I.

Introduction

Brazil (in Portuguese, Brasil), officially Federative Republic of Brazil, federal republic, the largest country in South America, occupying nearly one half of the entire area of the continent. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and the Atlantic Ocean; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by Uruguay; on the west by Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru; and on the north-west by Colombia. The republic has a common frontier with every country of South America except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world (after Russia, China, Canada, and the United States). The total area of Brazil is 8,547,404 sq km (3,300,171 sq mi); its maximum north-south distance is about 4,345 km (2,700 mi), and its maximum east-west distance is about 4,330 km (2,690 mi). Most of the people of Brazil live near the Atlantic Ocean, notably in the great cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but the capital is inland, at Brasília, which has a population of 2,455,903 (2007 estimate). The country, which was once a Portuguese dependency, is the world’s leading producer of coffee, and it also contains great mineral resources; exploitation of many of these resources intensified during the 1980s and 1990s.

II.

Land and Resources

A vast region of highlands, known as the Brazilian highlands or Brazilian plateau, and the basin of the River Amazon are the dominant geographical features of Brazil. The plateau is an eroded tableland occupying most of the south-eastern half of the country. With a general elevation of about 305 to 915 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft), this tableland is irregularly divided by mountain ranges and numerous river valleys. Its south-eastern edge, which is generally parallel to the coast, rises abruptly from the ocean in various areas, particularly north of latitude 10° south and south of latitude 20° south. Among the principal ranges of the Brazilian plateau are the Serra da Mantiqueira, the Serra do Mar, and the Serra Geral. Elevations in these and the other ranges average under about 1,220 m (4,000 ft), but several of the ranges are surmounted by lofty peaks, including Pico da Bandeira (2,890 m/9,482 ft) in the Serra da Mantiqueira, and Pedra Açu (2,232 m/7,323 ft) in the Serra do Mar. Much of the tableland terrain consists of rolling prairies (campos), and extensive tracts are forested.

The basin of the River Amazon occupies more than one third of the surface of the country. Lowlands predominate in the Amazon Basin; elevations rarely exceed about 150 m (500 ft), and swamps and floodplains occupy vast areas of the region. Large parts of the basin are covered by tropical rainforests (selvas). Because of the impenetrability of this growth, huge areas of the Brazilian lowlands have only recently been explored. On the northern edge of the Amazon Basin is another mountainous area, part of the uplift known as the Guiana Highlands; ranges include the Tumucumaque Mountains, with elevations up to about 915 m (3,000 ft), the Acaraí Mountains (maximum elevation 460 m/1,500 ft), and the Parima Mountains (maximum elevation 1,525 m/5,000 ft). Neblina Peak (3,014 m/9,888 ft), at the border with Venezuela, is the highest point in Brazil.

The Brazilian coastline, with a total length of some 9,655 km (6,000 mi), has singularly regular contours, particularly in the north, but several deep indentations provide excellent natural harbours. Especially noteworthy are the harbours of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Recife. Excluding sections in which the Brazilian Plateau projects into the Atlantic Ocean, the coast is fringed by a narrow coastal plain.

A.

Rivers

More than two thirds of Brazil is drained by the Amazon and Tocantins rivers, about one fifth by the River Plate (Río de la Plata) system, and the remainder by the São Francisco and other smaller rivers. The Amazon with its great branches—the Negro, Japurá, and Putumayo on the north and the Javari, Purus, Juruá, Madeira, Tapajós, and Xingu on the south—and the Tocantins, which is a tributary of the River Pará, the southern distributary of the Amazon, afford a system of internal navigation comparable only to that of the Mississippi River in the United States. The length of the Amazon from Iquitos in Peru to its mouth on the north-eastern coast of Brazil is about 3,700 km (2,300 mi), which is all navigable by ocean-going ships. The most important navigable waterways in the plateau region are the São Francisco and Parnaíba rivers. The former river is interrupted about 305 km (190 mi) above its mouth by the Paulo Afonso Falls, but its upper course is navigable for more than 1,450 km (900 mi). The São Francisco is also used for irrigation. The Parnaíba, which, like most of the rivers traversing the highlands contains falls and rapids, is navigable for about 645 km (400 mi)—less than half its length. Rapids also impede navigation in the River Uruguay. One of the chief rivers of the La Plata system, it flows through Brazilian territory for more than 965 km (600 mi) and forms most of the Brazilian-Argentine border. The other great La Plata river systems flowing through Brazil are the Paraguai and the Alto Paraná rivers, which are both important inland waterways.

B.

Climate

Climatic conditions in Brazil range from tropical to subtemperate. The average January and July temperatures in Brasília are 22° C (72° F) and 20° C (68° F) respectively. The averages in Rio de Janeiro for the same months are 29° C (83° F) and 20° C (67° F). Average annual precipitation in Brasília is 1,600 mm (63 in), and in Rio de Janeiro it is 1,760 mm (67 in). Tropical conditions prevail also over most of that portion of the coastal plain lying to the north of the tropic of Capricorn, but oceanic winds have a moderating effect on the high temperatures and humidity. The annual rainfall in this part of the coastal belt varies between 1,041 and 2,286 m (41 and 90 in). In the coastal region south of the tropic of Capricorn, climatic conditions are marked by sharp seasonal variations. Winter temperatures as low as -5.6° C (22° F) are occasionally recorded in the extreme south, and frosts are common throughout the region. Precipitation averages less than 1,016 mm (40 in) annually in the southern part of the coastal belt. In the east-central Brazilian uplands the climate is subtropical but, because of the higher altitudes, sharp variations of temperature occur in the day and the nights are cool. This region is frequently subject to severe droughts. In the highlands to the south and west, precipitation ranges from adequate to abundant. Temperatures vary between subtropical and temperate in the south-eastern highlands, which is the most densely populated section of the country.

C.

Natural Resources

Although the area under cultivation totals only about 62 million hectares (about 153 million acres), or less than 7.5 per cent of the total land area, Brazil is an important agricultural country. It has immense timber resources, the forest areas covering some 5.7 million sq km (2.2 million sq mi). Mineral resources are extensive, including quartz crystal, industrial diamonds, chrome, iron ore, phosphates, coal, manganese, zirconium, beryllium, petroleum, mica, graphite, titanium, copper, gold, oil, bauxite, zinc, tin, and mercury.

