|
BRAZIL
OFFICIAL
NAME: Federative Republic of Brazil
CAPITAL CITY: Brasilia, population:
1.51 million
Following three centuries under the
rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By
far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil
has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in
the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural
growth and development of the interior. Exploiting vast natural
resources and a large labor pool, Brazil is today South America's
leading economic power and a regional leader. Highly unequal income
distribution remains a pressing problem
Location:
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
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
Coastline:
7,491 km
Water: 55,455 sq km
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, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200
km
Maritime
claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
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:
bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum,
tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber
Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 19%
forest and woodland: 67%
other: 6%
Irrigated
land: 26,560 sq km (1998 est.)
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, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land
degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities
natural hazards: 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 Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Desertification
Note:
largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with
every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
back to top
Population:
170,029,560
Age structure:
0-14 years: 31% (female 24,641,868; male 25,515,775)
15-64 years: 64% (female 51,966,272; male 51,254,165)
65 years and over: 5% (female 4,393,530; male 2,965,879)
(July 1995 est.)
Population
growth rate: 1.22% (1995 est.)
Birth rate:
21.16 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate:
8.98 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration
rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality
rate: 57.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy
at birth:
total population: 61.82 years
male: 56.57 years
female: 67.32 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility
rate: 2.39 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Brazilian(s)
adjective: Brazilian
Ethnic divisions:
Caucasian (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish)
55%, mixed Caucasian and African 38%, African 6%, other (includes
Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic (nominal) 70%
Languages:
Portuguese (official), English
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1991)
total population: 80%
male: 80%
female: 80%
Labor force:
57 million (1989 est.)
by occupation: services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
back to top
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
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: President Luiz Ignacio Lula DA SILVA (since
1 January 2003); Vice President Jose ALENCAR (since 1 January 2003);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
election results: in runoff election 27 October 2002, Luiz
Ignacio Lula DA SILVA (PT) was elected with 61.3% of the vote; Jose
SERRA (PSDB) 38.7%
elections: president and vice president elected on the same
ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 6
October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006); runoff election held
27 October 2002
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
head of government: President Luiz Ignacio Lula DA SILVA
(since 1 January 2003); Vice President Jose ALENCAR (since 1 January
2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
Legislative
branch: bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional)
Federal Senate (Senado Federal):
election last held 3 October
1994 for two-thirds of Senate (next to be held October 1996 for
one-third of the Senate); results - PMBD 28%, PFL 22%, PSDB 12%,
PPR 7%, PDT 7%, PT 6%, PTB 6%, other 12%
Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados): election last
held 3 October 1994 (next to be held October 1998); results - PMDB
21%, PFL 18%, PDT 7%, PSDB 12%, PPR 10%, PTB 6%, PT 10%, other 16%
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, president; Liberal Front Party (PFL),
Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president; Workers' Party (PT), Rui Goethe da
Costa FALCAO, president; Brazilian Workers' Party (PTB), Jose Eduardo
ANDRADE VIEIRA, president; Democratic Workers' Party (PDT), Anthony
GAROTINHO, president; Progressive Renewal Party (PPR), Espiridiao
AMIN, president; Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Artur
DA TAVOLA, president; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Roberto FREIRE,
president; Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Joao AMAZONAS, secretary
general; Liberal Party (PL), Alvero VALLE, 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, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer),
ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, MERCOSUR, NAM (observer), OAS, ONUSAL, OPANAL,
PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOMUR,
UNPROFOR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic
representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Paulo Tarso FLECHA de LIMA
chancery: 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: (202) 745-2700
FAX: (202) 745-2827
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami,
New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and San Francisco
consulate(s): Houston
US diplomatic
representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Melvyn LEVITSKY
embassy: Avenida das Nacoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal
mailing address: Unit 3500; 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
back to top
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 increased foreign competition. Itamar FRANCO, who assumed the
presidency following President COLLOR's resignation in December
1992, was out of step with COLLOR's reform agenda; initiatives to
redress fiscal problems, privatize state enterprises, and liberalize
trade and investment policies lost momentum. Galloping inflation
- by June 1994 the monthly rate had risen to nearly 50% - had undermined
economic stability. In response, the then finance minister, Fernando
Henrique CARDOSO, launched the third phase of his stabilization
plan, known as Plano Real, that called for a new currency, the real,
which was introduced on 1 July 1994. Inflation subsequently dropped
to under 3% per month through the end of 1994. The newly elected
President CARDOSO has called for the implementation of sweeping
market-oriented reform, including public sector and fiscal reform,
privatization, deregulation, and elimination of barriers to increased
foreign investment. Brazil's natural resources remain a major, long-term
economic strength.
