he Rio Quarai and the islands at the confluence of
the Rio Quarai and the Uruguay); has noted possible Latin claims in
Antarctica

_#_Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south

_#_Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains,
hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt

_#_Natural resources: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, uranium,
phosphates, tin, hydropower, gold, platinum, crude oil, timber

_#_Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
19%; forest and woodland 67%; other 6%; includes irrigated NEGL%

_#_Environment: recurrent droughts in northeast; floods and frost in
south; deforestation in Amazon basin; air and water pollution in Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo

_#_Note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries
with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

_*_People
_#_Population: 155,356,073 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 68 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Brazilian(s); adjective--Brazilian

_#_Ethnic divisions: Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, black,
Amerindian; white 55%, mixed 38%, black 6%, other 1%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 90%

_#_Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

_#_Literacy: 81% (male 82%, female 80%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 57,000,000 (1989 est.); services 42%, agriculture
31%, industry 27%

_#_Organized labor: 13,000,000 dues paying members (1989 est.)

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Federative Republic of Brazil

_#_Type: federal republic

_#_Capital: 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; note--the former territories of Amapa and
Roraima beca