D.

Plants and Animals

The flora of Brazil is highly diversified, particularly in the Amazon Basin. Hundreds of species of plant life, including bignonias, laurels, myrtles, and mimosas, abound in this region. Palms and hardwoods are abundant, as are plants of the Euphorbiaceae family (one of the chief sources of crude rubber). Mangroves, cacaos, dwarf palms, and brazilwoods thrive in the coastal region. Among the indigenous and widely cultivated fruits are the pineapple, fig, custard apple, mango, banana, guava, grape, and orange. Vegetation in the river valleys of the plateau region is luxuriant, but in the highlands the forests consist largely of deciduous species, and are far less dense. This section also has extensive tracts of bushes and open plains. Coniferous trees thrive in those areas where temperate climatic conditions prevail. In the arid sections of the plateau region, cacti and other spiny plants are common.

The animal life of Brazil is also extremely varied and differs in many respects from that of North America and the eastern hemisphere. Larger animals include the puma, jaguar, ocelot, the rare bush dog, and foxes. Peccary, tapir, anteater, sloth, opossum, and armadillo are abundant. Deer are plentiful in the south, and monkeys of many species abound in the selva (rainforests). Many varieties of birds are indigenous to the country. The reptilian fauna includes several species of alligator and numerous species of snake, notably the bushmaster, fer-de-lance, and boa. Fish and turtle abound in the rivers, lakes, and coastal waters of Brazil. Animal smuggling is rife in Brazil; estimates suggest that over 35 million have disappeared from the rainforest in this fashion.

The issue of deforestation in the Amazon Basin is an international environmental issue. The country’s tropical rainforest is one of the most complex ecosystems in the world, containing much of the world’s biodiversity. During the early 1990s the forest was being destroyed, to make way for agriculture, at a rate of 35,000 sq km (13,500 sq mi) a year. A rainforest protection programme, funded by the Brazilian government, the EU, and the G-7 group, was agreed in 1996. In September 1999 an environmental bill came into force making deforestation (along with pollution) punishable by fines and prison sentences. A scientific report published in January 2001 predicted that deforestation would reduce the rainforest by 42 per cent by 2020, but this figure was fiercely disputed by Brazilian officials. However, the government agreed to reassess its development programme in the region. In August 2002 the Brazilian government announced the creation of the largest tropical forest reserve in the world—the Tumucumaque National Park in Amapá. The park covers some 3.8 million hectares (15,000 sq mi), an area roughly the size of Switzerland.

E.

Soils

The soil is primarily tropical and subtropical terra rosa (red earth). Amazonia, the valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, is a vast alluvial plain in which flooding continually washes away and replenishes topsoil. A number of low alluvial plateaux, however, can be found above normal floor levels. Some inland regions of the north-east are semi-arid. In lowland areas, the soil supports dense rainforests. The state of São Paulo is marked by fertile, almost purple, terra rosa, because of basalt decomposition accelerated by heat and humidity.

F.

Environmental Concerns

Access to sanitation and safe water is generally good, but local water pollution occurs in urban centres. Concentrations of lead and sulphur dioxide are within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines in São Paulo because of the use of alcohol as fuel and because of curbs on emissions. Traffic growth still remains a cause of concern because of the resulting levels of carbon monoxide and damage to the ozone layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.

III.

Population

Approximately 22 per cent of the population of Brazil is composed of mulattoes. People of Portuguese descent are the second-largest group (15 per cent), followed by mestizos (people of mixed European and Native American stock, 12 per cent), Italian (11 per cent), black (11 per cent), and Spanish (10 per cent), with the remaining 19 per cent made up of other groups, including Germans, Japanese, and Native Americans.

A.

Population Characteristics

The population of Brazil is 191,908,600 (2008 estimate). The overall population density is about 23 per sq km (59 per sq mi). About 84 per cent of the population of Brazil is urban.

B.

Political Divisions

The republic is composed of 26 states and the federal district. The states are Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins. The federal district includes Brasília, which replaced Rio de Janeiro as the national capital in 1960.

C.

Principal Cities

The largest city is São Paulo, centre of Brazilian industry, with a population of 10,886,518 (2007 estimate). Other leading cities, with their estimated 1993 populations, include Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of the country and a commercial centre, population 6,093,472 (2007 estimate); Porto Alegre, an Atlantic port, 1,420,667 (2007 estimate); Salvador, a port located in a fertile agricultural region, 2,892,625 (2007 estimate); Belém, a chief port on the lower Amazon, 1,408,847 (2007 estimate); Recife, chief commercial city of the northeastern region, 1,533,580 (2007 estimate); Curitiba, 1,797,408 (2007 estimate); Belo Horizonte, hub of a cotton-growing region, 2,412,937 (2007 estimate); and Manaus, a port on the River Negro, 1,612,475 (2007).

Many of these cities grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s as a result of both the high birth rate and the movement of people into the cities in search of work. Shanty towns developed and street crime was widespread. Many of the homeless were children, and there were disturbing reports of unofficial “death squads” who tried to reduce the crime rate by hunting down and killing these homeless children.

D.

Religion

Nearly 90 per cent of the inhabitants of Brazil are Roman Catholic. About 20 million Catholics are also Spiritists in some form. There are also at least 7 million Protestants, including substantial numbers of Lutherans, Methodists, and Episcopalians, and a small community of Jews. Most Native Americans follow traditional religions. Separation of Church and State is formal and complete.

E.

Language

Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, spoken by at least 158 million people. More than 192 language are spoken in Brazil, nearly all of which are Native American languages. Kaingáng (18,000), Kaiwá (15,000), Gujajára (10,000) are some of the major Native American languages spoken, while many others have only very small communities of speakers, some numbering fewer than a hundred. Amapá Creole, a French-based creole, is spoken by 25,000 mother tongue speakers, mainly in Amapá state. Caló, an Iberian language with some similarities to Spanish, is spoken by certain inhabitants. Plautdietsch, which is from the Germanic language family subset, has around 6,000 mother tongue speakers.

F.

Education

Primary education in Brazil is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 14. Approximately 87 per cent (2005) of the population is literate. In 1995 the government spent an estimated 2.7 per cent of total expenditure on education.

Around 21.2 million pupils attended Brazilian primary schools in 2000 and over 4 million students were enrolled in secondary schools. Primary and secondary schools are maintained primarily by states and municipalities, but many Roman Catholic-run secondary schools also exist.

