BRAZIL – FACT SHEET

Official Name                         Federative Republic of Brazil

Area                                        8.51 million sq. kms. (about 2.6 times that of India)

Capital                                     Brasilia (Since 1960)

Major cities                             Sao Paulo (17.14 m), Rio de Janeiro (10.39 m),

                                               Belo Horizonte (3.98 m), Salvador (2.8 m),

Fortaleza (2.7 m), Brasilia (2.0 m).

Population                                184 million (2005)

Language                                 Portuguese (unilingual country)

Administrative Divisions           26 States and the Federal District of Brasilia

Life Expectancy                      71.4 years (2004)

Infant Mortality                      30.7 per  1000 births (2004)

Literacy                                   86.7  per cent (2003)

G.D.P.                                        US$ 459.4 billion approx – 2002

US$506.8 billion – 2003  
            US$ 605 billion – 2004 
            US$ 796.3 billion - 2005

 Per Capita Income                    US$ 4323 approx. – 2005

 G.D.P. Growth                           0.82 % (1999)

                                               4.02 % (2000)

                                               1.42 %  (2001)

                                               1.90 %  (2002)

                                               0.50 % (2003)

                                               5.20 % (2004)

                                               2.30 % (2005) 

 Major Natural Resources:

            Iron Ore, Gold, Bauxite, Aluminium, Silver, Oil, Precious and Semi-precious Stones.

 Principal Crops:

            Coffee, Cocoa, Corn, Cotton, Oranges, Soyabean, Sugar, Tobacco and Wheat.

 Foreign Trade: (all figures in US$)

                                        2004                                       2005                           2006

Total Global Exports    :96.475 billion                         118.308 billion                137.5 billion

Exports to India          :651.510 million                        1136.81 million                 937 million

 Total Global Imports    :62.782 billion                         73.551 billion                91.4 billion

Imports from India      :555.930 million                        1202.73 million            1474  million

 Major trading partners:  US, China, EU, Japan and Argentina

Some Key Indicator of Brazilian Economy

Constitution:

            Brazil's present Constitution was promulgated in October 1988 following the restoration of civilian rule three years earlier.  The Constitution established a Republic with a presidential form of government.  A referendum in 1993 overwhelmingly supported this in favour of a monarchy and a parliamentary system.  One significant amendment came in 1997 when the President and State Governors  were allowed to seek a second consecutive term.

            Brazil is a Federation comprising 26 States and the Federal District of Brasilia.  Each state has its own administration, legislature and judiciary.  The State Administration is headed by the Governor, who is directly elected by the people for a four-year term.  The judiciary comprises the Federal Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and various subordinate bodies.

Executive:        Presidential form of Government.  President directly elected for 4 years.

Legislature:      Bicameral         :           Senate             -           -           81 Members

                                                           (Elected for 8 year term)

                                                           Chamber of Deputies    -           513 Members

Head of State:             Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (assumed office on 1.1.2003, belongs Labour Party)

Vice-President             Mr. Jose Alencar Gomes da Silva (Belongs to Liberal Party)

Foreign Minister          Mr. Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim

Finance Minister          Mr. Guido Mantega

Defence Minister         Mr. Waldir Pires

Membership of international organizations:

1.                    UN and its Specialised Agencies

2.                   WTO, IMF and World Bank

3.                   Rio Group, MERCOSUR, ALADI

4.                   G-15, Cairns Group

5.                   Observer Status - NAM

Indian Community:

            About 375 families living in various cities with the largest number in Sao Paulo.  Most Indians in Brazil are professionals: scientists, engineers and professors.  There is a small business community in Sao Paulo, Manaus and Foz de Iguacau.

Climate:

            The climate varies considerably from the equatorial north to the tropical and sub-tropical south.  In the states of Amazon, Para, Maranhao, parts of Mato Grosso, the climate is equatorial. In the central region and the southeast of Brazil, the climate is mainly tropical.  In Brasilia as well the climate is tropical. The seasons could mainly be defined as dry (May-September) with humidity level reaching 12 per cent and wet (October-April).  In southern Brazil the climate is mainly sub-tropical.  The rains are distributed with average rainfall of 100 cms per annum.  The inland parts of north east Brazil are semi-arid and are drought prone.

Air Links:

            Though there are many international airports, direct flights to the US and Europe are mainly through Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.  Most major airlines of the US and Europe fly to Brazil though not to Brasilia.  There is an excellent internal airline network serviced by private airlines.  There are no direct air links with India.

Currency:

            The "Real", a new currency, was introduced on July 1, 1994.  The current rate of exchange is US$1 = Real 2.17 (on June 19, 2006)

Time:

            IST minus eight and half hours  (MARCH TO SEPTEMBER)

            IST minus seven and half hours  (OCTOBER TO FEBRUARY)

             Located between longitudes 35 degrees and 74 degrees west and latitudes 5 degrees north and 35 degrees south, Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country, with an area of 8.51 million sq. kms.  Occupying 47.3 per cent of the landmass of the South American continent, it is 2.6 times the size of India.  It borders every country of South America except Chile and Ecuador.  It has a coastline of 7,407 kms. on the Atlantic Ocean.

 Demography

2.         Brazil has a multi-racial society.  It has seen considerable intermixing of migrants who have come from all over the world: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Lebanon, Japan, Korea and China.  There is also a large African population, brought till the late 19th century as slave labour.  A very small American Indian population (about 300,000) survives in the Amazon and other remote areas.  The composition of the 170 million people is of European origin, mixed race, African origin and of Japanese origin.  However, despite racial inter-mingling, political and economic power is monopolized by people of European origin. 

 3.         Brazil is a monolingual country.  Portuguese is the official language.  The religion is predominantly Roman Catholic.   A cult of African origin, Candomble, is still strong among its people and has been allowed to co-exist with the Catholic faith.  75 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, mainly on the east coast.

 4.         Brazilian society is marked by very high economic disparity.  10 per cent of the people own 47 per cent of the national wealth.  Though living standards have improved in recent decades, about 40 per cent of the population still lives below the poverty line.  A concerted effort by the government after World War II has raised the literacy rate to 85 per cent.   Violence is endemic in the country, with around 40,000 homicides every year.   Most of the violence these days relates to organized crime, gang rivalry and drug trafficking. 

 History

 5.         There is no recorded history of Brazil before the Portuguese conquest and colonization.  The evidence available is mainly archaeological and anthropological and the records of the Europeans.  Portugal’s claim to Brazil was based on a Papal Bull of 1493, which, following Columbus’ exploration, divided all newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.  The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) between the two countries reaffirmed the deal with some changes.  Brazil’s “discovery” is officially attributed to Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500.  Cabral is reported to have been blown-off-course on his way to India, where he had been dispatched by Portugal soon after Vasco da Gama’s return.

 6.         The Portuguese called the country ‘Terra de Vera Cruz’ but it was a redwood tree, ‘pau-brasil’, and the first of the country’s vast natural resources to be exploited that eventually gave the country its name.  Like many of its other resources ‘brasil’ was exploited to extinction by the Portuguese.

 7.         Portugal’s claim to Brazil was disputed by many European countries and it had to ward off raids from the French, the Dutch and British as also the Spanish to maintain its hold over the vast territory.  Portugal was helped by the fact that no gold was discovered till 1693, which made it a relatively unattractive region.  Though gold was eventually found and it became the leading export in the 18th century, Brazil’s main exports through its history have been agricultural: sugar, coffee, rubber, cocoa, cotton and tobacco.  These were grown in vast plantations and exported to Europe and the US.  There was no shortage of land but a perpetual shortage of labour in the country.  It was Africa that was to provide the labour to exploit the land.  Brazil destroyed all records pertaining to the slave trade soon after slavery was abolished in 1888, but according to one estimate, over 6 million Africans had been brought to Brazil by 1810 as slaves.

 8.         Brazil’s importance in the Portuguese empire rose suddenly in 1808 when the Lisbon court took shelter in Rio de Janeiro following Napoleon's invasion. The Portuguese King,  Don Joao VI, returned to Portugal in 1821, leaving behind his son Don Pedro, who declared himself independent in 1822.  He and his son, Pedro II, ruled Brazil till 1889.  The monarchy helped the colony develop as a single nation.  England, which had provided naval protection to the fleeing rulers of Portugal and later to the newly independent Brazil, became its main trading partner after independence and continued to remain so till 1926 when it was overtaken by the US.

 9.         A prolonged border war with Paraguay (1864-70) led to the formation of a large army in Brazil.  After the war, the army became a major force in the country’s politics.  In 1889, disturbances broke out against the monarchy following one of Brazil’s frequent economic downturns.  The army seized power and remained the principal arbiter of power in Brazil for a century.  The army started relaxing its control after 1974 and permitted a controlled opening up of politics to civilian groups.  It formally handed over power to President Jose Sarney after elections in 1985 when the deteriorating economy led to mass demonstrations.

 10.       President Sarney (1985-89) introduced the Cruzado Plan in 1986 to stabilize the economy and had a new Constitution drafted in 1988.  His successor, Fernando Collar de Mello was impeached in 1992 for corruption.  Itamar Franco took over as President for the remainder of his term till 1994.  In July 1994, his Finance Minister, Fernando Henrique Cardoso introduced the Real Plan to stabilize the currency and control inflation.  Later in 1994, Cardoso won the Presidential election.  He used his consequent popularity to amend the Constitution to permit the President to seek a second term.  His re-election in 1998 was by a comfortable margin. On January 1, 2003, he handed over power to Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva who had won a landslide victory in Presidential elections in October 2002.  Lula is the first ever left-leaning/socialist President of Brazil.