*Brazil, People
Population:
156,664,223 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.35% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
21.77 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
8.3 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
61.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
62.7 years
male:
58.28 years
female:
67.33 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.49 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Brazilian(s)
adjective:
Brazilian
Ethnic divisions:
Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, Amerindian, black 6%, white 55%,
mixed 38%, other 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic (nominal) 90%
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
81%
male:
82%
female:
80%
Labor force:
57 million (1989 est.)
by occupation:
services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
*Brazil, Government
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)
Constitution:
5 October 1988
Legal system:
based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
Political parties and leaders:
National Reconstruction Party (PRN), Daniel TOURINHO, president; Brazilian
Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Roberto ROLLEMBERG, president; Liberal
Front Party (PFL), Jose Mucio MONTEIRO, president; Workers' Party (PT), Luis
Ignacio (Lula) da SILVA, president; Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Luiz
GONZAGA de Paiva Muniz, president; Democratic Labor Party (PDT), Leonel
BRIZOLA, president; Democratic Social Party (PPS), Paulo MALUF, president;
Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Tasso JEREISSATI, president;
Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Roberto FREIRE, president; Communist Party of
Brazil (PCdoB), Joao AMAZONAS, secretary general; Christian Democratic Party
(PDC), Siqueira CAMPOS, president
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
Suffrage:
voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and
under 70 years of age
Elections:
Chamber of Deputies:
last held 3 October 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - PMDB
21%, PFL 17%, PDT 9%, PDS 8%, PRN 7.9%, PTB 7%, PT 7%, other 23.1%; seats -
(503 total as of 3 February 1991) PMDB 108, PFL 87, PDT 46, PDS 43, PRN 40,
PTB 35, PT 35, other 109
Federal Senate:
last held 3 October 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - percent
of vote by party NA; seats - (81 total as of 3 February 1991) PMDB 27, PFL
15, PSDB 10, PTB 8, PDT 5, other 16
*Brazil, Government
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%; note - first free, direct presidential election since 1960
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional) consists of an upper
chamber or Federal Senate (Senado Federal) 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 Itamar FRANCO (since 29 December 1992)
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, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS,
MERCOSUR, NAM (observer), OAS, ONUSAL, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UPU, WCL, WHO, WFTU, WIPO,
WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Rubens RICUPERO
chancery:
3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 745-2700
consulates general:
Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, and New York
consulates:
Dallas, Houston, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard MELTON
embassy:
Avenida das Nacoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal
mailing address:
APO AA 34030
telephone:
[55] (61) 321-7272
FAX:
[55] (61) 225-9136
consulates general:
Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo
consulates:
Porto Alegre, 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)
*Brazil, Economy
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. The government also
obtained an IMF standby loan in January 1992 and reached agreements with
commercial bankers on the repayment of interest arrears and on the reduction
of debt and debt service payments. Galloping inflation - the rate doubled in
1992 - continues to undermine economic stability. Itamar FRANCO, who assumed
the presidency following President COLLOR'S resignation in December 1992,
has promised to support the basic premises of COLLOR'S reform program but
has yet to define clearly his economic policies. Brazil's natural resources
remain a major, long-term economic strength.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $369 billion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
-0.2% (1992)
National product per capita:
$2,350 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1,174% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
5.9% (1992)
Budget:
revenues $164.3 billion; expenditures $170.6 billion, including capital
expenditures of $32.9 billion (1990)
Exports:
$35.0 billion (1992)
commodities:
iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee, motor vehicle parts
partners:
EC 32.3%, US 20.3%, Latin America 11.6%, Japan 9% (1991)
Imports:
$20.0 billion (1992)
commodities:
crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, coal
partners:
Middle East 12.4%, US 23.5%, EC 21.8%, Latin America 18.8%, Japan 6% (1991)
External debt:
$123.3 billion (December 1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate -3.8% (1992); accounts for 39% of GDP
Electricity:
63,765,000 kW capacity; 242,184 million kWh produced, 1,531 kWh per capita
(1992)
Industries:
textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron
ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking, capital goods, tin
*Brazil, Economy
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 modest eradication program to control cannabis and coca
cultivation; important transshipment country for Bolivian and Colombian
cocaine headed for the US and Europe
Economic aid:
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),
$1.3 billion
Currency:
1 cruzeiro (Cr$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
cruzeiros (Cr$) per US$1 - 13,827.06 (January 1993), 4,506.45 (1992), 406.61
(1991), 68.300 (1990), 2.834 (1989), 0.26238 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year