Brazil

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Due to its large size, it covers almost half of the entire south American continent and is connected to all but two other states on the continents. Despite its size, it has few different geographical features with the Amazon rain forest, the largest jungle in the world, spanning across its northern part, and dry grasslands across its eastern and southern region. In total, Brazil is connected to 10 other states with Columbia to its northwest, Venezuela Guiana Suriname and French Guiana to its north, the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Paraguay Uruguay and Argentina to its south, Bolivia to its south west and Peru to its west.

Named after ember wood, being home to the largest river in the world and one of the seven world wonders, Brazil is famous for many things. Its official name is the federative Republic of Brazil. It was colonized by the Portuguese at the start of the 16th century. At the start of the Napoleonic wars, the Portuguese king fled to Brazil and upon his return left his son in charge to rule over Brazil. After the abdication of the Brazilian king in 1830, Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship until 1985 when civil elections have chosen the first civilian presidents of Brazil.

Brazil is the 14th state with the largest amount of water in the world. It has a total water surface area of 55,600 square kilometers or 21,500 square miles.

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

The amount of water in Brazil is unevenly distributed throughout Brazil where the southern part receives around five percent of the total water in Brazil. More than 70 percent of its water resources are located in the Amazon River. In total, around 0.65 percent of the total surface of Brazil is covered by water which ranks it as the 117th most Waterous state in the world.

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Brazil experiences a tropical and subtropical climate with an average temperature of 26.7 degrees Celsius or 76.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This ranks Brazil as the 67th warmest state in the world. However, temperatures can vary depending on the altitude within Brazil. At sea level, summers are experienced as relatively hot while highly elevated regions experience relatively warm summers.

Temperature

During the summer period, which spans from December to March, the average temperature is around 30.7 degrees Celsius or 87.2 degrees Fahrenheit which ranks it as the 25th warmest state in the world.

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

During the winter months from June to September, the average temperature cools down to 19.8 degrees Celsius or 67.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This ranks Brazil as the 113th coldest state in the world.

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Despite its southern parts containing less water, its northern part receives the least rainfall throughout the year. The average precipitation in Brazil is 95.4 centimeters or 37.5 inches per year while its northern region receives around 39 centimeters or 16 inches of rainfall.

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Despite São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro being the largest tourist destinations as well as one of the largest cities in Brazil, the official capital of Brazil is Brasília with a population of 2.5 million people. The capital that is closest located to Brasília is Asuncion, Paraguay with a distance of 891 miles or 1433 kilometers. The capital that is furthest removed from Brasilia is Manila, the Philippines with a distance of 19,000 kilometers or 11,800 miles.

Due to its vastness, Brazil has a large amount of resources. One of its main exports are agriculture related products with soybeans and coffee representing the largest share. Other products that are largely exported are petroleum as well as iron. Throughout its history, Brazil has experienced economic hardships due to inflation and economic mismanagement. At the end of the 20th century, Brazil has overtaken Argentina as the largest economy in south America and in recent decades, the economy of Brazil has become more robust and has shown a steady economic growth. After the financial crisis of 2008, it was one of the first states in the world that showed economic recovery and a rapid growth of more than seven percent annually. Trade is mainly done with the United States and China who combined represent 20 percent of its imports and more than 40 percent of Brazilian exports.

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Brazil is a member of 18 international economic organizations which ranks it as the 25th most economically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

African development Bank
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Bank for International Settlements
Caribbean Development Bank
Financial Action Task Force
Inter-American Development Bank
International Monetary Fund
New Development Bank
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization

World Trade Organization
International Bamboo and Rattan Organization
Mercosur
International Solar Alliance
Group of 15
Group of 77
Group of 24
G20

The Brazilian economy is ranked as the ninth largest in the world with a GDP of around US$1.8 trillion which represents around 2.1 percent of total global GDP.

The GDP per capita is around US$8300. This ranks the income of the average presenting citizen as the 76th highest in the world.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) has shown that the average Afghani earns $517.54 per year. The figure below displays the average amount that inhabitant of other states earn for every 1$ that an average Brazilian citizen makes.

Despite being the ninth largest economy in the world, Brazil is ranked as the 127th state with the largest GDP per surface area. The average surface GDP of Brazil is around US$207,000 per square kilometer or US$537,000 per square mile.

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

The purchasing power of the Brazilian citizen is around US$15,100 which ranks it the 87th highest in the world

The graph on the left displays the purchasing power parity of the rest of the world in relation to the purchasing power of 1$ in Brazil.

Brazil is home to more than 213 million inhabitants. Due to its Portuguese colonial history, the main language within Brazil is Portuguese. This this makes Brazil the largest Portuguese speaking state in the world and the only Portuguese speaking state in south America. Other languages, such as Spanish English and French, are largely spoken within the bordering areas. The ethnicity within Brazil is largely a combination of descendants from Europe, Africa and the indigenous population with smaller ethnical groups.