National
product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $886.3 billion (1994
est.)
National
product real growth rate: 5.3% (1994 est.)
National
product per capita: $5,580 (1994 est.)
Inflation
rate (consumer prices): 1,094% (1994 est.)
Unemployment
rate: 4.9% (1993)
Budget:
revenues: $113 billion
expenditures: $109 billion, including capital expenditures
of $23 billion (1992)
Exports:
$43.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear,
coffee, cane sugar, motor vehicle parts
partners: EC 27.6%, Latin America 21.8%, US 17.4%, Japan
6.3% (1993)
Imports:
$33.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: 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: $134 billion (1994)
Industrial
production: growth rate 9.5% (1993); accounts for 39% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 55,130,000 kW
production: 241.4 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,589 kWh (1993)
Industries:
textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, mining (iron ore, tin),
steel making, machine building - including aircraft, motor vehicles,
motor vehicle parts and assemblies, and other machinery and equipment
Agriculture:
accounts for 11% 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 small-scale 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 Ex-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 (currency converter)
Exchange
rates: R$ per US$1 - 0.85 (January 1995); CR$ per US$1 - 390.845
(January 1994), 88.449 (1993), 4.513 (1992), 0.407 (1991), 0.068
(1990)
note: on 1 August 1993 the cruzeiro real (CR$), equal to
1,000 cruzeiros, was introduced; another new currency, the real,
was introduced on 1 July 1994, equal to 2,750 cruzeiro reals
Fiscal year:
calendar year
back to top
Railroads:
total: 30,612 km (1992)
broad gauge: 5,369 km 1.600-m gauge (1,108 km electrified)
standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge
narrow gauge: 24,739 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified);
13 km 0.760-m gauge
dual gauge: 310 km 1.600-m/1.000-m gauge (78 km electrified)
Highways:
total: 1,670,148 km
paved: 161,503 km
unpaved: gravel/earth 1,508,645 km (1990)
Inland waterways:
50,000 km navigable
Pipelines:
crude oil 2,000 km; petroleum products 3,804 km; natural gas 1,095
km
Ports:
Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre,
Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria
Merchant
marine:
total: 215 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,128,654 GRT/8,664,776
DWT
ships by type: bulk 52, cargo 34, chemical tanker 13, combination
ore/oil 12, container 12, liquefied gas tanker 11, oil tanker 64,
passenger-cargo 5, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo
11
Airports:
total: 3,467
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 5
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 126
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 286
with paved runways under 914 m: 1,652
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 76
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1,303
back to top
Telephone
system: 9.86 million telephones; telephone density - 61/1,000
persons; good working system
local: NA
intercity: extensive microwave radio relay systems and 64
domestic satellite earth stations
international: 3 coaxial submarine cables; 3 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth stations
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 1,223, FM 0, shortwave 151
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 112 (Brazil has the world's fourth largest
television broadcasting system)
televisions: NA
back to top
Branches:
Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes Marines), Brazilian Air
Force, Federal Police (paramilitary)
Manpower
availability: males age 15-49 44,301,765; males fit for military
service 29,815,576; males reach military age (18) annually 1,703,438
(1995 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $5.0 billion, 0.9% of GDP (1994)
back to top
The original
inhabitants of what is now Brazil were seminomadic Native Americans.
Europeans first landed in 1500. The first Portuguese colonial government
was established in 1549. Large numbers of African slaves were brought
in to provide labor. The founding of São Paulo occurred in 1554,
of Rio de Janeiro in 1567. Portugal and Brazil with it, was ruled
by Spain from 1580 to 1640.
The return of
Portuguese sovereignty was followed by expansion into the interior,
leading to a gold rush in 1693. Development of the lucrative coffee-
and sugar-growing industries began in the 1700s. Prosperity brought
settlers who were encouraged by the government in Portugal. The
government also freed Native American slaves.
In 1807 Rio
de Janeiro became the seat of the royal government of Portugal,
which had been driven from Lisbon by French emperor Napoleon I.
King John VI returned to Portugal in 1821, making his son, Dom Pedro,
later Pedro I, the regent of Brazil. When the Portuguese legislature
tried to return Brazil to colonial status against the will of most
Brazilians, Dom Pedro sided with the Brazilian nationalists, proclaimed
the country's independence, and become emperor of Brazil in 1822.
