Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Geographic Coordinates: 10 00 S, 55 00 W

Total Area: 8,514,877 sq km Rank: 5

Land Area: 8,459,417 sq km

Water Area: 55,460 sq km

Note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Comparison: slightly smaller than the US

Land Boundaries: 16,885 km

Bordering Countries: Argentina 1,261 km, Bolivia 3,423 km, Colombia 1,644 km, French Guiana 730 km, Guyana 1,606 km, Paraguay 1,365 km, Peru 2,995 km, Suriname 593 km, Uruguay 1,068 km, Venezuela 2,200 km

Coastline: 7,491 km

mostly tropical, but temperate in south

mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt

Lowest Point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

Highest Point: Pico da Neblina 2,994 m

bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber

Arable land: 6.93%

Permanent Crops: 0.89%

Other: 92.18% (2005)

Irrigated Land: 29,200 sq km (2003)

Renewable Water Resources: 8,233 cu km (2000)

Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 59.3 cu km/yr (20%/18%/62%)

Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 318 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural Hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south

Environmental 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

Environmental 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

largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

Population: 198,739,269 Rank: 5

Note: Brazil conducted a census in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,872,855; that figure was about 3.8% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, and is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census (July 2010 est.)

0-14 years: 26.7% (male 27,092,880/female 26,062,244)

15-64 years: 66.8% (male 65,804,108/female 67,047,725)

65 years and over: 6.4% (male 5,374,230/female 7,358,082) (2010 est.)

Median Age: 28.1 years

Growth Rate: 1.199% (2010 est.) Rank: 110

Birth Rate: 18.43 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 110

Death Rate: 6.35 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 152

Net Migration Rate: -0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 88

Urban Population: 86% of total population (2008)

Rate of Urbanization: 1.8% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate: 22.58 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 93

Life Expectancy at Birth: 71.99 years Rank: 123

Fertility Rate: 2.19 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 118

HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.6% (2007 est.) Rank: 66

People living with HIV/AIDS: 730,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 16

HIV/AIDS Deaths: 15,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 25

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)

Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census)

Languages: Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages

Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 88.6% Male: 88.4% Female: 88.8% (2004 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): 14 years Male: 14 years Female: 15 years (2005)

Education expenditures: 4% of GDP (2004) Rank: 104

Conventional Long Form: Federative Republic of Brazil

Conventional Short Form: Brazil

Local Long Form: Republica Federativa do Brasil

Local Short Form: Brasil

26 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); 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, Tocantins

Chief of State: President Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva (since 1 January 2003); Vice President Jose ALENCAR Gomes da Silva (since 1 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

Head of Government: President Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva (since 1 January 2003); Vice President Jose ALENCAR Gomes da Silva (since 1 January 2003)

Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president

Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single four-year term; election last held on 1 October 2006 with runoff on 29 October 2006 (next to be held on 3 October 2010 and, if necessary, 31 October 2010)

Election Results: Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva (PT) reelected president - 60.83%, Geraldo ALCKMIN (PSDB) 39.17%

bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; 3 members from each state and federal district elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third and two-thirds of members elected every four years, alternately) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)

Elections: Federal Senate - last held on 1 October 2006 for one-third of the Senate (next to be held in October 2010 for two-thirds of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 1 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2010)

Election Results: Federal Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PFL 6, PSDB 5, PMDB 4, PTB 3, PT 2, PDT 1, PSB 1, PL 1, PPS 1, PRTB 1, PP 1, PCdoB 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PMDB 89, PT 83, PFL 65, PSDB 65, PP 42, PSB 27, PDT 24, PL 23, PTB 22, PPS 21, PCdoB 13, PV 13, PSC 9, other 17; note - as of 1 February 2010, the composition of the entire legislature is as follows: Federal Senate - seats by party - PMDB 17, DEM (formerly PFL) 16, PSDB 14, PT 11, PTB 7, PDT 6, PR 3, PRB 2, PSB 2, PCdoB 1, PP 1, PSC 1, PV 1, PSOL 1; Chamber of Deputies - seats by party - PMDB 88, PT 77, PSDB 57, DEM (formerly PFL) 56, PR 43, PP 38, PSB 27, PDT 23, PTB 25, PPS 15, PV 15, PSC 16, PCdoB 12, PRB 8, PHS 3, PMN 3, PSOL 3, PTC 3, PTdoB 1

Supreme Federal Tribunal or STF (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

Political Parties and Leaders: Brazilian Democratic Movement Party or PMDB [Federal Deputy Michel TEMER]; Brazilian Labor Party or PTB [Roberto JEFFERSON]; Brazilian Renewal Labor Party or PRTB [Jose Levy FIDELIX da Cruz]; Brazilian Republican Party or PRB [Vitor Paulo Araujo DOS SANTOS]; Brazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB [Senator Sergio GUERRA]; Brazilian Socialist Party or PSB [Governor Eduardo Henrique Accioly CAMPOS]; Christian Labor Party or PTC [Daniel TOURINHO]; Communist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Jose Renato RABELO]; Democratic Labor Party or PDT [Carlos Roberto LUPI]; the Democrats or DEM [Federal Deputy Rodrigo MAIA] (formerly Liberal Front Party or PFL); Freedom and Socialism Party or PSOL [Heloisa HELENA]; Green Party or PV [Jose Luiz de Franca PENNA]; Humanist Party of Solidarity or PHS [Paulo Roberto MATOS]; Labor Party of Brazil or PTdoB [Luis Henrique de Oliveira RESENDE]; Liberal Front Party or PFL (now known as the Democrats or DEM); National Mobilization Party or PMN [Oscar Noronha FILHO]; Party of the Republic or PR [Sergio TAMER]; Popular Socialist Party or PPS [Federal Deputy Fernando CORUJA]; Progressive Party or PP [Francisco DORNELLES]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Vitor Jorge Abdala NOSSEIS]; Workers' Party or PT [Ricardo Jose Ribeiro BERZOINI]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Landless Workers' Movement or MST

Other: labor unions and federations; large farmers' associations; religious groups including evangelical Christian churches and the Catholic Church

International Organization Participation: AfDB (nonregional member), BIS, CAN (associate), CPLP, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, LAS (observer), Mercosur, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, RG, SICA (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag Description: green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars; the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress); the current flag was inspired by the banner of the former Empire of Brazil (1822-1889); on the imperial flag, the green represented the House of Braganza of Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil, while the yellow stood for the Habsburg Family of his wife; on the modern flag the green represents the forests of the country and the yellow rhombus its mineral wealth; the blue circle and stars, which replaced the coat of arms of the original flag, depict the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889 - the day the Republic of Brazil was declared; the number of stars has changed with the creation of new states and has risen from an original 21 to the current 27 (one for each state and the Federal District)

GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.013 trillion (2009 est.) Rank: 10

GDP - real growth rate: -0.2% (2009 est.) Rank: 114

GDP - per capita (PPP): $10,100 (2009 est.) Rank: 107

GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 6.1% Industry: 25.4% Services: 68.5% (2009 est.)

Labor Force: 101.7 million (2009 est.) Rank: 6

Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 20% Industry: 14% Services: 66% (2003 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 8.1% (2009 est.) Rank: 89

Population below poverty line: 26% (2008)