Full Name²: Federated Republic of Brazil

Geography²: Area 8,511,965 sq. km. Brazil has one half of the land surface and population of South America. The world’s fifth largest country in size is Brazil.

Population¹:                        Annual Growth                  Density
2000         174,468,575             +1.32%                  20 per sq. km.
2010         190,875,224             +1.11%                  22 per sq. km.
2025         217,929,781             +0.77%                  26 per sq. km.

Peoples¹: Brazil is a ‘melting pot’ of nations, with much intermarriage, so percentages given below are not meant to indicate rigid categories.
European: 53.5%. Portuguese 15%; Italian 11%; Spanish 10%; German 3%; other 15%.
Mixed Race: 34.4% Mestizo and Mulatto
African: 11%. Descendants of slaves brought from West Africa and Angola.
Asian: 1%. Japanese 1,400,000; Arab 180, 000; Chinese 180, 000; Korean 70, 000.
Amerindian: 0.14%. 240,000 in 200 tribes.

Life expectancy at birth²: total population: 63.24 years
                                             male: 58.96 years
                                             female: 67.73 years
Literacy¹: 83%.

Official Language¹: Portuguese

All living languages¹: 190

Languages with Scripture¹: 1-Full Bible; 40-New Testament; 31 with portions; 55 works in progress.

Capital¹: Brasilia- population 1,985,000

Other Major Cities and Population¹:
   São Paulo- 17.7 million
   Rio de Janeiro- 10.6 million
   Belo Horizonte- 4.2 million
   Porto Alegre- 3.7 million
   Recife- 3.3 million
   Salvador- 3.2 million
   Fortaleza- 3 million
   Curitiba- 2.6 million
   Campinas- 1.86 million
   Belem- 1.63 million
   Manaus- 1.4 million
   Cubatao- 1.3 million
   Santos- 1.3 million
     *Please note that data is from 2000, and cisties are growing fast. (i.e., Manaus is now 2 million)

Climate²: mostly tropical, but temperate in south.

Terrain²: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt.

Natural resources²: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber.

Natural hazards²: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south.

Environment² - current issues: deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities.

Data provided by and used with permission of: ¹Operation World and ²CIA Fact Book.