Brazil at a Glance

Official Name: Federative Republic of Brazil

Capital: Brasília

Official Language: Portuguese

System of Government: A Federative Republic with a multi-party political system. Brazil holds democratic elections for president, senators, representatives, state governors and legislators, mayors and municipal counsels. Brazil is the world leader in electronic online voting (100 million voters.)

Area: 3,286,470 square miles

Population: 170 million

Geography:
  Brazil is in east-central South America and occupies nearly 50% of the South American continent.
  Around 58% of Brazil is covered with forests, which include the largest rainforest in the world, located in the Amazon River basin.
  The country has eight river systems, which carry approximately 20% of the world's fresh water.
  Land Use: 58% forests, 22% pasture, 6% crops, 14% other use.
  Biggest Cities: São Paulo (10.4 million), Rio de Janeiro (5.8 million), Salvador (2.4 million), Belo Horizonte (2.2 million), Brasília (2 million), Recife (1.4 million)

Human Feature:
  Density: 52 persons per square mile
  Urban/Rural: 80% urban, 20% rural
  Sex Distribution: 49.9% male, 50.1% female
  Age Breakdown: 35% under 15, 28% 15 to 29, 19% 30 to 44, 10% 45 to 59, 6% 60 to 74, 2% 75 and over

Money: The official currency is the real, which is divided into 100 centavos

Main Products: Aircraft, bauxite, beef, cellulose, cereals, coffee, cocoa, crude oil and petrochemicals, diamonds, furniture, gold, households appliances, hydroelectric power engines, iron ore, manganese, motor vehicles, nickel, orange juice, phosphates, platinum, processed food, quartz crystals, rubber, shoes, silver, soybeans, steel, sugar, textiles, timber, tin, titanium, uranium, and zinc.