Brazil at a Glance

General Information

Official Name: Federative Republic of Brazil

 

Capital: Brasília

 

Official Language: Portuguese

 

System of Government: A Federative Repuglic with a multi-party political system. Brazil holds democratic elections for president, senators, representatives, state governors and legislators, mayors and municipal counsels. Brazil is the world leader in electronic online voting (100 million voters.)

 

Area: 3,286,470 square miles

 

Population: 190,732,694

 

Geography: Brazil is in east-central South America and occupies nearly 50% of the South American continent. Around 58% of Brazil is covered with forests, which include the largest rainforest in the world, located in the Amazon River basin. The country has eigh river systems, which carry aproximately 20% of the world's fresh water

 

Land Use: 58% forests, 22%pasture, 6%crops, 14% other use

 

Number os states: 26 and the Federal District

 

Most populated metropolitan regions: São Paulo (19.9 million), Rio de Janeiro (11.9 million), Belo Horizonte (5.4 million), Porto Alegre (4.1 million), Salvador (3.9 million), Recife (3.8 million), Fortaleza (3.6 million), Brasília (3.5 million), Curitiba (3.2 million) and Campinas (2.6million)

Economy

Money: The official currency is the Real, which is divided into 100 centavos

 

Main Products: Aircraft, bauxite, beef, cellulose, cereals, coffee, cocoa, crude oil and petrochemicals, diamonds, furniture, gold, households appliances, hydroelectric power engines, iron ore, manganese, motor vehicles, nickel, orange juice, phosphates, platinum, processed food, quartz crystals, rubber, shoes, silver, soybeans, steel, sugar, textiles, timber, tin, titanium, uranium and zinc

 

GDP: US$ 2 trillion

 

GPD growth in 2010: 7,5%

 

Estimated GPD growth for 2011: 5%

 

Unemployment rate: 5,7%

 

Inflation (2010): 5,9%

 

Exports (2010): US$ 201,9 billion

 

Imports (2010): US4 181,6 billion

 

Brazil-US trade (2010): US$ 59 billion

Demographics

Population Density: 58 persons per square mile

 

Urban/Rural: 81% urban, 19% rural

 

Sex Distribution: 48.8% male, 51.2% female

 

Age Breakdown: 27.6% under 15, 27.9% 15 to 29, 21.1% 30 to 44, 13.3% 45 to 59, 7.4% 60 to 74, 2.7% 75 and over