Languages:
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 86.1%
female: 86.6% (2003 est.)
Government Brazil
Country name:
conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
conventional short form: Brazil
local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil
local short form: Brasil
Government type:
federative republic
Capital:
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
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