from CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

Republica Federativa do Brasil

Capital: Brasilia
Currency: real (BRL)
Exchange Rates: reals per US dollar - 2.9251 (2004), 3.0771 (2003), 2.9208 (2002), 2.3577 (2001), 1.8301 (2000)

Population: 186,112,794 (July 2005)
Nationality: Brazilian
Ethnic Groups: white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%
Religions: Roman Catholic (nominal) 80%, other 20%
Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Literacy: 86.4% (age 15 and over can read and write)
HIV/AIDS rate: 0.7%

Area: 8,511,965 sq km
Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south
Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt
Natural Hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south
Geography: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

Independence: September 7, 1822 (from Portugal)
GDP Per Capita: $8,100 (2004)
Unemployment Rate: 11.5%
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

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

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