1986 Edition

Agriculture

main products — coffee, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, soybeans, cotton, manioc, oranges; nearly self-sufficient except for wheat; an illegal producer of coca and cannabis for the international drug trade

Airfields

4,188 total, 3,163 usable; 306 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 23 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 449 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

Area

8,512,100 k2m; larger than contiguous US; 60% forest; 23% built-on area, waste, and other; 13% pasture; 4% cultivated

Branches

strong executive with very broad powers; bicameral legislature (National Congress— Senate, Chamber of Deputies; powers of the two bodies are growing); 1 1-man Supreme Court

Brazilian Army, Navy of Brazil, Brazilian Air Force

Budget

(1984) public sector; revenue 64,235 billion cruzeiros; current expenditure, 59,997 billion curezeros; capital expenditure, 18,111 billion cruzeiros

Capital

Brasilia

Civil air

176 major transport aircraft

Coastline

7,491 km People

Communists

6,000, less than 1,000 militants

Crude steel

20.0 million metric tons capacity; 18.4 million metric tons produced (1984)

Elections

Tancredo Neves indirectly elected by an electoral college composed of members of congress and delegates from the state legislatures, ending 20 years of military rule; died before assuming office; municipal elections held November 1985; congressional and gubernatorial elections scheduled for November 1986 Political parties and leaders: Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Ulysses Guimaraes, president; Liberal Front Party of President Sarney's government coalition, Jorge Bornhausen, president; other parties — Workers Party (PT), Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Democratic Labor Party (PDT), and Democratic Social Party (PDS); Communist parties legalized in March 1985— Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) and Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)

Electric power

42,000,000 kW capacity (1985); 167 billion kWh produced (1985), • 1, 195 kWh per capita British Indian Ocean Territory

Ethnic divisions

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

Exports

$25.1 billion (f.o.b., 1985); soybeans, coffee, transport equipment, iron ore, steel products, chemicals, machinery, orange juice, shoes, sugar

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 828,900 metric tons (1982); exports, $162 million (f .o.b., 1982); imports, $80 million (f.o.b., 1982)

GNP

$321.4 billion, $1,610 per capita (1984 est); 83% consumption, 16% gross investment, 2% net foreign balance (1984 est.); real growth rate 8.3% (1985)

Government leader

Jose SARNEY Costa, President (since April 1985)

Highways

1,498,000 km total; 48,000 km paved, 1 ,400,000 km gravel or earth

Imports

$12.7 billion (f.o.b., 1985); petroleum, machinery, chemicals, fertilizers, wheat, copper

Infant mortality rate

92/1,000 (1981)

Inland waterways

50,000 km navigable

Labor force

50 million in 1984; 40% services, 35% agriculture, 25% industry

Land boundaries

13,076 km Water

Language

Portuguese (official), English

Legal system

based on Latin codes; dual system of courts, state and federal; constitution adopted in 1967 and extensively amended in 1969; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Life expectancy

62.8

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

200 nm

Literacy

76%

Major industries

textiles and other consumer goods, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles, other metalworking industries, capital goods, tin

Major trade partners

exports — 29% US, 23% EC, 11% Latin America, 6% Japan, 31% other (1984); imports — 36% oil exporters, 17% US, 16% Latin America, 12% EC, 4% Japan, 15% other (1984)

Member of

FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE — Inter-American Development Bank, 1FAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Economy

Military budget

estimated for fiscal year ending 31 December 1986, $3.0 billion; 6.5% of central government budget Salomon Islands Peros Banhos Chagos Archipelago Eagle Islands Egmont Islands

Military manpower

males 15-49, 35,989,000; 24,344,000 fit for military service; 1,527,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

8,900 cruzeiros=US$l (November 1985), with an inflation rate of 230% per year at the end of 1985; new currency introduced in March 1986; 13.8cruzados=US$l (March 1986)

National holiday

Independence Day, 7 September

Nationality

noun — Brazilian(s); adjective — Brazilian

Natural resources

iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium, tin, gemstones, hydroelectric power

Official name

Federative Republic of Brazil

Organized labor

about 6 million (1984) Government

Other political or pressure groups

left wing of the Catholic Church and labor unions allied to leftist Worker's Party were critical of military government's social and economic policies

Pipelines

crude oil, 2,000 km; refined products, 465 km; natural gas, 257 km

Political subdivisions

22 states, 4 territories, 1 federal district (Brasilia)

Population

143,277,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 2.5%

Ports

8 major, 23 significant minor

Railroads

29,300 km total; 25,500 km 1.000meter gauge, 3,500 km 1.600-meter gauge, 200 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 2,400 km 0.760-meter gauge; 879 km electrified

Religion

(1980) 89% Roman Catholic (nominal)

Suffrage

compulsory over age 18

Telecommunications

good telecom system; extensive radio relay facilities; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT stations with total of 3 antennas; 64 domestic satellite stations; 9.86 million telephones (7.3 per 100 pop].); 1,500 AM, 200 TV stations; 3 coaxial submarine cables Defense Forces

Type

federal republic; democratically elected president since March 1985

Voting strength

(November 1982 federal and state elections) 37% then progovernment PDS; 63% divided among four opposition parties (PMDB, PT, PTB, and PDT)