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brasilia administrative divisions: 26 states (estados. singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); acre. alagoas. amapa. amazonas. bahia. ceara. distrito federal*. espirito santo. goias. maranhao. mato grosso. mato grosso do sul. minas gerais. para. paraiba. parana. pernambuco. piaui. rio de janeiro. rio grande do norte. rio grande do sul. rondonia. roraima. santa catarina. sao paulo. sergipe. tocantins independence: 7 september 1822 (from portugal) national holiday: independence day. 7 september (1822) constitution: 5 october 1988 legal system: based on roman codes; has not accepted compulsory icj jurisdiction suffrage: voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age; note - military conscripts do not vote executive branch: chief of state: president luiz inacio lula da silva (since 1 january 2003); vice president jose alencar (since 1 january 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president luiz inacio lula da silva (since 1 january 2003); vice president jose alencar (since 1 january 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 6 october 2002 (next to be held 1 october 2006. with a runoff on 29 october 2006 if necessary); runoff election held 27 october 2002 election results: in runoff election 27 october 2002. luiz inacio lula da silva (pt) elected with 61.3% of the vote; jose serra (psdb) 38.7% legislative branch: bicameral national congress or congresso nacional consists of the federal senate or senado federal (81 seats; three members from each state and federal district elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period. two-thirds elected after the next four-year period) and the chamber of deputies or camara dos deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: federal senate - last held 6 october 2002 for two-thirds of the senate (next to be held october 2006 for one-third of the senate); chamber of deputies - last held 6 october 2002 (next to be held october 2006) election results: federal senate - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - pmbd 19. pfl 19. pt 14. psdb 11. pdt 5. psb 4. pl 3. ptb 3. pps 1. psd 1. pp 1; chamber of deputies - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - pt 91. pfl 84. pmdb 74. psdb 71. pp 49. pl 26. ptb 26. psb 22. pdt 21. pps 15. pcdob 12. prona 6. pv 5. other 11; note - many congressmen have changed party affiliation since the most recent election judicial branch: supreme federal tribunal (11 ministers are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the senate); higher tribunal of justice; regional federal tribunals (judges are appointed for life); note - though appointed "for life." judges. like all federal employees. have a mandatory retirement age of 70 political parties and leaders: brazilian democratic movement party or pmdb [federal deputy michel temer]; brazilian labor party or ptb [federal deputy roberto jefferson]; brazilian social democracy party or psdb [senator tasso jereissati]; brazilian socialist party or psb [federal deputy eduardo campos]; communist party of brazil or pcdob [renato rabelo]; democratic labor party or pdt [carlos lupi]; democratic socialist party or psd [luis marques mendes]; green party or pv [jose luiz de franca penna]; liberal front party or pfl [senator jorge bornhausen]; liberal party or pl [federal deputy valdemar costa neto]; national order reconstruction party or prona [federal deputy dr. eneas carneiro]; partido municipalista renovador or pmr [pastor vitor paulo araujo dos santos]; popular socialist party or pps [federal deputy roberto freire]; progressive party or pp [federal deputy pedro correa]; social christian party or psc [vitor jorge abdala nosseis]; worker's party or pt [ricardo berzoin] political pressure groups and leaders: landless worker's movement; labor unions and federations; large farmers' associations; religious groups including evangelical christian churches and the catholic church international organization participation: afdb. bis. csn. fao. g-15. g-24. g-77. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. laes. laia. mercosur. miga. minustah. nam (observer). nsg. oas. opanal. opcw. pca. rg. un. un security council (temporary). unctad. unesco. unhcr. unido. unitar. unmil. unmis. unmovic. unoci. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador roberto abdenur 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. and san francisco diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador john danilovich 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 - 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. 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. in 2004. brazil enjoyed more robust 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. all reinforced by a series of imf programs. the currency depreciated sharply in 2001 and 2002. which contributed to a dramatic current account adjustment; in 2003 to 2005. 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. and brazil in 2005 surpassed the previous year's record export level. 