The central government of Brazil shares with the states and private associations the responsibility for institutions of higher learning. In the late 1990s Brazil contained more than 850 such institutions (including 156 universities), which had a combined annual enrolment of about 1.6 million students. Among the leading universities were the University of Brasília (1961) in Brasília; the University of São Paulo (1934); the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (1941); the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1920); and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (1948), in Porto Alegre. Other institutions include schools of medicine, public health, law, social sciences, engineering, and mining.

G.

Culture

The culture of modern Brazil has been formed from a rich background of ethnic traditions. The early Portuguese settlers borrowed many customs and words from the original Native American population. During the colonial period millions of black African slaves who were brought into Brazil added an African element to Brazilian cultural life; their religious rites merged with Roman Catholicism to form the unique Afro-Brazilian cult, notable for its exotic ceremonies. The most influential of these cults is Candomble.

Brazil, however, is a predominantly European-formed society, settled largely by the Portuguese, Italians, Germans, and Spaniards. These European origins are the bases of Brazilian family life, which is a rigid and patriarchal structure that permeates all areas of Brazilian life.

G.1.

Libraries and Museums

Most states maintain public libraries in their capital cities; some have suburban branches. Most cities have public library systems. In Rio de Janeiro, the National Archive (1838) contains a collection primarily concerned with Brazilian history. The National Library (1810), also in Rio de Janeiro, holds some 5,789,000 books, 672,000 manuscripts, 80,000 engravings and maps, and many periodicals. The library serves as the national copyright register.

In Rio de Janeiro are the Museum of Modern Art (founded in 1948), which houses collections from many countries and offers courses of study, concerts, and films; the National Museum (1818), which has about 1.5 million specimens on exhibit, most of which concern geology, botany, and anthropology; and the Museum of the Indian (1953). Most larger cities have municipal museums.

G.2.

Literature

See Brazilian Literature.

G.3.

Art

Sculpture flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries in Brazil. Much of the work included striking religious figures. Most Brazilian art before the 20th century was anonymous, but the influence of this work has been strong, and traces can be seen in the work of contemporary Brazilian artists. The painter Cándido Portinari, in a mural executed for the UN headquarters in New York, clearly shows these earlier influences.

Many contemporary Brazilian artists have taken unmistakably individualistic directions that have received international recognition. Brasília, the capital, has been acclaimed for its striking modern architecture, the chief designer of which was the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.

G.4.

Music

Heitor Villa-Lobos is considered perhaps the most gifted Brazilian composer. His works are based largely on Brazilian folk themes. The Brazilian soprano Bidú Sayão has been a major interpreter of his music. Brazil has a rich folk music tradition that synthesizes elements of African and Portuguese traditional music. A Brazilian ballroom dance, the samba, was introduced to the United States in 1938. Its music, based on that of African-derived folk dances, became popular and eventually developed into the even more popular bossa nova. The infectious melodies and rhythms of the bossa nova have been performed by such entertainers as the guitarist and singer João Gilberto. Among contemporary composers are Luis Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim, who created the score for the film Black Orpheus.

IV.

Economy

Once a predominantly agricultural nation, Brazil experienced rapid industrial growth in the 1960s and 1970s, so that by the 1990s it had a diversified modern economy. Great quantities of iron ore and coal were mined, and the output of steel, chemicals, and motor vehicles increased substantially. However, between 1985 and 1994, chronic inflation and a foreign debt of more than US$100 billion—the highest of any developing nation—created severe economic problems. The country’s debt was restructured and reduced in April 1994 in an agreement with debtor banks. A new currency named the “real” was introduced in July 1994 as part of a planned strategy to eliminate inflation, which was increasing by approximately 50 per cent per month, and by the end of the year the rate of inflation had indeed fallen to about 1.5 per cent per month. The Brazilian government also reduced its subsidies to a number of state monopolies and re-introduced its privatization programme; a variety of industries, including the oil, telecommunications, electricity, gas, and shipping industries, were opened to private investors. In 1996 the government pledged to continue its tight fiscal policy to keep inflation down, but it also planned to introduce welfare reforms and some fiscal reforms that would help public and private sector borrowing. Brazil’s foreign debt in 1995 was estimated at US$94 billion.

In 2004 the gross national product was US$551,650 million, giving a per capita figure of about US$4,710 (World Bank figures).

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

About one quarter of the world’s coffee is grown on the plantations of São Paulo, Paraná, Espírito Santo, and Minas Gerais. Annual coffee production in 2006 was about 2.59 million tonnes, much of which was exported. Brazil ranks among world leaders in the production of sugar cane (which is used to produce not only refined sugar but also alcohol for fuel), castor beans, cocoa, maize, and oranges. Other important crops are soya beans, tobacco, potatoes, cotton, rice, wheat, cassava, and bananas.

Livestock is raised in nearly all parts of the country, particularly in São Paulo and other southern states, where there are vast numbers of cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, mules, and oxen.

The valuable products of the Brazilian forests include tung, rubber, carnauba wax, caroa fibre, medicinal leaves, vegetable oils, resins, nuts, and building and cabinet woods. Important timber resources include the paraná pine, the most important commercially, and the pepper tree. The timber production industry developed rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s as much of the forestland was cleared for settlement.

The fishing industry, although hampered at first by lack of capital, storage facilities, and canneries, grew considerably in the 1970s. In 2005 the catch was about 1,008,066 tonnes annually, including shrimp, lobsters, and sardines.

In all, agriculture contributed 5.1 per cent of Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006.

B.

Mining

Mineral resources in Brazil are extensive. Coal is mined in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and elsewhere. A gold rush in the Amazon jungle, unabated since 1979, has made Brazil one of the world’s largest producers. The country’s iron deposits, at Itabira and Carajás, are among the world’s richest. Iron-ore output was about 169 million tonnes in 2004. Rich tin deposits have made Brazil a leading producer of the metal. Quartz crystals, monazite, and beryllium are also major exports. Manganese, industrial diamonds, chromium, zirconium, crude oil, natural gas, silver, bauxite, and mica are produced in considerable quantities. Brazil’s valuable deposits of titanium, copper, zinc, mercury, and platinum are not exploited on a large scale. Attempts to exploit the mineral deposits of the Yanomami land have been resisted by the local tribes.

