Land boundaries:
total: 14,691 km
border 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
Coastline:
7,491 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin
Climate:
mostly tropical, but temperate in south
Terrain:
mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills,
mountains, and narrow coastal belt
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m
Natural resources:
bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum,
tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber
Land use: arable land: 6.96% permanent crops: 0.9% other: 92.15% (2001)
Irrigated land:
26,560 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in
south
Environment - current issues:
deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers a
multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; there
is a lucrative illegal wildlife trade; air and water pollution in
Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land
degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining
activities; wetland degradation; severe oil spills
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with
every South American country except Chile and Ecuador
People Brazil
Population:
186,112,794
note: Brazil took a count in August 2000, which reported a
population of 169,799,170; that figure was about 3.3% lower than
projections by the US Census Bureau, and is close to the implied
underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census; estimates for this
country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality
due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant
mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and
changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would
otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 26.1% (male 24,789,495/female 23,842,715)
15–64 years: 67.9% (male 62,669,392/female 63,719,631)
65 years and over: 6% (male 4,549,552/female 6,542,009) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 27.81 years
male: 27.06 years
female: 28.57 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.06% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
16.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
6.15 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
−0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 29.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 33.37 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 25.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.69 years
male: 67.74 years
female: 75.85 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.93 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
660,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
15,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Brazilian(s)
adjective: Brazilian
Ethnic groups:
white 53.7%, mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%, black 6.2%,
other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%, unspecified 0.7%
(2000 census)
Religions:
Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spriritualist
1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4%
(2000 census)
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 86.1%
female: 86.6% (2003 est.)
Government Brazil
Country name:
conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
conventional short form: Brazil
local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil
local short form: Brasil
Government type:
federative republic
Capital:
Brasilia
Administrative