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 in 2005. while brazil's foreign debt (a mix of private and public debt) is large in relation to brazil's small (but growing) export base. another challenge is maintaining economic growth over a period of time to generate employment and make the government debt burden more manageable. gdp (purchasing power parity): $1.58 trillion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $605.6 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 2.6% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8.500 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 10% industry: 39.4% services: 50.6% (2005 est.) labor force: 90.41 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 20%. industry 14%. services 66% (2003 est.) unemployment rate: 9.9% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 22% (1998 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.7% highest 10%: 48% (1998) distribution of family income - gini index: 59.7 (2004) inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.8% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 19.8% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $140.6 billion expenditures: $172.4 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2004) public debt: 50.2% of gdp (2005 est.) 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: 4.7% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 359.2 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 8.3% hydro: 82.7% nuclear: 4.4% other: 4.6% (2001) electricity - consumption: 371.4 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 6 million kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 37.4 billion kwh; note - supplied by paraguay (2003) oil - production: 2.01 million bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 2.1 million bbl/day (2001 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) oil - proved reserves: 15.12 billion bbl (2005 est.) natural gas - production: 5.95 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 9.59 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 3.64 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 221.7 billion cu m (2005) current account balance: $10.42 billion (2005 est.) exports: $115.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: us 20.8%. argentina 7.5%. netherlands 6.1%. china 5.6%. germany 4.1%. mexico 4% (2004) imports: $78.02 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 18.3%. argentina 8.9%. germany 8.1%. china 5.9%. nigeria 5.6%. japan 4.6% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $69.28 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $211.4 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $30 billion (2002) currency (code): real (brl) currency code: brl exchange rates: reals per us dollar - 2.49 (2005). 2.9251 (2004). 3.0771 (2003). 2.9208 (2002). 2.3577 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 38.81 million (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 46.373.300 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: good working system domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations international: country code - 55; 3 coaxial submarine cables; 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 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: 3.163.349 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 50 (2000) internet users: 14.3 million (2002) airports: 4.136 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 709 over 3.047 m: 8 2.438 to 3.047 m: 24 1.524 to 2.437 m: 162 914 to 1.523 m: 463 under 914 m: 52 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 3.514 over 3.047 m: 2 1.524 to 2.437 m: 79 914 to 1.523 m: 1.609 under 914 m: 1.824 (2005 est.) heliports: 417 (2005 est.) pipelines: condensate/gas 244 km; gas 10.739 km; liquid petroleum gas 341 km; oil 5.212 km; refined products 4.755 km (2004) railways: total: 29.412 km (1.567 km electrified) broad gauge: 4.907 km 1.600-m gauge (908 km electrified) standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge narrow gauge: 23.915 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) (2004) roadways: total: 1.724.929 km paved: 94.871 km unpaved: 1.630.058 km (2000) waterways: 50.000 km (most in areas remote from industry and population) (2004) merchant marine: total: 150 ships (1.000 grt or over) 2.961.431 grt/4.725.267 dwt by type: bulk carrier 28. cargo 25. chemical tanker 7. combination ore/oil 2. container 7. liquefied gas 12. passenger/cargo 12. petroleum tanker 48. roll on/roll off 9 foreign-owned: 17 (chile 2. germany 7. norway 1. spain 7) registered in other countries: 8 (2005) ports and terminals: gebig. itaqui. rio de janeiro. rio grande. san sebasttiao. santos. sepetiba terminal. tubarao. vitoria military branches: brazilian army. brazilian navy (includes naval air and marines). brazilian air force (fab) military service age and obligation: 19 years of age for compulsory military service. conscript service obligation - 12 months; 17 years of age for voluntary service (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 19-49: 45.586.036 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 19-49: 33.119.098 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 1.785.930 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $11 billion (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.8% (2004) 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 dispute with uruguay over certain islands in the quarai/cuareim and invernada boundary streams and the resulting tripoint with argentina; in 2004 brazil submitted its claims to unclos to extend its maritime continental margin illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis; minor 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 and the us; 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
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