C.

Manufacturing

Brazil’s manufacturing industries produce a vast array of products and contributed almost 25 per cent of GDP in 1995. Large amounts of such goods as processed food (particularly orange juice), iron and steel, cement, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, chemicals, and machinery. São Paulo is the leading industrial state, with factories producing about one third of the total amount of manufactures of Brazil; the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, and Fortaleza also are major manufacturing centres.

D.

Tourism

Tourism in Brazil centres around the country’s many beaches and the city of Rio de Janeiro. Ecotourism in the Amazon Basin is being encouraged by the government. In 1994 some 1,700,464 tourists (over one third of whom were from Argentina) visited Brazil, spending over US$1.9 million.

E.

Energy

In 2003 84 per cent of Brazil’s annual output of electricity was generated by hydroelectric facilities. Major hydroelectric plants are situated on the Paraná and São Francisco rivers and on the Rio Grande. A great hydroelectric installation, on the Paraná at Itaipu, was completed in the mid-1980s, as was the country’s first nuclear power plant. Brazil had an installed electricity-generating capacity of 55.5 million kW in 1995, and an annual production of 260,678 million kWh.

F.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Brazil is the real, of 100 centavos (1.78 reals equalled US$1; early 2008), introduced in July 1994 to replace the cruzado. The Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil; 1965), which is based in Brasília, issues the country’s currency. Other major banking institutions include the Bank of Brazil, a state-owned commercial bank with more than 3,000 branches; the National Bank of Economic and Social Development, based in Rio de Janeiro; and the Brazilian Discount Bank, with over 1,700 branches. Brazilians are also served by many other private and state banks.

G.

Commerce and Trade

In 2004 Brazil spent about US$65 billion per year on imports of merchandise, while its exports earned about US$95 billion. The principal buyers of Brazilian products in the mid-1990s were the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The leading exports were soya beans, coffee, iron ore, manganese, transport equipment, orange juice, machinery, footwear, leather products, and paper and cellulose.

The United States replaced Germany as the main source of Brazilian imports at the start of World War II and continued to maintain that position after the war. Germany, Japan, Argentina, and Italy also were major suppliers in the mid-1990s. The chief imports included crude and refined petroleum, transport equipment, machinery and electrical equipment, metal, chemicals, and foodstuffs.

H.

Labour

The economically active Brazilian labour force is estimated to include about 93.1 million people; women make up about one third of the labour force. About 23 per cent of the workers are engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; about 53 per cent are employed in trade and services; and some 21 per cent work in manufacturing and industry. Many of the workers are members of unions belonging to one of several national confederations; the groupings include the National Confederation of Industrial Workers, the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers, and the National Confederation of Communications and Advertising Workers, all located in Brasília.

I.

Transport

The railway system of Brazil consists of about 29,314 km (18,215 mi) of lines, primarily south of Bahia. The chief railway is the government-dominated Federal Railway Corporation, which operates regional rail networks. The country’s railways are used mainly to carry freight. Roads and highways, concentrated in the southern and north-eastern sections of Brazil, were estimated at about 1,751,868km (1,088,560 mi) in 2004, of which 6 per cent was paved. A national highway system of about 63,000 km (39,150 mi), connecting all parts of the country, is being developed, as is the Trans-Amazon Highway, an east-west artery linking isolated regions of Brazil and Peru. Roads provide the principal mode of transport in Brazil, and there are 170 motor vehicles per 1,000 people. Inland waterways, totalling some 43,000 km (26,720 mi) and consisting primarily of the Amazon and its tributaries, connect Brazil with other South American countries and provide important means of transport within the country. Within many areas of the Amazon Basin, waterways are the primary means of transport. About 40 harbours along the Brazilian coast serve coastal and international commerce. The principal ports are Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Paranaguá, Recife, and Vitória. Domestic airlines are extensive, and several international air-transport systems, including Brazilian-owned Varig, link the country with major world airports.

J.

Communications

The government plays a major role in providing telecommunications services. More than 14 million telephones were in use in the early 1990s. Brazil also has over 2,500 radio stations and more than 250 television stations. In 1997 some 71 million radios and 58.3 million television sets were in use. The country has more than 532 daily newspapers, but most have a relatively small circulation. Major dailies include O Dia, O’Globo, and Jornal do Brazil in Rio de Janeiro; Folha de São Paulo and Notícias Populares, in São Paulo; Diário da Tarde, in Belo Horizonte; and O Fluminense, in Niterói.

V.

Government

Brazil is a constitutional republic of federated states, the federal district, and territories. The present constitution was promulgated in October 1988, replacing a 1969 document. The states of the federation have their own governments, with powers in all matters not specifically reserved for the Union.

The 1988 constitution abolished the National Security Law, which had been used to stifle political dissent; outlaws torture; provides for various forms of popular plebiscites, initiatives, and referendums; forbids virtually all forms of censorship; guarantees privacy rights; and extends the right to strike to all workers. The military retains the right to intervene in the political system to preserve law and order.

A.

Executive and Legislature

Under the 1969 constitution the president, indirectly chosen by an electoral college of federal and state legislators, held broad powers to rule by decree. The 1988 constitution provides for a directly elected president with circumscribed authority, serving a four-year term; an amendment of 1997 allows the president to run for re-election. In 1993 Brazilians voted to retain the presidential republic system.

The bicameral Brazilian national congress consists of a Senate (Senado Federal) of 81 members elected to eight-year terms, and a Chamber of Deputies (Câmara dos Deputados) with 513 members elected to four-year terms. The deputies are allocated among the states according to population, and each territory elects one deputy. Voting is by secret ballot and is compulsory for literate citizens over the age of 18 and under 70.

B.

Political Parties

In November 1979 Congress disbanded the two existing political parties, both created in 1965. In the more liberal political climate of the 1980s more than three dozen new political parties were formed. In the early 2000s the major political parties included the Brazilian Democratic Movement (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro; PMDB), the Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal; PFL), and the Brazilian Progressive Party (Partido Progressista Brasileiro; PPB), and, at the other end of the political spectrum, the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democracia Brasileiro; PSDB) and the Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores; PT).

C.

Judiciary

A Supreme Federal Tribunal, composed of 11 judges, meets in Brasília. Federal courts sit in each state and in the federal district. Other courts are federal electoral tribunals, to protect elections, and labour tribunals. Federal judges are appointed for life. Justice in the states is administered in state courts.

