Brazil | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

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Facts & Figures

  • President: Jair Bolsonaro (2019)

    Vice President: Antonio Hamilton Martins Mourao (2019)

    Land area: 3,227,095 sq mi (8,358,140 sq km); total area: 3,287,957 sq mi (8,515,770 sq km)

    Population (2022 est.): 217,240,060 (growth rate: .7%); birth rate: 13.96/1000; infant mortality rate: 13.31/1000; life expectancy: 75.92

    Capital (2022 est.): Brasília, 4.804 million

    Largest cities: São Paulo, 22.430 million; Rio de Janeiro, 13.634 million; Belo Horizonte, 6.194 million; Recife, 4.220 million; Porto Alegre, 4.185 million (2022)

    Monetary unit: Real

    National name: República Federativa do Brasil

    Current Government Officials

    Ethnicity/race: White 47.7%, mixed 43.1%, Black 7.6%, Asian 1.1%, Indigenous 0.4% (2010 est.)

    National Holiday: Independence Day, September 7

    Religion: Roman Catholic 64.6%, other Catholic 0.4%, Protestant 22.2% (includes Adventist 6.5%, Assembly of God 2.0%, Christian Congregation of Brazil 1.2%, Universal Kingdom of God 1.0%, other Protestant 11.5%), other Christian 0.7%, Spiritist 2.2%, other 1.4%, none 8%, unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.)

    Literacy rate: 93.2% (2018 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $2,989,430,000,000; per capita $14,100. Real growth rate: 1.13%. Inflation: 3.7%. Unemployment: 11.93%. Arable land: 8.6%. Agriculture: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef. Labor force: 86.621 million; agriculture 9.4%, industry 32.1%, services 58.5% (2018 est.). Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment. Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber. Exports: $239.18 billion (2020 est.): transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos. Major trading partners (exports): China 28%, United States 13% (2019). Imports: $227.44 billion (2020 est.): machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil. Major trading partners (imports): China 21%, United States 18%, Germany 6%, Argentina 6% (2019).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 30,653,813 (2020); mobile cellular: 205,834,781 (2020). Broadcast Media: state-run Radiobras operates a radio and a TV network; more than 1,000 radio stations and more than 100 TV channels operating - mostly privately owned; private media ownership highly concentrated (2022). Internet hosts: 23,790,000 (2011). Internet users: 172,173,121 (2020).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 29,849.9 km (2014). Highways: total: 2 million km; paved: 246,000 km; unpaved: 1.754 million km (2018). Waterways: 50,000 km (2012) (most in areas remote from industry and population). Ports and harbors: Gebig, Itaqui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, San Sebasttiao, Santos, Sepetiba Terminal, Tubarao, Vitoria. Airports: 4,093 (2021 est.).

    International disputes: 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.

    Major sources and definitions

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