – comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries: total: 16,885 km
border countries: Argentina 1,261 km, Bolivia 3,423 km, Colombia 1,644 km, French Guiana 730 km, Guyana 1,606 km, Paraguay 1,365 km, Peru 2,995 km, Suriname 593 km, Uruguay 1,068 km, Venezuela 2,200 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
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)

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

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.

Environment – 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. Signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements.

:: People of Brazil ::

Population: 196,342,592
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 under enumeration 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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 26,986,909/female 25,961,947)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 64,939,225/female 66,157,812)
65 years and over: 6.3% (male 5,182,987/female 7,113,707) (2008 est.)

Median age:
total: 28.3 years
male: 27.5 years
female: 29 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.228% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: 18.72 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: 6.35 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 23.33 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.95 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 19.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.71 years
male: 68.15 years
female: 75.45 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.22 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS – adult prévalence rate : 0.7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS: 660,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS – deaths: 15,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun: Brazilian(s) 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)

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)

Languages: Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note – less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages.

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.6%
male: 88.4%
female: 88.8% (2004 est.)