D.

Local Government

The 26 states have their own popularly elected legislatures and governors. The governor of the federal district is a federal appointee.

E.

Health and Welfare

Health conditions in Brazil vary from region to region. Life expectancy at birth is 68.6 years for men and 76.6 for women (2008). Most large cities have sufficient doctors, but interior regions suffer shortages of doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and pharmacists. Brazil has more than 49,000 hospitals, clinics, and local health centres, and in 2004 there were 486 people for every doctor. There is an infant mortality rate of 27 deaths per 1,000 live births (2008), and government spending on health (1998) amounts to 6.21 per cent of total expenditure. The Organic Social Security Law of Brazil, enacted in the 1930s and modified in the late 1970s, covers urban workers, rural workers, and federal civil servants. The urban workers receive a wide range of benefits, including health insurance and old-age pensions. These benefits are funded by workers, employers, and the government. Rural workers and federal civil servants receive lesser benefits, mainly help with health care. The 1988 constitution provides for a 40-hour working week, maternity leave of 120 days, and paternity leave of 5 days.

F.

Defence

A period of 12 months of military service is compulsory for all men between the ages of 18 and 45. Active forces numbered about 302,909 people in 2004. Of these, about 189,000 were in the army, 48,600 in the navy, and 65,309 in the air force.

G.

International Organizations

Brazil is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Mercosur.

VI.

History

The Native Americans who were the original inhabitants of what is now Brazil included the Arawak and Carib groups in the north, the Tupí-Guaraní of the east coast and the Amazon river valley, the Ge of eastern and southern Brazil, and the Pano in the west. For the most part these groups were essentially semi-nomadic peoples, who subsisted by hunting and gathering and simple agriculture. Those groups in the more remote areas of the interior maintained their traditional way of life until the early 21st century, when their existence was threatened by the advancing frontier.

A.

European Exploration and Early Settlement

The Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first-known European in the region now constituting Brazil. Landing near the site of present-day Recife on January 26, 1500, he subsequently sailed northwards as far as the mouth of the River Orinoco. The newly found territory fell within the region assigned to Portugal by the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), a Spanish-Portuguese agreement that modified the Line of Demarcation promulgated in 1493 by Pope Alexander VI. Probably for this reason, Spain made no territorial claims on the basis of Pinzón’s discovery. In April 1500 the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral also reached the coast of present-day Brazil and formally claimed the surrounding region in the name of Portugal. The territory was named “Terra da Vera Cruz” (Portuguese, “Land of the True Cross”). An expedition under the command of the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci was sent to Terra da Vera Cruz by the Portuguese government in 1501. In the course of his explorations Vespucci named many capes and bays, including a bay which he called Rio de Janeiro. He returned to Portugal with a cargo of Brazilwood, and from that time forward Terra da Vera Cruz bore the name of the valuable wood Brazil.

In 1530 the Portuguese king John III initiated a programme of systematic Brazilian colonization. As a first step the king divided Brazil into 15 districts or captaincies, and granted each of the districts in perpetuity to a person prominent at the Portuguese court. The grantees, known as donatarios, were vested with extraordinary powers over their domains.

Because of the dangers implicit in the French depredations along the Brazilian coast, King John revoked most of the powers held by the donatarios and placed Brazil under the rule of a governor-general. The first governor-general, Thomé de Souza, arrived in Brazil in 1549, organized a central government, with the newly founded city of Salvador, or Bahia, as his capital, instituted comprehensive administrative and judicial reforms, and established a coastal defence system. Large numbers of slaves were brought into the region from Africa to overcome the shortage of labourers. São Paulo, in the south, was founded in 1554.

In 1555 the French founded a colony on the shores of Rio de Janeiro Bay. The Portuguese destroyed the French colony in 1560, and in 1567 they established on its site the city of Rio de Janeiro.

B.

Spanish Rule and Dutch Incursions

Philip II of Spain inherited the Portuguese crown in 1580. The period of Spanish rule was marked by frequent aggressions against Brazil by the English and Dutch, then enemies of Spain. A Dutch fleet seized Bahia in 1624, but the city was recaptured by a combined force of Spaniards, Portuguese, and Native Americans the following year. The Dutch attacked again in 1630, and an expedition sponsored by the Dutch West India Company captured Pernambuco (now Recife) and Olinda. Most of the territory between Maranhão Island and the lower course of the São Francisco River fell to the Dutch in subsequent operations. Under the able governorship of Count Joan Mauritz van Nassau-Siegen, the Dutch-occupied part of Brazil prospered for several years. Nassau-Siegen resigned in 1644, however, in protest against the exploitative policies of the Dutch West India Company. Shortly after his departure the Portuguese colonists, with support from their mother country, rose in rebellion against Dutch rule. The Dutch capitulated in 1654, after nearly a decade of struggle, and in 1661 renounced by treaty their claims to Brazilian territory.

C.

Portuguese Restoration

With the successful revolt in Portugal against Spanish overlordship in 1640, Brazil reverted to Portuguese sovereignty and was made a viceroyalty. Generally peaceful conditions prevailed between the Spanish and Portuguese in South America until 1680. In that year the Portuguese dispatched an expedition southwards to the east bank of the estuary of the River Plate and founded a settlement called Colonia. This move led to a protracted period of strife over ownership of the region, which eventually emerged as the republic of Uruguay in 1828.

Brazilian expansion southward had been preceded by penetration of large sections of the interior. Jesuit missionaries had begun to operate in the Amazon Valley early in the 17th century. Before the middle of the century, parties of Paulistas, the name by which residents of São Paulo were known, had reached the upper course of the River Paraná. Because these expeditions were undertaken principally for the purpose of enslaving the Native Americans, the Paulistas encountered vigorous opposition from the Jesuits. Supported by the Crown in their efforts to protect the Native Americans, the Jesuits finally triumphed. Many Paulistas thereupon became prospectors, and a feverish hunt for mineral wealth ensued. In 1693 rich gold deposits were discovered in the region of present-day Minas Gerais. The resultant gold rush brought tens of thousands of Portuguese colonists to Brazil. The economic expansion of the viceroyalty was further stimulated by the discovery of diamonds in 1721 and later by the development of the coffee- and sugar-growing industries.