Population

Population density

Most of its inhabitants live in urban areas due to the inhospitable Amazon rain forest. Due to its large size, it has the 155th highest population density in the world with 25 people per square kilometer or 64 people per square mile.

Emigration

Around 1.7 million people have emigrated from Brazil which represents around 0.8 percent of the total population and ranks Brazil as the 39th state with the highest number of emigrants. Due to the fact that Brazil speaks Portuguese, the most popular destination for emigration is Portugal.

Immigration

Immigration to Brazil mainly comes from neighboring states that experience economic hardships. The largest share of immigrants from the last decade come from Venezuela as well as Argentina. However, continued immigration from the United States and Portugal still play a large role. In total, around 700,000 people have immigrated to Brazil which represents 0.34 percent of the total Brazilian population and ranks Brazil as the 61st state with the highest number of immigrants.

Literacy

Since the 1960s, Brazil has actively started to counter illiteracy which was mainly located in rural areas. At the turn of the 21st century, Brazil started to invest in improving the literacy rate of adults which lowered the illiteracy rate to around eight percent. At present, Brazil is ranked as the 111th most literate state in the world with a literacy rate of 92 percent.

Health

The population of Brazil faces several health risks which range from communicable and cardiovascular diseases to homicide. Other factors that play a role in the health of the Brazilian people are low vaccination rates which gave way to several tropical viruses. The average life expectancy in Brazil is around 76.6 years with women averaging around 80.1 years and men averaging around 73 years. This ranks Brazil as the 105th state with the highest life expectancy in the world.

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Due to the fact that Brazil is largely a Christian state, the share of other religions is relatively low. This ranks Brazil as the 155th most multi religious state in the world.

Around 92.6 percent of the Brazilian population adheres to the Christian faith with Catholicism being the largest denomination with some characteristics from the African and indigenous community. This ranks Brazil as the 11th most Christian state in the world. However, it seems that this number is declining over the last decades and it is estimated that other Christian denominations will become more prevalence than Catholicism.

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Brazil is ranked as the 153rd most Islamic state in the world. It is estimated that around 30,000 people adhere to Islam, or around 0.16 percent of the Brazilian population. These Muslims mainly originate from the African slave trade. Other Muslims largely arrived from the middle east and consists mainly of Syrian refugees.

Around 0.1 percent of the Brazilian population adheres to Buddhism. This is largely spread out throughout Brazil with some clusters around the larger cities. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people in Brazil adhere to Buddhism which makes it the largest state in South America by its population of Buddhists.

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Around 0.02 percent of the Brazilian population is Hindu and are largely represented by the Krishna denomination. These Hindus mainly arrived from India, with some migration from Suriname as well.

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

After the expulsion of the Jews by Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many Jews fled to the Netherlands. However, at the start of the 17th century, the Dutch had gained a large portion of south America which gave way to the resettlement of Jewish communities there. Even though the Jews have settled there, many were forced to convert to Christianity or were limited in the practice of their religion. This changed after the independence of Brazil which gave freedom of religion to the Jewish people.

Other religions (share of the total population)

Other religions are largely practiced by the indigenous people of Brazil as well as people with an African heritage. These religions have more or less merged with larger established religions, mainly Catholicism, due to religious persecution in the past. At present, around two percent of the Brazilian population adheres to other religions.

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Around 5.3 percent of the Brazilian population do not adhere to any faith. It is estimated that this percentage will rise in the coming decades due to legal protection by the governments to not follow any religion.

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

Brazil spends around US$27 billion annually which corresponds to roughly 2 percent of its total GDP and around 1.4 percent of total global military spending. This ranks Brazil as the 11th highest funded military in the world.

The Brazilian military, officially known as the Armed Forces of Brazil consists of a naval Army and Air Force branch. The Armed Forces of Brazil are the largest within South America and the second largest within the Americas and are under direct supervision of the Minister of Defense.

Military membership

Brazil is also a member of nine international military organizations which ranks it as the 37th most militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone
System of Cooperation Among the American Air Forces
Conference on Disarmament
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Nuclear Suppliers Group
Missile Technology Control Regime
International Atomic Energy Agency
New Agenda Coalition

Military membership

International wars

In total, Brazil has participated in 10 international wars. These are:

Platine War 1851-1851
Uruguayan War 1864-1865
Paraguayan War 1864-1870
Acre War 1899-1903
World War I 1914-1918
World War II 1939-1945
Vietnam War 1955-1975
Brazilian coup d'état 1964-1964
American occupation of the Dominican Republic 1956-1966

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

In total, Brazil is a member of 14 international political organizations which ranks it as the 15th most politically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
Group of Five
Organization of American States
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
Community of Portuguese Language Countries
Organization of Ibero-American States
UNIDROIT
International Criminal Court
Interpol
BRICS
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
South Centre (organization)
World Organization for Animal Health

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Due to its dictatorial past as well as large corruption scandals by the Brazilian government, Brazil has trouble with maintaining its checks and balances. However, the elections are deemed to be relatively fair which ranks Brazil as the 54th most democratic state in the world.