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Brasil
Following the end of three centuries of imperial rule by Portugal, Brasil (Brazil), by far the largest and most populous country in South America, has finally overcome decades of internal military interference thereby enabling it to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and the development of its vast interior. With immense natural resources and a large labour pool at its disposal, today Brasil is South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. However, its highly unequal income distribution remains a serious problem.
At 8,511,965 square kilometres and with a mostly tropical climate (temperate in the south), Brasil is slightly smaller than the U.S. Its northern, mostly flat-to-rolling lowlands transition to hills, mountains and a narrow coastal belt which altogether border every South American country except Ecuador and Chile.
Brasil suffers from recurring droughts in the northeast and from floods and occasional frost in the south. Deforestation in the Amazon Basin is destroying the habitat of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area. These problems are further exacerbated by a lucrative illegal wildlife trade and air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and several other large cities.
Brasil's population of approximately 176,000,000 is growing at an estimated rate of 0.87% annually with just over two births per woman. Life expectancy is 63.55 years for the total population (67.91 years for females, 59.4 years for males). Population composition is 55% white (Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish), 38% mixed white and black, 6% black and 1% other (Japanese, Arab, Amerindian). Approximately eighty per cent of Brasilians subscribe to the Roman Catholic faith. While Portuguese is the official language, Spanish, English and French are also frequently spoken. The literacy rate is 83%.
The Republica Federativa do Brasil is comprised of 26 states (estados) and 1 federal district (distrito federal) which holds the country's capital city, Brasilia. Independence was gained from Portugal on September 7, 1822 and today voting in elections is mandatory for citizens over age 18 and under age 70. The Chief of State (and head of government) since January 1, 2003 is President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who was elected with 61.3% of the vote to a four year term.
The legislative branch is comprised of a bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional which consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats with three members from each state or federal district elected by majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period and two-thirds elected after the next four-year period) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados (513 seats with members elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms).
The Brasilian flag is 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 Brasil. The globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress).
Brasil's economy which possesses large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors outweighs that of all other South American countries. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001 to less than 2% because of a slowdown in major markets and the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures (7.7% in 2001).
Click on the map at right for a larger view!
Twenty-two per cent of Brasil's people are estimated to live below the poverty line with the lowest 10% of the population having only 1% of household income. By comparison, the highest 10% of the population has 47% of household income. Unemployment stood at approximately 6.4% in 2001.
Brasil's major trading partners are the U.S. with approximately 24% of imports and exports, Argentina with 11%, Germany with 9%, Japan with 5.5% and Italy with 4%. For various reasons, Brasil remains burdened with a huge external debt and since 1999 the Brasilian currency (the Real) has once again floated independently of the U.S. dollar.
Brasil is an illicit producer of cannabis and a minor cultivator of coca in the Amazon region. It is also an important transshipment country for Colombian and Peruvian cocaine headed for the US and Europe. In recent years, there has been an upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling with illicit narcotics proceeds earned in Brasil often laundered through the financial system.
Aside from many of the problems facing Brasil, it has a good working telephone system, just under 2000 radio stations and approximately 140 television stations and 50 internet service providers.
Railway transportation (via the various gauges of track) totals more than 31,000 kilometres. Highways total almost two million kilometres with just under 200,000 of them currently paved and of the 3,365 airports in the country, 665 have paved runways.
All told, Brasil is a country of contrasts. From remote tropical rainforests to international tourist destinations, from small villages to one of the largest urban areas in the world, from extreme wealth to excruciating poverty, from places with all of the modern conveniences to areas with virtually none of them; this is Brasil, Land of "Christ Above the Clouds"!
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Kisses!