In 1750 the Treaty of Madrid between Spain and Portugal confirmed Brazilian claims to a vast region west of the limits promulgated in the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Treaty of Madrid was later annulled, but its principles were embodied in the 1777 Treaty of Ildefonso.

The Portuguese foreign minister and premier Marquês de Pombal instituted many reforms in Brazil during the reign of Portugal’s King Joseph Emanuel. He freed the Native American slaves, encouraged immigration, reduced taxes, eased the royal monopoly in Brazilian foreign commerce, centralized the governmental apparatus, and transferred the seat of government from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro in 1763. Pombal expelled the Jesuits in 1760, because their influence among the Native Americans and growing economic power were resented by many Brazilians.

D.

The Sojourn of the Portuguese Court

The Napoleonic Wars profoundly altered the course of Brazilian history. Early in November 1807 Napoleon dispatched an army across the Spanish frontier into Portugal. The Portuguese regent, Prince John, and most of his court embarked from Lisbon shortly before the arrival of the French army and sailed for Brazil. Prince John made Rio de Janeiro the seat of the royal government of Portugal and decreed a series of reforms and improvements for Brazil, among them the removal of restrictions on commerce, the institution of measures beneficial to agriculture and industry, and the creation of schools of higher learning.

Prince John inherited the Portuguese crown as John VI in March 1816. In the five-year period before his recall to Portugal, his regime steadily lost favour among the Brazilians. The royal government was corrupt and inefficient, and republican sentiment, widespread in the country following the French Revolution, had gained considerable momentum when the neighbouring Spanish colonies declared their independence. In 1816 King John intervened, occupying Banda Oriental (Uruguay), then under the control of Spanish-American revolutionaries. He crushed a revolutionary uprising in Pernambuco the next year. Banda Oriental was annexed to Brazil in 1821 and renamed Cisplatine Province. Before departing for Portugal in 1821, John VI made his second son, Dom Pedro, regent of Brazil. Sharp antagonism to the king’s Brazilian reforms had developed meanwhile in Portugal; the Cortes, the Portuguese legislature, enacted legislation designed to return Brazil to its former status as a colony. Dom Pedro was ordered to return to Europe. In 1822, responding to the pleas of the indignant Brazilians, Dom Pedro announced his refusal to leave Brazil. He convoked a Constituent Assembly in June, and in September, when dispatches from Portugal disclosed that the Cortes would make no major concessions to Brazilian nationalism, he proclaimed the country’s independence. By vote of the upper House of the Constituent Assembly, he became Emperor of Brazil in the same year. All Portuguese troops in Brazil had been forced to surrender by the end of 1823.

E.

The Empire of Brazil

An autocratic ruler, Pedro I lost much of his popular support during the first year of his reign. Because of dissension within the Constituent Assembly, he dissolved it in 1823 and promulgated a constitution in March 1824. In 1825 Brazil, provoked by Argentina’s support of a rebellion in Cisplatine Province, became embroiled in war with that country. In 1827 the Brazilians were decisively defeated, and through British mediation Cisplatine Province won independence as Uruguay. Popular opposition to Pedro I mounted during the next few years. In April 1831 he abdicated in favour of Pedro II, the 5-year-old heir apparent.

Regencies ruled Brazil for the following decade, a period of political turbulence marked by frequent provincial revolts and uprisings. Towards the end of the decade a movement to place the young emperor at the head of the government gained popular support, and in July 1840 the Brazilian Parliament proclaimed that Pedro II had attained his majority.

Pedro II proved to be one of the most able monarchs of his time. During his reign, which lasted nearly half a century, the population and economy expanded at unprecedented rates. National production increased by more than 900 per cent. A network of railways was constructed. In the realm of foreign affairs the imperial government was actively hostile to neighbouring dictatorial regimes. It supported the successful revolutionary war against the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas from 1851 to 1852 and, allied with Argentina and Uruguay, fought a victorious war against Paraguay from 1865 to 1870.

The chief domestic political issue of the emperor’s reign grew out of a broad movement for the abolition of slavery in Brazil. Importation of African slaves was outlawed in 1853. An organized campaign for emancipation of the 2.5 million slaves already in Brazil was launched a few years later. The abolitionists won their first victory in 1871 when the national parliament approved legislation freeing children born of slave mothers. For various reasons, including the sacrifices entailed by the Paraguayan war, a parallel movement for a republic developed at about this time. Liberalism became widespread during the next 15 years. Slaves more than 60 years of age were liberated in 1885. In May 1888 all remaining slaves were emancipated.

F.

The Early Republic

Instituted without compensation for the slave owners, emancipation alienated the powerful landed interests from the government. Moreover, sections of the Roman Catholic clergy were hostile to certain of Pedro’s policies, many leading army officers were secretly disloyal, and large sections of the populace favoured a republic.

F.1.

Fonseca and Peixoto

In November 1889 a military revolt under the leadership of General Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca forced the abdication of Pedro II. A republic was proclaimed, with Fonseca as head of the provisional government. Separation of Church and State and other republican reforms were swiftly decreed. The drafting of a constitution was completed in June 1890. Similar to the US Constitution, it was adopted in February 1891, and Brazil became a federal republic, officially styled the United States of Brazil. Fonseca was elected its first President.

Political turbulence, owing essentially to the lack of national democratic traditions and experience, marked the early years of the new republic. During 1891 the arbitrary policies and methods of President Fonseca aroused strong congressional opposition. Early in November he dissolved the congress and assumed dictatorial power. A naval revolt later that month forced him to resign in favour of Vice-President Floriano Peixoto. The Peixoto government, another dictatorial regime, survived a military and naval rebellion (1893-1894) and a series of uprisings in southern Brazil.

F.2.

Civilian Rule

Order was gradually restored in the country during the administration of President Prudente José de Moraes Barros, the nation’s first civilian chief executive. Beginning in 1898, when Manuel Ferraz de Campos Salles, a former governor of São Paulo, became president, energetic measures to rehabilitate the dislocated national economy were adopted. By securing a large foreign loan, Campos Salles strengthened Brazilian finances and expanded trade and industry.

