A country in motion
The land area of Brazil extends over 8.5 million square kilometers,occupying just under half (47%) of the area of Latin America.The country possesses 20% of all the world’s biodiversity; an example of this natural wealth is the Amazon Rainforest,with 3.6 million square kilometers.The political and administrative organization comprises three main Branches of Power:the Judiciary,the Executive and the Legislative,and the principle of autonomy among the Union,the Federal District,26 states and 5,563 towns and cities (IBGE/2003).
Ranking fifth among the world’s most populated countries,the population of Brazil amounts to 50 million families or approximately 180 million inhabitants (2004),the majority - 81% - in urban areas.The national birth rate,which reached as high as 6.3 in 1960,currently stands at 2.1 children per female.The result of this decline,which can be associated to an improvement in social indicators and consequently in quality of life,will be a population whose majority of citizens will be aged between 15 and 44 years within the next four decades.This will represent one of the largest job and consumer markets among the countries on the American continent.
Diversified Economy
Brazil accounts for three fifths of the South American economy’s industrial production and integrates various economic groups,such as Mercosur,G-22 and the Cairns Group.The country’s scientific and technological development,together with a dynamic and diversified industrial sector,is attractive to foreign enterprise:direct investment was in the region of US$ 20 billion /year on average,compared to US$ 2 billion/year last decade.
Brazil trades regularly with over one hundred nations,with 74% of exports represented by manufactured or semimanufactured goods.Its main partners are:the EEC (representing 26% of the balance),the US (24%),Mercosur and Latin America (21%) and Asia (12%).One of the most dynamic sectors in this trade scenery is the so-called “agrobusiness” sector,which for two decades has kept Brazil amongst the most highly productive countries in areas related to the rural sector.
The owner of a sophisticated technological sector,Brazil develops projects that range from submarines to aircraft and is involved in space research:the country possesses a Launching Center for Light Vehicles and was the only country in the Southern Hemisphere to integrate the team responsible for the construction of the International Space Station-the ISS.A pioneer in the field of deep water oil research,from where 73% of its reserves are extracted,Brazil was the first capitalist country to bring together the ten largest car assembly companies inside its national territory.