Basics about Brazil

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Basics about Brazil:

General:

bulletTotal area: 8,511,965 sq km
Land area: 8,456,510 sq km
bulletBorder countries: 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
bulletTotal border: 14,691 km
 

Land use:

bulletArable land: 6%
bulletPermanent crops: 2%
bulletOther: 92% (1998 est.)

Environmental problems:

bulletDeforestation in Amazon Basin
bulletLucrative illegal wildlife trade
bulletAir and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities
bulletLand degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities; wetland degradation; severe oil spills

People:

bulletPopulation: 176,029,560
Population  growth; 0.87% (2002 est.)
bullet0-14 years:    28%(male 25,140,954; female 24,199,276)
15-64 years:    66.4% (male 57,424,151; female 59,409,928)
65 years and over:    5.6% (male 3,992,017; female 5,863,234) (2002 est.)
bulletwhite (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%

Government:

bulletConventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
Conventional short form: Brazil
Local short form: Brasil
Local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil
bulletGovernment type:  Federative Republic
bulletCapital:  Brasilia
bulletConstitution:  5 October 1988
bulletSuffrage: 
bulletVoluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70
bulletCompulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age

Executive Branch:

bulletThe president is both the chief of state and head of government
bulletPresident and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms
bulletCabinet appointed by the president

Legislative Branch:

bulletBicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional
bulletFederal Senate or Senado Federal
bullet81 seats (3 members from each state or federal district)
bulletElected according to the principle of majority to serve 8-year terms;
bullet1/3 elected after a 4-year period, 2/3 elected after the next 4-year period
bulletChamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados
bullet513 seats
bulletMembers are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms

Judicial Branch: (need to confirm this)

bullet Supreme Federal Tribunal
bullet11 ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate
bullet Higher Tribunal of Justice
bullet Regional Federal Tribunals
bulletJudges are appointed for life

Political Parties:

bulletBrazilian Democratic Movement Party or PMDB [Michel TEMER, president]
bulletBrazilian Labor Party or PTB [Jose Carlos MARTINEZ, president]
bulletBrazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB [Senator Jose ANIBAL, president]
bulletBrazilian Socialist Party or PSB [Miguel ARRAES, president]
bulletBrazilian Progressive Party or PPB [Paulo Salim MALUF]
bulletCommunist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Renato RABELLO, chairman]
bulletDemocratic Labor Party or PDT [Leonel BRIZOLA, president]
bulletLiberal Front Party or PFL [Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president]
bulletLiberal Party or PL [Deputy Valdemar COSTA Neto, president]
bulletPopular Socialist Party or PPS [Senator Roberto FREIRE, president]
bulletWorker's Party or PT [Jose DIRCEU, president]

Pressure groups - left wing of the Catholic Church, Landless Worker's Movement, and labor unions allied to leftist Worker's Party are critical of government's social and economic policies

Source: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/br.html

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 Page created by Will Reichert, member of Team 1.
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Last updated: 10/21/02.