1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total area: 8,511,965 km2 land area: 8,456,510 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than the US note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo
Climate
mostly tropical, but temperate in south
Coastline
7,491 km
Environment
recurrent droughts in northeast; floods and frost in south; deforestation in Amazon basin; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities
International disputes
short section of the boundary with Paraguay (just west of Guaira Falls on the Rio Parana) is in dispute; two short sections of boundary with Uruguay are in dispute - Arrio Invernada (Arroyo de la Invernada) area of the Rio Quarai (Rio Cuareim) and the islands at the confluence of the Rio Quarai (Rio Cuareim) and the Uruguay
Irrigated land
27,000 km2 (1989 est.)
Land boundaries
total 14,691 km, Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643 km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru 1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km
Land use
arable land: 7% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 19% forest and woodland: 67% other: 6%
Location
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Map references
South America, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium, phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, petroleum, timber
Note
largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
Terrain
mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt
People and Society
Birth rate
21.77 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
8.3 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Ethnic divisions
Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, Amerindian, black 6%, white 55%, mixed 38%, other 1%
Infant mortality rate
61.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Labor force
57 million (1989 est.) by occupation: services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
Languages
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 62.7 years male: 58.28 years female: 67.33 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 81% male: 82% female: 80%
Nationality
noun: Brazilian(s) adjective: Brazilian
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
156,664,223 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
1.35% (1993 est.)
Religions
Roman Catholic (nominal) 90%
Total fertility rate
2.49 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
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
Capital
Brasilia
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
Chief of State and Head of Government
President Itamar FRANCO (since 29 December 1992)
Constitution
5 October 1988
Digraph
BR
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
Executive branch
president, vice president, Cabinet
FAX
[55] (61) 225-9136 consulates general: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo consulates: Porto Alegre, Recife
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
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)
Independence
7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
Judicial branch
Supreme Federal Tribunal
Legal system
based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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)
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
Names
conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil conventional short form: Brazil local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil local short form: Brasil
National holiday
Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
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
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
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
Suffrage
voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age
Type
federal republic
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
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
Budget
revenues $164.3 billion; expenditures $170.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $32.9 billion (1990)
Currency
1 cruzeiro (Cr$) = 100 centavos
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), $1.3 billion
Electricity
63,765,000 kW capacity; 242,184 million kWh produced, 1,531 kWh per capita (1992)
Exchange rates
cruzeiros (Cr$) per US$1 - 13,827.06 (January 1993), 4,506.45 (1992), 406.61 (1991), 68.300 (1990), 2.834 (1989), 0.26238 (1988)
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)
External debt
$123.3 billion (December 1992)
Fiscal year
calendar year
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
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)
Industrial production
growth rate -3.8% (1992); accounts for 39% of GDP
Industries
textiles and other consumer goods, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, steel, motor vehicles and auto parts, metalworking, capital goods, tin
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
1,174% (1992)
National product
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $369 billion (1992)
National product per capita
$2,350 (1992)
National product real growth rate
-0.2% (1992)
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.
Unemployment rate
5.9% (1992)
Communications
Airports
total: 3,613 usable: 3,031 with permanent-surface runways: 431 with runways over 3,659 m: 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 22 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 584
Highways
1,448,000 km total; 48,000 km paved, 1,400,000 km gravel or earth
Inland waterways
50,000 km navigable
Merchant marine
232 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,335,234 GRT/8,986,734 DWT; includes 5 passenger-cargo, 42 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 10 container, 11 roll-on/roll-off, 58 oil tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 12 combination ore/oil, 65 bulk, 2 combination bulk, 11 vehicle carrier; in addition, 1 naval tanker is sometimes used commercially
Pipelines
crude oil 2,000 km; petroleum products 3,804 km; natural gas 1,095 km
Ports
Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos
Railroads
28,828 km total; 24,864 km 1.000-meter gauge, 3,877 km 1.600-meter gauge, 74 km mixed 1.600-1.000-meter gauge, 13 km 0.760-meter gauge; 2,360 km electrified
Telecommunications
good system; extensive microwave radio relay facilities; 9.86 million telephones; broadcast stations - 1,223 AM, no FM, 112 TV, 151 shortwave; 3 coaxial submarine cables, 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations and 64 domestic satellite earth stations
Military and Security
Branches
Brazilian Army, Navy of Brazil (including Marines), Brazilian Air Force, Military Police (paramilitary)
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $1.1 billion, 3% of GDP (1990)
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 42,623,934; fit for military service 28,721,849; reach military age (18) annually 1,655,918 (1993 est.)