Brazil

Country Profile

 

Introduction:

Brazil is the largest country in South America, occupying nearly one-half of the entire area of the continent. It borders every nation on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. The total area of Brazil is 3,286,488 square miles (8,511,965 square km); its maximum north-south distance is about 2,700 miles (about 4,350 km), and its maximum east-west distance is about 2690 miles (about 4330 km).

Most of the people of Brazil live near the Atlantic Ocean, notably in great cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but the capital is inland, at Brasú‰ia. The largest cities of the country are: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador, and Belo Horizonte.

 

Government:

            Brazil is a federal republic under the 1988 constitution. The president and vice president are elected for a 4-year term. A 1997 amendment to the constitution allows them to run for consecutive terms. The national congress maintains a bicameral structure -- a Senate, whose members serve eight-year terms, and a Chamber of Deputies, elected for four-year terms. The current president is Fernando Henrique Cardoso (since 1994).

 

Legal system:

            Brazil is based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

Population:

            Four major groups make up the Brazilian population: (1) Native Americans, who live primarily in the northern and western border regions; (2) Portuguese, whose ancestors began colonizing the country in the 16th century; (3) Africans, whose ancestors were brought to Brazil as slaves; and (4) various European and Asian immigrant groups that came to the country beginning in the 19th century.

People of European descent, primarily Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish compose 55 percent of the population. About 38 percent are mixed African and European. About 6 percent are African and Native American, and 1 percent are Asian.

            The size of the population in 1999 (estimate) is 171,853,126 (with an average annual rate of natural increase of 1.16%) The birth rate is 20.4/1000. The infant mortality rate is 39.1/1000. The density per square mile is 52.

 

Religion:

About 89 percent of the inhabitants of Brazil are Roman Catholic. Many Catholics combine worship of African deities with their Christian religious practices. The most prevalent of these is the CandomblE/i> sect, whose adherents are found mostly in the state of Bahia. There are also about 9.7 million Protestants, including substantial numbers of Lutherans, Methodists, and Episcopalians, and a small community of Jews. Most Native Americans follow traditional religions. Separation of church and state is formal and complete.

 

Language:

Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, although Brazilians have adopted many words and phrases from native and immigrant languages. German and Italian are spoken by many Brazilians, especially in the cities of the south. Other languages spoken include Spanish, English, and French.

 

Education:

Primary education in Brazil is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 14. Approximately 81 percent of the population aged 15 or more years is literate.

 

Culture:

The culture of modern Brazil has been formed from a rich background of ethnic traditions. The early Portuguese settlers borrowed many customs and words from the original Native American population. During the colonial period millions of black African slaves who were brought into Brazil added an African element to Brazilian cultural life; their religious rites merged with Roman Catholicism to form unique Afro-Brazilian cults, notable for their exotic ceremonies. The most influential of these cults is CandomblE

Brazil, however, is a predominantly European-formed society, settled largely by the Portuguese, Italians, Germans, and Spaniards. These European origins are the bases of Brazilian family life, which is a rigid and patriarchal structure that permeates all areas of Brazilian life. Within this century, cultural ties between Brazil and the United States have significantly increased.

 

Economy:

            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. Prior to the institution of a stabilization plan -- the Plano Real (Real Plan) in mid-1994, stratospheric inflation rates had disrupted economic activity and discouraged foreign investment. Since then, tight monetary policy has brought inflation under control -- consumer prices increased by less than 5% in 1997 compared to more than 1,000% in 1994. At the same time, GDP growth slowed from 5.7% in 1994 to about 3.0% in 1997 due to tighter credit. The strong currency, another cornerstone of the Real Plan, has encouraged imports -- contributing to a growing trade deficit -- and restrained export growth. Some foreign investors remain concerned about the viability of Brazil's exchange rate policy because of the country's fiscal and current account deficits.

Brazil has an external debt of $192.9 billion as on December 1997.

The GDP estimated in 1997 was $1.04 trillion, with a real growth rate of 3%. The GDP per capita in 1997 was estimated to be $6,300.

The inflation rate -- customer price index -- in 1997 was 4.8%.

The unemployment rate estimated in 1997 was 7%.

The country's major industries include textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment.

The industrial production growth rate estimated in 1997 was 4.5%.

The country's major agricultural products include coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus, and beef.

 

Currency:

The basic unit of currency is the real, introduced in July 1994 to replace the cruzeiro real (1.67 reals equal U.S.$1 in May 1999).

 

Commerce and Trade:

In 1997 Brazil spent about $61.4 billion for imports of merchandise, while its exports earned about $53.0 billion.

The leading export products are iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee, and motor-vehicle parts. The major export partners are Europe (28%), Latin America (23%), United States (20%), and Argentina (12%).

The leading import products are crude oil, capital goods, chemical products, foodstuffs, and coal. The major import partners are Europe (26%), United States (22%), Argentina (13%), and Japan (5%).

 

The Protection Policy and Tariffs:

            Reformulation of the Brazilian protection policy started in the late '80s. Two separate tariff reforms in 1988 and 1989 brought the average rate down from 51% to 37%. However, the many administrative and quantitative controls over imports were retained.

            Significant changes were made in the Brazilian protection structure after 1990. A far-reaching trade-opening program was launched then as part of a broader structural reform plan. Its first stage involved phasing out several nontariff barriers to imports and most special import facilities except for drawback mechanisms and imports directed to free trade zones.

            The gradual tariff reform begun in 1991 resulted in substantial and generalized reduction of tariff levels. As a consequence, the mean rate was cut back from 32.2% in 1990 to 14.0% in July 1993, while at the same time the ceiling declined form 105% to 40%. Furthermore, the downward slide of the standard deviation from 19.6% in 1990 to 8.2% in July 1993 reveals that the current tariff structure is more equitable, with rates clustering around the 20% mode. It should be added that although the ceiling is 40%, only 3% of all goods on the Brazilian import list are assessed tariffs exceeding 20%.

            Tariff rates were set according to the escalation principle where higher value-added products pay higher tariffs. Brazilian customs duties are set on the basis of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System and charged ad valorem on the CIF value of imports.

            By virtue of the significant reduction in tariff rates and the lifting of many administrative a nd quantitative controls over imports, the Brazilian protectionist structure became more transparent, rational, and stable, with tariffs once again reclaiming their role as the key protection policy instrument.

 

Labor:

The economically active Brazilian labor force is estimated to include about 62.1 million people; women make up about one-third of the labor force. About 55 percent of the workers are engaged in services; about 23 percent are employed in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; and about 22 percent labor in industry.

Many of the workers are members of unions belonging to one of 12 national confederations; the groupings include the National Confederation of Industrial Workers, the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers, and the National Confederation of Communications and Advertising Workers, all located in Brasú‰ia.

 

 

References:

1.       Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 98

2.       http://www.informationplease.com/ipa/a0107357.html

3.       http://www.crl.com/~brazil/index.htm