Brazil

total:

59.3 cu km/yr (20%/18%/62%)

per capita:

318 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

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 (2009 est.)

noun:

Brazilian(s)

adjective:

Brazilian

• 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

conventional long form:

Federative Republic of Brazil

conventional short form:

Brazil

local long form:

Republica Federativa do Brasil

local short form:

Brasil

name:

Brasilia

geographic coordinates:

15 47 S, 47 55 W

time difference:

UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins third Sunday in October; ends third Sunday in February

note: Brazil is divided into four time zones, including one for the Fernando de Noronha Islands

• 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

• voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70;
• compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age;
• note - military conscripts do not vote

chief of state:

• President Luiz Inacio 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

head of government:

President Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva (since 1 January 2003); Vice President Jose ALENCAR (since 1 January 2003)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single four-year term;
• election last held 1 October 2006 with runoff 29 October 2006 (next to be held 3 October 2010 and, if necessary, 31 October 2010)

election results:

Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva (PT) reelected president - 60.83%, Geraldo ALCKMIN (PSDB) 39.17%

• Supreme Federal Tribunal or STF (11 ministers are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate);
• Higher Tribunal of Justice;
• Regional Federal Tribunals (judges are appointed for life);
• note - though appointed "for life," judges, like all federal employees, have a mandatory retirement age of 70

• Brazilian Democratic Movement Party or PMDB [Federal Deputy Michel TEMER];
• Brazilian Labor Party or PTB [Roberto JEFFERSON];
• Brazilian Renewal Labor Party or PRTB [Jose Levy FIDELIX da Cruz];
• Brazilian Republican Party or PRB [Vitor Paulo Araujo DOS SANTOS];
• Brazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB [Senator Sergio GUERRA];
• Brazilian Socialist Party or PSB [Governor Eduardo Henrique Accioly CAMPOS];
• Christian Labor Party or PTC [Daniel TOURINHO];
• Communist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Jose Renato RABELO];
• Democratic Labor Party or PDT [Carlos Roberto LUPI];
• the Democrats or DEM (formerly Liberal Front Party or PFL) [Federal Deputy Rodrigo MAIA];
• Freedom and Socialism Party or PSOL [Heloisa HELENA];
• Green Party or PV [Jose Luiz de Franca PENNA];
• Humanist Party of Solidarity or PHS [Paulo Roberto MATOS];
• Labor Party of Brazil or PTdoB [Luis Henrique de Oliveira RESENDE];
• Liberal Front Party or PFL (now known as the Democrats or DEM);
• National Mobilization Party or PMN [Oscar Noronha FILHO];
• Party of the Republic or PR [Sergio TAMER];
• Popular Socialist Party or PPS [Federal Deputy Fernando CORUJA];
• Progressive Party or PP [Francisco DORNELLES];
• Social Christian Party or PSC [Vitor Jorge Abdala NOSSEIS];
• Workers' Party or PT [Ricardo Jose Ribeiro BERZOINI]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar PATRIOTA

chancery:

3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 238-2805

FAX:

[1] (202) 238-2827

consulate(s) general:

Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Clifford M. SOBEL

embassy:

Avenida das Nacoes, Quadra 801, Lote 3, Distrito Federal Cep 70403-900, Brasilia

mailing address:

Unit 3500, APO AA 34030

telephone:

[55] (61) 3312-7000

FAX:

[55] (61) 3225-9136

consulate(s) general:

Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo

consulate(s):

Recife

• 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)

agriculture:

20%

industry:

14%

services:

66% (2003 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.1%

highest 10%:

43% (2007)

revenues:

NA

expenditures:

NA

general assessment:

• good working system;
• fixed-line connections have remained relatively stable in recent years and stand at about 20 per 100 persons;
• less expensive mobile cellular technology is a major driver in expanding telephone service to the low-income segment of the population with mobile-cellular telephone density reaching 80 per 100 persons

domestic:

extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations; mobile-cellular usage has more than tripled in the past 5 years

international:

• country code - 55;
• landing point for a number of submarine cables, including Atlantis 2, that provide direct links to South and Central America, the Caribbean, the US, Africa, and Europe;
• satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to Mercosur Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station (2008)

• condensate/gas 62 km;
• gas 9,892 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 353 km;
• oil 4,517 km;
• refined products 4,465 km (2008)

total:

28,857 km

country comparison to the world: 10

broad gauge:

5,709 km 1.600-m gauge (459 km electrified)

standard gauge:

194 km 1.440-m gauge

narrow gauge:

22,954 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

1,751,868 km

country comparison to the world: 4

paved:

96,353 km

unpaved:

1,655,515 km (2004)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Atlantic Ocean as a significant risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships;
• numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

• 21-45 years of age for compulsory military service;
• conscript service obligation - 9 to 12 months;
• 17-45 years of age for voluntary service;
• an increasing percentage of the ranks are "long-service" volunteer professionals;
• women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in early 1980s when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks;
• women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps (2001)

males age 16-49:

52,449,957

females age 16-49:

52,375,921 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

38,043,555

females age 16-49:

44,267,520 (2009 est.)

male:

1,690,031

female:

1,630,851 (2009 est.)

• unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations;
• uncontested boundary dispute with Uruguay over Isla Brasilera at the confluence of the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada rivers, that form a tripoint with Argentina;
• the Itaipu Dam reservoir covers over a once contested section of Brazil-Paraguay boundary west of Guaira Falls on the Rio Parana;
• an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute

• second-largest consumer of cocaine in the world;
• illicit producer of cannabis;
• trace amounts of coca cultivation in the Amazon region, 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 Europe;
• also used by traffickers as a way station for narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia;
• upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling;
• important market for Colombian, Bolivian, and Peruvian cocaine;
• illicit narcotics proceeds are often laundered through the financial system;
• significant illicit financial activity in the Tri-Border Area (2008)