Capital city: Brasilia
Nationality: Brazilian
Population:182,032,604

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.13 years, male: 67.16 years, female: 75.3 years (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups that make up the population: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%

Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Literacy rate (Definition: age 15 and over can read and write):total population: 86.4%, male: 86.1%, female: 86.6% (2003 est.)

Legal system: based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment

Agriculture: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef

GDP: purchasing power parity -1.376 trillion (2002 est.)

GDP per capita: $7,600 (2002 est.)

Currency: real (BRL)

School system: Primary education is compulsory from age 7 to 14; high school education lasts for four years. Education is free in official primary and high schools. There was a major reform of education in 1971 that provided a basic education of eight years, with a common core of studies. Students may then continue on to pursue training for employment or higher education. Despite provisions in the 1988 Constitution decreeing federal expenditures for education, schooling remains underfunded and considerable variations exist in opportunity between urban and rural children, among the nation’s regions, and among social class.

Family Unit: Recent decades have also been characterized by significant changes in family structures. For example, the available data suggest a considerable increase over the past decades in female-headed households, which include the poorest of the poor, from 13 percent in 1970 to 16 percent in 1980 and 20 percent by the late 1980s. This process has been termed the "feminization of poverty." Once again, there are considerable differences among regions; in the urban North Region, for example, over 24 percent of households were headed by women in the late 1980s, while their relative share in the South was closer to 16 percent.

Misc. interesting facts: Brazil is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of the interior.

Brazil has over 1000 rivers.
Brazil covers nearly half of South America .
In Brazil , pulling down the lower lid of the right eye means that the listener doubts what you are saying.

Handicrafts: Brazil ’s artisans have been making arts and crafts for many generations. The knowledge of these traditional arts and crafts has become family tradition, and many items are still made by the original methods. Handmade lace, pottery, leather goods, woodcarvings and clay figures are few of the famous handicrafts.

References: CIA Fact book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
World’s Flag Database: http://www.flags.net/