Dom Pedro's regime soon became unpopular, however. After losing
a war with Argentina in 1827, he abdicated in 1831 in favor of Pedro
II, who was then five years old. Pedro II became monarch in 1840.
Pedro II was
an able ruler, and the country prospered and grew during his long
reign, which continued until 1889. His government helped overthrow
neighboring dictatorships and took a series of steps to end slavery,
completing that process in 1888.
By then large
sections of the population favored a republic. A military revolt
led by Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca forced Pedro II to abdicate. Brazil
was proclaimed a republic with official separation of church and
state. A constitution like that of the United States was adopted
in 1891, and Brazil officially became the United States of Brazil.
Fonseca was elected its first president but soon ruled as a dictator,
only to yield to another.
Order was restored
during the administration of the first civilian president, Prudente
José de Moraes Barros, and succeeding administrations struggled
to strengthen the troubled Brazilian economy. World War I (1914-1918)
caused an increase in demand for Brazilian products on the world
market, and the Brazilian economy improved. Brazil contributed ships
and supplies to the success of the Allied forces.
After the war,
continually deepening economic crisis led to unrest, a large-scale
revolt, and martial law under President Artur da Silva Bernardes.
Continued economic trouble and an upsurge in radicalism prompted
his successor, Washington Luiz Pereira de Souza, to ban labor strikes
and repress communism.
Brought to power
by military revolt in 1930, Getúlio Dornelles Vargas ruled for the
next 15 years. His government followed mixed policies of social
reform and repression, and the economy continued to struggle. Woman
suffrage and social security were established, but by 1937 Brazil
was a totalitarian state. During this period, Brazil was friendly
with the United States and other democracies but broke ties with
the Nazi Third Reich because of German political activity in Brazil,
including support of an open revolt.
Brazil sided
with the Allies in World War II (1939-1945), again using increased
world demand for raw materials to expand its economy. It contributed
direct military support, access to bases, and vital supplies to
the defeat of the Axis powers.
After the war,
the Vargas regime loosened its political grip. National elections
were scheduled for late 1945. Amid fears that Vargas would retain
his dictatorship, opponents ousted him by a military coup. Elections
proceeded, and former Minister of War Eurico Gaspar Dutra won the
presidency.
Vargas was elected
president in 1950, and his coalition government at once moved to
balance the budget while improving the standard of living. It did
not succeed. In 1954 military leaders forced Vargas to resign; he
then committed suicide.
For the next
three decades, Brazil suffered a series of unstable governments
followed by military rule. Attempts to stimulate the economy with
foreign loans foundered on sinking coffee prices. Rigorous austerity
measures were abandoned. Pressured by the military, the legislature
amended the constitution in 1961 to strip the presidency of most
powers. Two years later the legislature restored presidential powers.
Opposition parties were outlawed or refused to enter candidates
in elections. Despite repression, unrest became widespread.
During this
time, the economy grew, but the plight of the poor worsened. The
Roman Catholic clergy criticized government failure to help the
disadvantaged. Economic growth also brought inflation, high energy
costs, and difficulties with loan payments.
Brazil returned
to civilian rule with the election of Tancredo Neves in 1985. However,
he died before taking office, and José Sarney became president.
Faced with rising inflation and a huge foreign debt, Sarney imposed
an austerity program that included introducing a new unit of currency.
A new constitution restoring civil liberties and providing for direct
presidential elections was enacted in 1988.
Fernando Collor
de Mello was elected president in 1989. His term was marked by an
anti-inflationary recession and by allegations of financial corruption.
Shortly after Brazil hosted the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, in 1992, Collor
was impeached. He resigned his post to Vice President Itamar Franco.
In 1994 a plan to restructure and reduce Brazil's foreign debt was
implemented. In the same year, Brazil joined other Latin American
and Caribbean nations by declaring itself free of nuclear weapons.
Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, a former finance minister responsible for much of Brazil's
economic recovery, won the 1994 presidential elections. Soon afterward,
Collor was acquitted of corruption charges.
Cardoso's administration
found itself caught up in issues of land ownership and land use.
By a 1995 presidential decree, Cardoso redistributed tracts of land
from large, private estates to poor families. In 1996 he signed
a decree allowing people other than Native Americans to appeal land
allocation decisions made by Brazil's Indian Affairs Bureau. The
law was widely condemned by human rights, Native American, and religious
organizations
back to top
|
