The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

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 members), BIS, CAN (associate), CPLP, FAO, G-15,
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, Mercosur, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MINUSTAH,
NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS,
UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar PATRIOTA chancery: 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-2700 FAX: [1] (202) 238-2827 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Clifford M. SOBEL embassy: Avenida das Nacoes, Quadra 801, Lote 3, Distrito Federal Cep 70403-900, Brasilia mailing address: Unit 3500, APO AA 34030 telephone: [55] (61) 3312-7000 FAX: [55] (61) 3225-9136 consulate(s) general: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo 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:

Characterized by 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. Having weathered 2001-03 financial turmoil, capital inflows are regaining strength and the currency has resumed appreciating. The appreciation has slowed export volume growth, but since 2004, Brazil's growth has yielded increases in employment and real wages. The resilience in the economy stems from commodity-driven current account surpluses, and sound macroeconomic policies that have bolstered international reserves to historically high levels, reduced public debt, and allowed a significant decline in real interest rates. A floating exchange rate, an inflation-targeting regime, and a tight fiscal policy are the three pillars of the economic program. From 2003 to 2007, Brazil ran record trade surpluses and recorded its first current account surpluses since 1992. Productivity gains coupled with high commodity prices contributed to the surge in exports. Brazil improved its debt profile in 2006 by shifting its debt burden toward real denominated and domestically held instruments. "LULA" DA SILVA restated his commitment to fiscal responsibility by maintaining the country's primary surplus during the 2006 election. Following his second inauguration, "LULA" DA SILVA announced a package of further economic reforms to reduce taxes and increase investment in infrastructure. The government's goal of achieving strong growth while reducing the debt burden is likely to create inflationary pressures.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$1.849 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$1.314 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

5.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$9,500 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 5.5% industry: 28.7% services: 65.8% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

99.23 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 20% industry: 14% services: 66% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:

9.3% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

31% (2005)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 0.9% highest 10%: 44.8% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

56.7 (2005)

Investment (gross fixed):

17.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $244 billion expenditures: $219.9 billion (FY07)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Public debt:

45.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

3.6% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

17.85% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

43.72% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$131.1 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$792.8 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$1.377 trillion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef

Industries:

textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment

Industrial production growth rate:

4.9% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

437.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

402.2 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports:

2.034 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

40.47 billion kWh; note - supplied by Paraguay (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 8.3% hydro: 82.7% nuclear: 4.4% other: 4.6% (2001)

Oil - production:

2.277 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

2.372 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - exports:

481,100 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

648,800 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

12.18 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

9.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

19.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

10 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

347.7 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

$1.712 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$160.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos

Exports - partners:

US 16.1%, Argentina 9.2%, China 6.8%, Netherlands 5.6%, Germany 4.6% (2007)

Imports:

$120.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil, automotive parts, electronics

Imports - partners:

US 15.7%, China 10.5%, Argentina 8.6%, Germany 7.2%, Nigeria 4.4% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$191.9 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$180.3 billion (31 December 2007)

Debt - external:

$229.4 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$248.9 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$107.1 billion (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$711.1 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

real (BRL)

Currency code:

BRL

Exchange rates:

reals (BRL) per US dollar - 1.85 (2007 est.), 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004), 3.0771 (2003)

Communications
Brazil

Telephones - main lines in use:

39.4 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

120.98 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: good working system; fixed-line connections have remained relatively stable in recent years and stand at about 20 per 100 persons; less expensive mobile cellular technology is a major driver in expanding telephone service to the low-income segment of the population with mobile-cellular telephone density reaching nearly 65 per 100 persons domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations; mobile-cellular usage has more than tripled in the past 5 years international: country code - 55; landing point for a number of submarine cables that provide direct links to South and Central America, the Caribbean, the US, Africa, and Europe; 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 (2007)

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 hosts:

9.573 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

50 (2000)

Internet users:

50 million (2007)

Transportation
Brazil

Airports:

4,263 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 718 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 25 1,524 to 2,437 m: 167 914 to 1,523 m: 467 under 914 m: 52 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 3,545 1,524 to 2,437 m: 83 914 to 1,523 m: 1,555 under 914 m: 1,907 (2007)

Heliports:

16 (2007)

Pipelines:

condensate/gas 244 km; gas 12,070 km; liquid petroleum gas 351 km; oil 5,214 km; refined products 4,410 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 29,295 km broad gauge: 4,932 km 1.600-m gauge (939 km electrified) standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge narrow gauge: 23,773 km 1.000-m gauge (581 km electrified) dual gauge: 396 km 1.000 m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails) (78 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 1,751,868 km paved: 96,353 km unpaved: 1,655,515 km (2004)

Waterways:

50,000 km (most in areas remote from industry and population) (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 136 by type: bulk carrier 19, cargo 22, carrier 1, chemical tanker 7, container 11, liquefied gas 12, passenger/cargo 12, petroleum tanker 45, roll on/roll off 7 foreign-owned: 25 (Chile 1, Denmark 2, Germany 6, Greece 1, Mexico 1, Norway 5, Spain 9) registered in other countries: 8 (Argentina 1, Bahamas 2, Ghana 1, Liberia 3, Marshall Islands 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Guaiba, Ilha Grande, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Santos, Sao Sebastiao,
Tubarao

Transportation - note:

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Atlantic Ocean as a significant risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

Military
Brazil

Military branches:

Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil (MB), includes
Naval Air and Marine Corps (Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais)), Brazilian
Air Force (Forca Aerea Brasileira, FAB) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

21-45 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 9 to 12 months; 17-45 years of age for voluntary service; an increasing percentage of the ranks are "long-service" volunteer professionals; women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in early 1980s when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks; women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps (2001)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 52,449,957 females age 16-49: 52,375,921 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 39,263,710 females age 16-49: 44,109,056 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 1,666,791 female: 1,608,363 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

Transnational Issues
Brazil

Disputes - international:

unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations; uncontested boundary dispute with Uruguay over Isla Brasilera at the confluence of the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada rivers, that form a tripoint with Argentina; the Itaipú Dam reservoir covers over a once contested section of Brazil-Paraguay boundary west of Guaira Falls on the Rio Parana; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Río Mamoré, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute

Illicit drugs:

second-largest consumer of cocaine in the world; illicit producer of cannabis; trace amounts of coca cultivation in the Amazon region, used for domestic consumption; government has a large-scale eradication program to control cannabis; important transshipment country for Bolivian, Colombian, and Peruvian cocaine headed for Europe; also used by traffickers as a way station for narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia; upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling; important market for Colombian, Bolivian, and Peruvian cocaine; illicit narcotics proceeds earned in Brazil are often laundered through the financial system; significant illicit financial activity in the Tri-Border Area

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@British Indian Ocean Territory

Introduction
British Indian Ocean Territory

Background:

Formerly administered as part of the British Crown Colony of Mauritius, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was established as an overseas territory of the UK in 1965. A number