Coffee and rubber production had meanwhile increased steadily in Brazil. Between 1906 and 1910 falling coffee prices on the world market severely disrupted the national economy. The price of Brazilian rubber began to drop towards the close of this period. As a result, social and political unrest was widespread during the administration of President Hermes da Fonseca, a conservative and militarist. Wenceslau Braz Pereira Gomes, an industrialist, was elected to the presidency without opposition in 1914 and held office until 1918.

After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, rising demand in foreign markets for Brazilian coffee, rubber, and sugar considerably relieved the economic difficulties of the country. Brazil adopted a policy of neutrality in the early stages of the war, but as a consequence of German attacks on its shipping, the country severed diplomatic relations with Germany in August 1917. In October Brazil entered the war on the side of the Allies. Naval units were sent to the fighting zones, and the nation’s contributions of food and raw materials to the war effort were substantial.

Industrial retrenchment and sharp curtailment of governmental expenditures were necessitated by the onset of an economic crisis in 1922. In July 1924 a period of unrest culminated in large-scale revolt, especially serious in São Paulo. Most of the army remained loyal to President Artur da Silva Bernardes, who had taken office in 1922, and the rebels were defeated after more than six months of fighting. Bernardes ruled by martial law for the remainder of his term. During the administration of his successor, President Washington Luiz Pereira de Souza, the economic crisis deepened, causing numerous strikes and an upsurge of radicalism. Strikes were outlawed by the government in August 1927, and stringent measures against communism were adopted.

G.

The Vargas Period

In the presidential contest of March 1930, the administration-sponsored candidate Julio Prestes was declared the victor over Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, a prominent politician and nationalist of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Vargas, however, gained the support of many military and political leaders and led a revolt against the government in October. After about three weeks of bitter fighting, President Luiz Pereira de Souza resigned, and Vargas assumed absolute power as provisional president.

In an attempt to ease the economic distress of the country, Vargas reduced coffee production and purchased and destroyed surplus stocks of the commodity. Expenditures entailed by this programme intensified the financial problems of the government, however, and Brazil defaulted on its foreign debt. In 1932 the Vargas regime quelled a formidable rebellion in São Paulo after nearly three months of large-scale warfare.

Vargas allayed much of the political unrest in Brazil by convening a Constituent Assembly in 1933. Among the features of the new constitution adopted by this body in 1934 were sections curtailing states’ rights and providing for female suffrage, social security for workers, and the election of future presidents by the congress. On July 17, Vargas was elected president.

In the first year of his constitutional administration Vargas encountered considerable opposition from the radical wing of the Brazilian labour movement. Abortive Communist-led revolts occurred in Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro in November 1935. Martial law was declared, and Vargas began to rule by decree. Mass arrests of radicals and other opponents of the government followed. Popular discontent soon attained grave proportions, with a newly formed pro-Nazi party organization (Integralista) winning broad support among the Brazilian middle class. This group soon became a centre of anti-government activity. In November 1937, almost on the eve of the presidential election, Vargas dissolved the congress and proclaimed a new constitution vesting his office with absolute, dictatorial powers. He reorganized the government in imitation of totalitarian Italy and Germany, abolished all political parties, and imposed censorship of the press and mail.

G.1.

The Estado Novo

The Vargas government, officially styled Estado Novo (New State), was to continue in office pending a national plebiscite on the new organic law. No date was set for the plebiscite. Through a series of decrees extending greater social security to the plantation workers, Vargas mobilized the support of a large section of the population. The only serious challenge to his regime came from the Integralistas, who staged a revolt in 1938. The uprising was crushed within a few hours.

Despite the totalitarian character of his regime, Vargas maintained friendly relations with the United States and other democracies. His administration was openly hostile to the German Third Reich, largely because German agents were so active in Brazil. After evidence of Nazi complicity in the Integralista revolt had been uncovered, Vargas imposed severe restrictions on German nationals. The consequent friction between Brazil and Nazi Germany led to a temporary break in their diplomatic relations in October 1938.

Siding with the Allies in World War II, the Vargas regime, aided by the United States, embarked on a vast programme of industrial expansion, which gave special emphasis to increased production of rubber and other vital war materials. Naval bases and airfields, constructed at strategic coastal points, became important centres of Allied anti-submarine warfare. The Brazilian navy eventually assumed all patrol activities in the south Atlantic Ocean. In 1944 and 1945 a Brazilian expeditionary force fought in the Allied campaign in Italy.

Meanwhile, manifestations of dissatisfaction with the Vargas dictatorship were increasing. Defiant action in February 1945 by a group of influential publishers forced the government to relax censorship of the press. On February 28 it was announced that congressional and presidential elections would be held later in the year. Gradually, all major restrictions against political activity were removed. Amnesty for all political prisoners, including Communists, was decreed in April.

G.2.

The Dutra Government

During the election campaign a series of unpopular executive orders created fears that Vargas intended to resume the dictatorship. A military coup d’état in October 1945 forced Vargas to resign. José Linhares, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was appointed Head of the Provisional Government. In the national elections held in December, the former Minister of War Eurico Gaspar Dutra won the presidency by a large plurality; he was inaugurated in January 1946. The newly elected congress drafted a new constitution, adopted the following September.

During the summer of 1947, Petrópolis, Brazil, was the site of the International (Pan-American) Conference for the Maintenance of Peace and Security. The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, or Rio Treaty, which was drafted by the conference, was signed by Brazil in September. A provision of the treaty stipulates united defence by the signatories against armed aggression directed at any nation of the western hemisphere.

In October 1947 the Brazilian government, provoked by a Soviet magazine article that referred to President Dutra as a puppet of the United States, severed diplomatic relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A few months later the legislature voted to expel from office all Communists in elective positions. One senator and 14 deputies were affected.

G.3.

Vargas’s Second Presidency

Getúlio Vargas returned to power as president in January 1951 after defeating two rival candidates by a large plurality in elections held the previous October. Vargas formed a coalition Cabinet representative of all major parties. The government took immediate steps to balance the national budget and develop a programme to reduce living costs, increase wages, and extend social reforms. Inflation and high living costs, however, persisted throughout the post-war period, which was marked by an upsurge of Communist underground activities and a revival of nationalism that led to the nationalization of petroleum resources in September 1952. In addition, the so-called austerity programme of the government caused anti-Vargas conservatives to become increasingly critical.

