Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
People
Population: 152,505,077 (July 1990),
growth rate 1.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 69 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Brazilian(s); adjective—Brazilian
Ethnic divisions: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black, Amerindian; 55% white, 38% mixed, 6% black, 1% other
Religion: 90% Roman Catholic (nominal)
Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy: 76%
Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); 42% services, 31% agriculture, 27% industry
Organized labor: 13,000,000 dues paying members (1989 est.)
Government
Long-form name: Federative Republic of
Brazil
Type: federal republic
Capital: Brasília
Administrative divisions: 24 states (estados, singular—estado), 2 territories* (territórios, singular—território), and 1 federal district** (distrito federal); Acre, Alagoas, Amapá*, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal**, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia, Roraima*, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins; note—the territories of Amapá and Roraima will become states on 15 March 1991
Independence: 7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
Constitution: 5 October 1988
Legal system: based on Latin codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Cámara dos Deputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government President—Fernando Affonso COLLOR de Mello (since 15 March 1990); Vice President Itamar FRANCO (since 15 March 1990)
Political parties and leaders: National Reconstruction Party (PRN), Daniel Tourinho, president; Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Ulysses Guimarães, president; Liberal Front Party (PFL), Hugo Napoleão, president; Workers' Party (PT), Luis Ignácio (Lula) da Silva, president; Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Luiz Gonzaga de Paiva Muniz, president; Democratic Labor Party (PDT), Doutel de Andrade, president; Democratic Social Party (PDS), Jarbas Passarinho, president; Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Mário Covas, president; Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), Salomão Malina, secretary general; Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), João Amazonas, president
Suffrage: voluntary at age 16; compulsory between ages 18 and 70; voluntary at age 70
Elections: 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 Inácio da Silva 47%; first free, direct presidential election since 1960;
Senate—last held 15 November 1986 (next to be held 3 October 1990); results—PMDB 60%, PFL 21%, PDS 8%, PDT 3%, others 8%; seats—(66 total) PMDB 43, PFL 15, PDS 6, PDT 2, others 6; note—as of 1990 Senate has 75 seats;
Chamber of Deputies—last held 15 November 1986 (next to be held 3 October 1990); results—PMDB 53%, PFL 23%, PDS 7%, PDT 5%, other 12%; seats—(495 total) PMDB 258, PFL 114, PDS 33, PDT 24, others 58; note—as of 1990 Chamber of Deputies has 570 seats
Communists: about 30,000
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
Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Marcilio Marques MOREIRA; Chancery at 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 745-2700; there are Brazilian Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, and New York, and Consulates in Dallas, Houston, and San Francisco; US—Ambassador Richard MELTON; Embassy at Avenida das Nocoes, Lote 3, Brasilia, Distrito Federal (mailing address is APO Miami 34030); telephone [55](6) 321-7272; there are US Consulates General in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and Consulates in Pôrto Alegre and 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)
Economy
Overview: The economy, a mixture of
private enterprises of all sizes and extensive
government intervention, experienced
enormous difficulties in the late 1980s,
notably declining real growth, runaway
inflation, foreign debt obligations of more
than $100 billion, and uncertain economic
policy. Government intervention includes
trade and investment restrictions, wage/price
controls, interest and exchange rate
controls, and extensive tariff barriers.
Ownership of major industrial facilities is
divided among private interests, the
government, and multinational companies.
Ownership in agriculture likewise is
varied, with the government intervening in
the politically sensitive issues involving
large landowners and the masses of poor
peasants. In consultation with the IMF,
the Brazilian Government has initiated
several programs over the last few years
to ameliorate the stagnation and foreign
debt problems. None of these has given
more than temporary relief. The strategy
of the new Collor government is to
increase the pace of privatization, encourage
foreign trade and investment, and
establish a more realistic exchange rate.
One long-run strength is the existence of
vast natural resources.
GDP: $377 billion, per capita $2,500; real growth rate 3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,765% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 2.5% (December 1989)
