brazil

*Main Brazil Facts*

Capital: Brasilia
Language: Portugese
Religion: Roman Catholic
Population: 184,101,109 (October 2004)
Total Area: 8,511,965 square miles
Geographic Coordinates: 10 S, 55 W

*Geography*

    The Federative Republic of Brazil is continental South America's largest country having borders with every other South American nation except Chile and Ecuador. Those countries bordering Brazil are Agrentina, Bolivia, Columbia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Pero, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Brazil's land area of over 8.5 million square miles makes it the fifth largest nation in the world after Russia, China, Canada, and the United States of America.
     Brasilia is the capital city and the seat of Federal Government and is situated at an average altitude of 1,100 meters (3,500 feet) above sea level and about 1,100 km (680 miles) from Brazil's best known city, Rio de Janeiro, on the coast. Other major cities include Manaus, Recife, Santos, and Sao Paulo, the third largest in the world with a population of over 20 million.
     As Brazil is based on relatively stable continental crust, much of the country is below 500 meters (1,700 feet) and there is little or no volcanic or seismic activity. There are three key elements to the physical geography of Brazil: the low lying Amazon basin and Pantanal wetlands in the North and Northwest of the country; a rolling central plateau where the capital, Brasilia, is found and rugged hills and mountains in the south and along the Atlantic coast- the Brazilian Highlands near Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo where the highest point in Brazil can be found, the Pico de Neblina at 3,000 meters (9,900 feet). Over 66% of Brazil's land surface is still covered by forest.
     The climate varies according to the terrain and latitude. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, Brazil has its winters from June to August. The Amazon Basin has a tropical climate, with high temperatures, rainfall, and and humidity. The Brazilian Highlands in the south and southeast along the Atlantic coast are cooler and drier, having frequent frosts and snows. The central plateau is more temperate and contains rolling grasslands like the Pampas of Argentina, althouth it can still snow and some regions are also classed as sub-tropical.

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*Environment*

    The flora and fauna of Brazil are as diverse as its geography. Brazil has the highest number of species of primates, amphibians, and plants in the world, and is in the top five in the world for number of birds and reptile species. Much of this biodiversity is due to the Amazon basin with its dense tropical rain forests and the Pantanal wetlands.
     The rainforests support the highest concentration of different species in Brazil. While appearing monotonous, a typical acre of rainforest will support around 250 species of tree, compared with around 10 species an acre in typical forests in Europe. In a constant fierce competition for light, canopies form a roof over the rainforests, allowing little light to penetrate below, resulting in little plant and animal life on the forest floor. In addition to the huge number of tree species, orchids and lianas live in the canopies, using trees as their anchors and as sources of nutrients. Cacti live in the more arid areas of Brazil.
     The canopy also supports huge populations of birds, including Toucans and Macaws, mammals, including monkeys and bats, invertebrates, most notably butterflies and beetles, amphibians- especially the brightly colored tree frogs- and reptiles like anacondas and boa constrictors. Breaks in the canopy along river courses host colonies of crocodiles and capybaras while the rivers themselves have over 1,500 unidentified fish species, manatees, pink freshwater dolphins, and the world's largest freshwater turtles. Jaguars prey on the birds and larger mammals.

*Food*

Brazilian cuisine is heavily influenced by the huge range of food available. While European and North American diets heavily depend on a relatively small range of grains, root vegetables, and fruits, agriculture in Brazil produces a wide variety of beans, root vegetables, and tropical fruits. The kiwi is the only new fruit to have become popular in the west over the past century, whereas the Amazon region alone offers tropical fruits such as acai, bacuri, caju, cupaucu, muruci, graviola, and genipapo. Meals are very much social occassions and part of the culture in Brazil, rather than a process of fuelling the body. The long Moorish occupation in Portugal has led to some North African style of cuisine being introduced by Portugese colonists.
Given that one of Brazil's major exports is still coffee, it is no surprise that coffee is the most popular beverage, called cafezinho. The huge range of tropical fruits also results in a large range of fruit juices being available at road side juice bars. Brazil also has a wine industry mainly in the south where the climate is better suited to growing grapes, although there is some wine production in the west.

*Economy*

    Brazil is the most highly industrialised country in Latin America and is the world's eighth largest economy, greater than Russia. Brazil was also the world's largest debt or until the early 1990s. Hyper-inflation, $42 billion rescues from the International Monetary Fund, currency creation and flotation; all these overshadow the fact that Brazil has a huge industrial base. Steel, car production, military aircraft and vehicles, hydroelectric power, and a nuclear power program all support the industrial base and major exports include high technology aviation components and civilian aircraft.
     Natural resources also form a major part of Brazil's wealth. The mineral wealth of Brazil includes bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickle, phosphates, platinum, tin, and uranium. Timber and petroleum are other natural resources. The biological diversity of Brazil's rain forests has yet to be fully realized in medical and pharmaceutical applications. Hydroelectric plants generate 94% of Brazil's electricity. Major exports include iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, coffee, and car parts. The largest trading partners are the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and then Argentina. Brazil is a member of the South American Trade Association.
     With a working population estimated at 60 million in the early 1990s, Brazil's service industry now employs 40% of the working population and accounts for 48% of its Gross Domestic Product. As a result of 30 years of high inflation, the banking system is highly sophisticated and the Sao Paulo stock exchange has been one of the fastest growing in the world since the mid-1990s.
     The tourist industry is seen as a part of the service sector with good prospects for development. Eco-tourism is promoted as well as the traditional tourist destination.

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