Informazioni sul Brasile (Fonte: CIA -- The World Factbook 1999 |
[Top] Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S, 55 00 W Map references: South America Area: Areacomparative: slightly smaller than the US Land boundaries: Coastline: 7,491 km Maritime claims: 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:
Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber Land use: Irrigated land: 28,000 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south Environmentcurrent 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 Environmentinternational
agreements: Geographynote: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador |
[Top] Population: 171,853,126 (July
1999 est.) Age structure: Population growth rate: 1.16% (1999 est.) Birth rate: 20.42 births/1,000 population (1999 est.) Death rate: 8.79 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.) Net migration rate: -0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.) Sex ratio: Infant mortality rate: 35.37 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.) Life expectancy at
birth: Total fertility rate: 2.28 children born/woman (1999 est.) Nationality: Ethnic groups: white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1% Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 70% Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French Literacy: |
[Top] Country name: Data code: BR Government type: federal republic Capital: Brasilia Administrative divisions: 26 states (estados, singularestado) 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:
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional
consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81
seats; three members from each state or federal district
elected according to the principle of majority to serve
eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four year
period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year
period) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos
Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional
representation to serve four-year terms) Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal, 11 judges are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate Political parties and leaders: Brazilian Democratic Movement Party or PMDB [Paes DE ANDRADE, president]; Liberal Front Party or PFL [Jose JORGE, president]; Workers' Party or PT [Jose DIRCEU, president]; Brazilian Workers' Party or PTB [Rodrigues PALMA, president]; Democratic Labor Party or PDT [Leonel BRIZOLA, president]; Brazilian Progressive Party or PPB [Espiridiao AMIN, president]; Brazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB [Artur DA TAVOLA, president]; Popular Socialist Party or PPS [Roberto FREIRE, president]; Communist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Joao AMAZONAS, chairman]; Liberal Party or PL [Alvaro VALLE, president] Political pressure groups and leaders: left wing of the Catholic Church, Landless Worker's Movement, and labor unions allied to leftist Workers' Party are critical of government's social and economic policies International organization participation: AfDB, BIS, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MONUA, MTCR, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMOP, UNPREDEP, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic
representation in the US: Diplomatic
representation from the US: Flag description: 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) |
[Top] Economyoverview: 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. Prior to the institution of a stabilization planthe Plano Real (Real Plan) in mid-1994, stratospheric inflation rates had disrupted economic activity and discouraged foreign investment. Since then, tight monetary policy has brought inflation under controlconsumer prices increased by 2% in 1998 compared to more than 1,000% in 1994. At the same time, GDP growth slowed from 5.7% in 1994 to about 3.0% in 1997 due to tighter credit. The Real Plan faced its strongest challenge in 1998, as the world financial crisis caused investors to more closely examine the country's structural weaknesses. The most severe spillover for Brazilafter Russia's debt default in August 1998created unrelenting pressure on the currency which forced the country to hike annual interest rates to 50%. Approximately $30 billion in capital left the country in August and September. 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. Capital continued to leach out of the country, and investors, concerned about the rising mountain of debt and currency widely-viewed as overvalued, stayed on the sidelines. In January 1999, Brazil made an abrupt shift of course in exchange rate policy, abandoning the strong currency anti-inflation anchor of the Real Plan. On 13 January 1999, Central Bank officials announced a one-time 8% devaluation of the real, and on 15 January 1999, the currency was declared to be freely floating. President CARDOSO remains committed to limiting inflation and weathering the financial crisis through austerity and sacrifice as the country rides out a deep recession. He hopes the country will resume economic growth in the second half of 1999, so that he can once again focus on his longer-term goal of reducing poverty and income inequality. CARDOSO still hopes to address mandated revenue sharing with the states and cumbersome procedures to amend the constitution before the end of his second term. GDP: purchasing power parity$1.0352 trillion (1998 est.) GDPreal growth rate: 0.5% (1998) GDPper capita: purchasing power parity$6,100 (1998 est.) GDPcomposition
by sector: Population below poverty line: 17.4% (1990 est.) Household income or
consumption by percentage share: Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1998) Labor force: 57 million (1989 est.) Labor forceby occupation: services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27% Unemployment rate: 8.5% (1998 est.) Budget: 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.) Electricityproduction: 291.63 billion kWh (1997) Electricityproduction
by source: Electricityconsumption: 323.215 billion kWh (1996) Electricityexports: 8 million kWh (1996) Electricityimports:
37.5 billion kWh (1996) Agricultureproducts: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef Exports: $51 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Exportscommodities: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee, motor vehicle parts Exportspartners: EU 28%, Latin America (excluding Argentina) 23%, US 20%, Argentina 12% (1996) Imports: $57.6 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Importscommodities: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal Importspartners: EU 26%, US 22%, Argentina 13%, Japan 5% (1996) Debtexternal: $258.1 billion (December 1998) Economic aidrecipient: $1.012 billion (1995) Currency: 1 real (R$) = 100 centavos Exchange rates:
reals (R$) per US$11.501 (January 1999), 1.161 (1998),
1.078 (1997), 1.005 (1996), 0.918 (1995), 0.639 (1994);
CR$ per US$1390.845 (January 1994) Fiscal year: calendar year |
[Top] Telephones: 14,426,673 (1992 est.) Telephone system:
good working system Radio broadcast stations: AM 1,627, FM 251, shortwave 114 (of which 91 are associated with AM stations) (1998) Radios: 60 million (1993 est.) Television broadcast stations: 138 (1997) Televisions: 30 million (1993 est.) |
[Top] Railways: Highways: Waterways: 50,000 km navigable Pipelines: crude oil 2,980 km; petroleum products 4,762 km; natural gas 4,246 km (1998) Ports and harbors: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria Merchant marine: Airports: 3,265 (1998 est.) Airportswith
paved runways: Airportswith
unpaved runways: |
[Top] Military branches: Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes naval air and marines), Brazilian Air Force, Federal Police (paramilitary) Military manpowermilitary age: 18 years of age Military manpoweravailability:
Military manpowerfit
for military service: Military manpowerreaching
military age annually: Military expendituresdollar figure: $14.7 billion (1998) Military expenditurespercent of GDP: 1.9% (1998) |
[Top] Disputesinternational: two short sections of boundary with Uruguay are in disputeArroio 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 Illicit drugs:
limited illicit producer of cannabis, minor coca
cultivation in the Amazon region, mostly used for
domestic consumption; government has a large-scale
eradication program to control cannabis; important
transshipment country for Bolivian, Colombian, and
Peruvian cocaine headed for the US and Europe;
increasingly used by traffickers as a way station for
narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia |
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