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- 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
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- Comparative area: slightly smaller than the US
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- 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
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- Coastline: 7,491 km
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- Maritime claims:
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- Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
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- Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
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- Territorial sea: 200 nm
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- 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); claims a Zone of Interest in Antarctica
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- Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south
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- Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills,
- mountains, and narrow coastal belt
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- Natural resources: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium,
- phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, crude oil, timber
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- Land use: 7% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures;
- 67% forest and woodland; 6% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
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- 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
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- Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries
- with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
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- █ ≡ People ≡ █
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- Population: 152,505,077 (July 1990), growth rate 1.9% (1990)
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- Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1990)
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- Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
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- Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
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- Infant mortality rate: 69 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
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- Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1990)
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- Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)
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- Nationality: noun--Brazilian(s); adjective--Brazilian
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- Ethnic divisions: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black,
- Amerindian; 55% white, 38% mixed, 6% black, 1% other
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- Religion: 90% Roman Catholic (nominal)
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- Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
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- Literacy: 76%
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- Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); 42% services, 31% agriculture,
- 27% industry
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- Organized labor: 13,000,000 dues paying members (1989 est.)
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- █ ≡ Government ≡ █
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- Long-form name: Federative Republic of Brazil
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- Type: federal republic
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- Capital: Brasilia
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- Administrative divisions: 24 states (estados, singular--estado),
- 2 territories* (territorios, singular--territorio), 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 territories of Amapa and Roraima will become states
- on 15 March 1991
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- Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
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- Constitution: 5 October 1988
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- Legal system: based on Latin codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
- jurisdiction
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- National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
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- Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
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- Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional)
- consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or
- Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados)
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- Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal
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- 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)
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- Political parties and leaders: National Reconstruction Party (PRN),
- Daniel Tourinho, president; Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB),
- Ulysses Guimaraes, 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), Doutel de Andrade,
- president; Democratic Social Party (PDS), Jarbas Passarinho, 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
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- Suffrage: voluntary at age 16; compulsory between ages 18 and 70;
- voluntary at age 70
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- 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%;
- first free, direct presidential election since 1960;
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- Senate--last held 15 November 1986 (next to be held 3 October
- 1990); results--PMDB 60%, PFL 21%, PDS 8%, PDT 3%, others 8%;
- seats--(66 total) PMDB 43, PFL 15, PDS 6, PDT 2, others 6; note--as of
- 1990 Senate has 75 seats;
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- Chamber of Deputies--last held 15 November 1986 (next to
- be held 3 October 1990);
- results--PMDB 53%, PFL 23%, PDS 7%, PDT 5%, other 12%;
- seats--(495 total) PMDB 258, PFL 114, PDS 33, PDT 24, others 58;
- note--as of 1990 Chamber of Deputies has 570 seats
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- Communists: about 30,000
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- 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
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- Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC,
- ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO,
- IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council,
- OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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- 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 p55o (6) 321-7272; there are US Consulates
- General in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and Consulates in Porto Alegre and
- Recife
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- 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)
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- █ ≡ Economy ≡ █
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- Overview: The economy, a mixture of private enterprises of all
- sizes and extensive government intervention, experienced enormous
- difficulties in the late 1980s, notably declining real growth, runaway
- inflation, foreign debt obligations of more than $100 billion, and
- uncertain economic policy. Government intervention includes trade and
- investment restrictions, wage/price controls, interest and exchange rate
- controls, and extensive tariff barriers. Ownership of major industrial
- facilities is divided among private interests, the government, and
- multinational companies. Ownership in agriculture likewise is varied,
- with the government intervening in the politically sensitive
- issues involving large landowners and the masses of poor peasants.
- In consultation with the IMF, the Brazilian Government has initiated
- several programs over the last few years to ameliorate the stagnation
- and foreign debt problems. None of these has given more than temporary
- relief. The strategy of the new Collor government is to increase
- the pace of privatization, encourage foreign trade and investment,
- and establish a more realistic exchange rate. One long-run strength
- is the existence of vast natural resources.
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- GDP: $377 billion, per capita $2,500; real growth rate 3% (1989 est.)
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- Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,765% (1989)
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- Unemployment rate: 2.5% (December 1989)
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- Budget: revenues $27.8 billion; expenditures $40.1 billion,
- including capital expenditures of $8.8 billion (1986)
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- Exports: $34.2 billion (1989 est.);
- commodities--coffee, metallurgical products, chemical products,
- foodstuffs, iron ore, automobiles and parts;
- partners--US 28%, EC 26%, Latin America 11%, Japan 6% (1987)
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- Imports: $18.0 billion (1989 est.);
- commodities--crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs,
- coal;
- partners--Middle East and Africa 24%, EC 22%, US 21%, Latin
- America 12%, Japan 6% (1987)
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- External debt: $109 billion (December 1989)
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- Industrial production: growth rate 3.2% (1989 est.)
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- Electricity: 52,865,000 kW capacity; 202,280 million kWh produced,
- 1,340 kWh per capita (1989)
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- Industries: textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement,
- lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking,
- capital goods, tin
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- 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
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- Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and coca, mostly for
- domestic consumption; government has an active eradication program
- to control cannabis and coca cultivation
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- Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $2.5 billion; Western
- (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $9.5
- billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $284 million; Communist countries
- (1970-88), $1.3 billion
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- Currency: novo cruzado (plural--novos cruzados);
- 1 novo cruzado (NCr$) = 100 centavos
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- Exchange rates: novos cruzados (NCr$) per US$1--2.83392 (1989),
- 0.26238 (1988), 0.03923 (1987), 0.01366 (1986), 0.00620 (1985); note--
- 25 tourist/parallel rate (December 1989)
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- Fiscal year: calendar year
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- █ ≡ Communications ≡ █
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- 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
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- Highways: 1,448,000 km total; 48,000 km paved, 1,400,000 km gravel or
- earth
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- Inland waterways: 50,000 km navigable
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- Pipelines: crude oil, 2,000 km; refined products, 3,804 km; natural gas,
- 1,095 km
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- Ports: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre,
- Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos
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- Merchant marine: 271 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,855,708
- GRT/9,909,097 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 68 cargo, 1 refrigerated
- cargo, 12 container, 9 roll-on/roll-off, 56 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
- (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 14 combination ore/oil,
- 82 bulk, 2 combination bulk
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- Civil air: 176 major transport aircraft
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- Airports: 3,774 total, 3,106 usable; 386 with permanent-surface runways;
- 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,240-3,659 m; 503 with runways
- 1,220-2,439 m
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- 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
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- █ ≡ Defense Forces ≡ █
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- Branches: Brazilian Army, Navy of Brazil, Brazilian Air Force
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- Military manpower: males 15-49, 39,620,936; 26,752,307 fit for military
- service; 1,617,378 reach military age (18) annually
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- Defense expenditures: 0.6% of GDP, or $2.3 billion (1989 est.)