Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822 and a republic in 1889.

By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil overcame more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country when in 1985 the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers.

Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior.

Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader.

Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 190,010,647 note: Brazil conducted a census in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,799,170; that figure was about 3.3% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, 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 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.3% (male 24,554,254/female 23,613,027) 15-64 years: 68.4% (male 64,437,140/female 65,523,447) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 4,880,562/female 7,002,217) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 28.6 years male: 27.9 years female: 29.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.008% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 16.3 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 6.19 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.983 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.697 male(s)/female total population: 0.976 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 27.62 deaths/1,000 live births male: 31.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.24 years male: 68.3 years female: 76.38 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.88 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 660,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 15,000 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: 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)

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Religions: 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)

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Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 88.6% male: 88.4% female: 88.8% (2004 est.)

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. From 2001-03 real wages fell and Brazil's economy grew, on average only 2.2% per year, as the country absorbed a series of domestic and international economic shocks. That Brazil absorbed these shocks without financial collapse is a tribute to the resiliency of the Brazilian economy and the economic program put in place by former President CARDOSO and strengthened by President LULA DA SILVA. Since 2004, Brazil has enjoyed continued growth that yielded increases in employment and real wages. The three pillars of the economic program are a floating exchange rate, an inflation-targeting regime, and tight fiscal policy, initially reinforced by a series of IMF programs. The currency depreciated sharply in 2001 and 2002, which contributed to a dramatic current account adjustment; from 2003 to 2006, Brazil ran record trade surpluses and recorded its first current account surpluses since 1992. Productivity gains - particularly in agriculture - also contributed to the surge in exports. While economic management has been good, there remain important economic vulnerabilities. The most significant are debt-related: the government's largely domestic debt increased steadily from 1994 to 2003 - straining government finances - before falling as a percentage of GDP beginning in 2003. 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 public investment. A major challenge will be to maintain sufficient growth to generate employment and reduce the government debt burden.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.655 trillion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $967 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 3.7% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $8,800 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8% industry: 38% services: 54% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 96.34 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 20% industry: 14% services: 66% (2003 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 9.6% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 31% (2005)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.7% highest 10%: 31.27% (2002)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 56.7 (2005)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 20.2% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $244 billion expenditures: $219.9 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY07 est.)

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Public debt: 50% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef

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

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Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 546 billion kWh (2005)

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Electricity - consumption: 415.9 billion kWh (2005)

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Electricity - exports: 7 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 39 billion kWh; note - supplied by Paraguay (2005)

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Oil - production: 1.59 million bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 2.1 million bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - exports: 278,400 bbl/day (2005)

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Oil - imports: 674,500 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - proved reserves: 12.22 billion bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 9.66 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 17.28 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 8.07 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 306 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $13.5 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $137.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos

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Exports - partners: US 17.9%, Argentina 8.6%, China 8.2%, Germany 4.1% (2006)

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Imports: $91.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil, automotive parts, electronics

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Imports - partners: US 20.4%, Argentina 8.2%, China 7.8%, Germany 7.5% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $87.27 billion (January 2007 est.)

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Debt - external: $176.5 billion (30 November 2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $30 billion (2002)

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Currency (code): real (BRL)

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Exchange rates: reals per US dollar - 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004), 3.0771 (2003), 2.9208 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year