Legislative branch: The bicameral National Congress consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; three members from each state and 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 (513 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms).
Judicial branch: Supreme Federal Tribunal (11 ministers are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate); Higher Tribunal of Justice; Regional Federal Tribunals (judges are appointed for life); note - though appointed "for life," judges, like all federal employees, have a mandatory retirement age of 70.
There are 26 administrative divisions, namely: Acre, Alagoas, Amapa, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Distrito Federal*, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Paraiba, Parana, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins.
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GEOGRAPHY:
Brazil is a country in South America. It is the largest country
on that continent and the fifth largest country in the world.
It covers as much territory as almost the entire continent of
Europe and is just slightly smaller than the United States.
Brazil borders almost every country in South America except
Ecuador and Chile, and is also bordered by the Atlantic Ocean
on the east. Brazil is the most populous country in South America. Click here to view the map of Brazil.
PEOPLE:
Brazil took a count in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,799,170; 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.).
Population density: 22 people per sq km land area (July 2005 est.). Population growth rate: 1.06% (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: tota - 27.81 years;
male - 27.06 years;
female - 28.57 years (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.).
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.).
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TRANSPORT:
Railways: total: 29,412 km (1,610 km electrified);
broad gauge: 4,907 km 1.600-m gauge (942 km electrified);
standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge;
dual gauge: 396 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails) (78 km electrified) (2003);
narrow gauge: 23,915 km 1.000-m gauge (581 km electrified)
Highways: total: 1,724,929 km;
paved: 94,871 km;
unpaved: 1,630,058 km (2000). Waterways: 50,000 km. Pipelines: condensate/gas 243 km; gas 10,984 km; liquid petroleum gas 341 km; oil 5,113 km; refined products 4,800 km (2003)
Ports and harbors: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria. Merchant marine: total: 151 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,961,431 GRT/4,725,267 DWT
by type: bulk 29, cargo 22, chemical tanker 7, combination ore/oil 6, container 12, liquefied gas 12, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 48, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea/passenger 1
Airports: 3,803 (2003 est.). Airports - with paved runways: total: 677;
over 3,047 m: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 23;
914 to 1,523 m: 445;
under 914 m: 45 (2003 est.);
1,524 to 2,437 m: 157. Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 3,126;
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 1,434;
under 914 m: 1,617 (2003 est.). Heliports: 417 (2003 est.).
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COMMUNICATION:
Telephones - main lines in use: 38.81 million (2002); Telephones - mobile cellular: 46,373,300 (2003); Telephones - mobile cellular - density: 249 mobile cellular telephones in use per 1000 capita (July 2005 est.).Telephone system: general assessment: good working system;
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations;
international: country code - 55; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to Mercosur Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station.
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1,365, FM 296, shortwave 161 (of which 91 are collocated with AM stations) (1999). Radios: 71 million (1997).Television broadcast stations: 138 (1997). Televisions: 36.5 million (1997)
Internet country code: .br. Internet users - density: 77 Internet users per 1000 capita (July 2005 est.). |
Official Potrait of H.E Dilma Rousseff