Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; three members from each state or federal district elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms) election results: PFL 20, PSDB 16, PT 7, PPB 5, PSB 3, PDT 2, PPS 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PFL 106, PSDB 99, PMDB 82, PPB 60, PT 58, PTB 31, PDT 25, PSB 19, PL 12, PCdoB 7, other 14 note: PSDB 13, PT 7, PDT 5, PSB 4, PTB 4, PPB 2, PPS 2, PL 1, independent 1; Chamber of Deputies - seats by party (as of January 2002) - PFL 96, PSDB 93, PMDB 90, PT 59, PPB 49, PTB 33, PL 24, PDT 17, PSB 16, PPS 13, PCdoB 10, other 13 elections: Federal Senate - last held 4 October 1998 for one-third of the Senate (next to be held 6 October 2002 for two-thirds of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held 4 October 1998 (next to be held 6 October 2002)
Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal (11 ministers are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate); Higher Tribunal of Justice; Regional Federal Tribunals (judges are appointed for life)
Political parties and leaders: Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
or PMDB [Michel TEMER, president]; Brazilian Labor Party or PTB [Jose
Carlos MARTINEZ, president]; Brazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB
[Senator Jose ANIBAL, president]; Brazilian Socialist Party or PSB [Miguel
ARRAES, president]; Brazilian Progressive Party or PPB [Paulo Salim
MALUF]; Communist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Renato RABELLO, chairman];
Democratic Labor Party or PDT [Leonel BRIZOLA, president]; Liberal Front
Party or PFL [Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president]; Liberal Party or PL [Deputy
Valdemar COSTA Neto, president]; Popular Socialist Party or PPS [Senator
Roberto FREIRE, president]; Worker's Party or PT [Jose DIRCEU, president]
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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
International organization participation: AfDB, BIS, CCC, ECLAC, FAO,
G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO,
ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA,
RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOP, UNMOVIC, UNTAET,
UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Rubens Antonio BARBOSA FAX: [1] (202) 238-2827 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco chancery: 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-2700
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Donna J. HRINAK embassy: Avenida das Nacoes, Quadra 801, Lote 3, Distrito
Federal Cep 70403-900, Brasilia mailing
[55] (061) 321-7272 FAX: consulate(s): Recife
Flag description: green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars (one for each state and the Federal District) 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 Brazil
Economy - overview: Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. The maintenance of large current account deficits via capital account surpluses became problematic as investors became more risk averse to emerging market exposure as a consequence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the Russian bond default in August 1998. After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a $41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the real would no longer be pegged to the US dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998, and the country posted moderate GDP growth. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001 - to less than 2% - because of a slowdown in major markets and the hiking of interest rates by the Central Bank to combat inflationary pressures. Investor confidence was strong at yearend 2001, in part because of the strong recovery in the trade balance.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.34 trillion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.9% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,400 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9% industry: 32% services: 59% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 22% (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1% highest 10%: 46.7% (1997)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 59.1 (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.7% (2001)
Labor force: 79 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 53%, agriculture 23%, industry 24%
Unemployment rate: 6.4% (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $100.6 billion expenditures: $91.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000)
Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 342.302 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 5.85% other: 3.74% (2000) hydro: 88.97% nuclear: 1.44%
Electricity - consumption: 360.641 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 42.3 billion kWh note: supplied by Paraguay (2000)
Agriculture - products: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef
Exports: $57.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: manufactures, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos
Exports - partners: US 24.4%, Argentina 11.2%, Germany 8.7%, Japan 5.5%,
Italy 3.9%, Netherlands (2001)
Imports: $57.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemical products, oil, electricity, autos and auto parts
Imports - partners: US 23.2%, Argentina 11.2%, Germany 8.7%, Japan 5.5%,
Italy 3.9% (2001)
Debt - external: $251 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: