Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/EDUCATE/ATLAS212.ARJ/231814.848

Text File | 1991-08-11 | 12KB | 301 lines

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

Comparative area: slightly smaller than the US

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

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 200 nm

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

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: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium,
phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, crude oil, timber

Land use: 7% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures;
67% forest and woodland; 6% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

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

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)

Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 69 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Brazilian(s); adjective--Brazilian

Ethnic divisions: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black,
Amerindian; 55% white, 38% mixed, 6% black, 1% other

Religion: 90% Roman Catholic (nominal)

Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Literacy: 76%

Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); 42% services, 31% agriculture,
27% industry

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

Type: federal republic

Capital: Brasilia

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

Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)

Constitution: 5 October 1988

Legal system: based on Latin codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)

Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet

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)

Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal

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)

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

Suffrage: voluntary at age 16; compulsory between ages 18 and 70;
voluntary at age 70

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;

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;

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

Communists: about 30,000

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

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

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Marcilio Marques MOREIRA; Chancery
at 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
[phone]; 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

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.

GDP: $377 billion, per capita $2,500; real growth rate 3% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,765% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 2.5% (December 1989)

Budget: revenues $27.8 billion; expenditures $40.1 billion,
including capital expenditures of $8.8 billion (1986)

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)

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)

External debt: $109 billion (December 1989)

Industrial production: growth rate 3.2% (1989 est.)

Electricity: 52,865,000 kW capacity; 202,280 million kWh produced,
1,340 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement,
lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking,
capital goods, tin

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

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and coca, mostly for
domestic consumption; government has an active eradication program
to control cannabis and coca cultivation

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

Currency: novo cruzado (plural--novos cruzados);
1 novo cruzado (NCr$) = 100 centavos

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)

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

Highways: 1,448,000 km total; 48,000 km paved, 1,400,000 km gravel or
earth

Inland waterways: 50,000 km navigable

Pipelines: crude oil, 2,000 km; refined products, 3,804 km; natural gas,
1,095 km

Ports: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre,
Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos

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

Civil air: 176 major transport aircraft

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

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

Military manpower: males 15-49, 39,620,936; 26,752,307 fit for military
service; 1,617,378 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: 0.6% of GDP, or $2.3 billion (1989 est.)