In August 1954, during a congressional election campaign, an air force officer was killed in the attempted assassination of an anti-Vargas newspaper editor. The killing brought the governmental crisis to a head: military officers demanded that Vargas resign. Early on August 24 Vargas agreed to relinquish power temporarily in favour of Vice-President João Café Filho. Vargas committed suicide a few hours later.

H.

The Kubitschek, Quadros, and Goulart Administrations

The former governor of Minas Gerais, Juscelino Kubitschek, had the support of Vargas’s followers and the Communists. Kubitschek won election to the presidency in October 1955 and was inaugurated in January 1956. Kubitschek announced an ambitious five-year economic development plan. The announcement was followed by the acquisition of US Export-Import Bank loans worth more than US$150 million, and by the approval of plans, in September, for a new federal capital, Brasília. The fast pace of industrial development was tempered, however, by a drop in world coffee prices in the mid- and late 1950s. Inflation continued, prodding social unrest that resulted in frequent strikes and riots by workers and students.

Jânio da Silva Quadros, former governor of São Paulo, became President of Brazil in January 1961 and immediately initiated a programme of rigorous economies. All governmental ministries were ordered to reduce expenditures by 30 per cent, and some civil-service employees were dismissed. Quadros also proposed to eliminate the corruption alleged to have flourished during the Kubitschek administration. President Quadros suddenly resigned his office in August, giving no explanation, and referring only to the “forces of reaction” that had blocked his efforts. Military leaders expressed opposition to the assumption of office by Vice-President João Belchoir Marques Goulart, maintaining that he was sympathetic to the Castro regime in Cuba. A compromise was reached, however, when the Brazilian legislature amended the constitution in order to strip the presidency of most powers; executive authority was vested in a prime minister and Cabinet who were responsible to the legislature. Goulart was installed in office in September 1961.

A year later, Goulart precipitated a Cabinet crisis with a request for a national plebiscite to measure support for a return to a presidential form of government. The plebiscite was held and the proposal approved; in January 1963 the legislature enacted the change into law. Later that year Goulart pressed strongly for legislative approval of a programme of basic reforms, and early in 1964 he signed decrees setting low-rent controls, nationalizing oil refineries, expropriating unused lands, and limiting export of profits. The measures seemed only to aggravate the nation’s chronic inflation. In March Goulart was overthrown by an army revolt and fled to Uruguay. General Humberto Castelo Branco, army Chief of Staff, was elected president.

I.

Military Government

The new regime, with extraordinary powers under the Institutional Act signed in April, suppressed opposition, particularly from the Left, and deprived some 300 people of political rights. It also adopted moderate versions of many reforms demanded by Goulart and fought inflation with wage controls, tightened tax collections, and other measures. A law passed in 1965 curbed civil liberties, increased the power of the national government, and provided for congressional election of the president and vice-president.

The former Minister of War, Marshal Artur da Costa e Silva, candidate of the government’s ARENA Party, was elected president in 1966. The Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), which was the only legal opposition party, had refused to enter a candidate in protest against the government’s disenfranchisement of its most challenging opponents. Also in 1966 ARENA won the national and state legislative elections. President Costa headed a militarily oriented government that was concerned primarily with economic development. Although 1968 was marked by anti-government activities, including student riots, the economy gained momentum. In December Costa assumed unlimited powers, which resulted in political purges, economic curbs, and censorship. In August 1969 he was incapacitated by a stroke, and in October the military chose as his successor General Emílio Garrastazú Médici; Congress elected him president. The Médici regime intensified repression, and revolutionary groups became more active. As the government encouraged economic growth and development of the vast interior regions, the economy was plagued by high-energy costs, runaway inflation, and a large balance-of-payments deficit. The Roman Catholic clergy became increasingly critical of the government’s failure to improve the condition of the poor.

In 1974 General Ernest Geisel, the president of the national oil monopoly known as Petrobras, became president. At first he followed relatively liberal policies, relaxing press censorship and allowing opposition parties considerable freedom, but in 1976 and 1977 controls were tightened again just before the election of João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, who succeeded Geisel in 1979.

J.

Restoration of Civil Rule

In 1985 Tancredo Neves was selected as Brazil’s first civilian president in 21 years; he died before taking office, and José Sarney became president. Faced with resurgent inflation and a huge foreign debt, Sarney imposed an austerity programme that included a new unit of currency, the cruzado. A new constitution providing for direct presidential elections was enacted in October 1988, and Fernando Collor de Mello, of the conservative National Reconstruction Party, was elected president in December 1989. His drastic anti-inflation programme contributed to Brazil’s worst recession in ten years, and allegations of financial corruption further eroded his popularity.

Brazilian environmental issues attracted international attention in the late 1980s, especially after the murder of Chico Mendes, the environmental campaigner, and the slash-and-burn techniques of farmers and ranchers in the rainforest. In June 1992 Brazil was host to more than 100 world leaders for the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit. In September Collor was impeached by the Chamber of Deputies, and Vice-President Itamar Franco became acting president. Collor resigned on December 29, just as his Senate trial was beginning, and Franco was then sworn in as his successor. A plan to restructure and reduce Brazil’s foreign debt was implemented in April 1994, and in July 1994 a new currency named the real was introduced in a successful attempt to reduce inflation.

In late 1994 Fernando Henrique Cardoso won the presidential election, and he took office on January 1, 1995. His government announced its intentions to reform the tax and social security system, and to continue to keep inflation under control. In 1996 President Cardoso began proceedings to change the constitution to allow the president to serve two consecutive terms, and in 1997 he pushed through major reforms of the civil service, intended to help Brazil’s finances. A prolonged spell without rain in early 1998 caused forest fires to rage out of control in the Amazon Basin despite international help. Many of the fires were only put out after heavy rain in April.

In October 1998, Cardoso was re-elected and proceeded with further plans for economic reforms aimed at cutting spending and reworking the social security and taxation systems. Financial backing for these reforms—amounting to US$41.5 billion over three years—was provided by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other lenders. In January 1999 a financial crisis began in Brazil when one of its larger states announced a moratorium on debts to the central government. This triggered a drop in value of Brazilian stocks and shares and the withdrawal of foreign capital, which in turn led to the devaluation of the real and then the floating of the currency. Brazilian stocks revived and the collapse of the real was averted (although it had dropped in value against the dollar). The Brazilian parliament continued with legislation aimed at fiscal reform, despite protests by landless workers. In August 2000 Brasília was host to the first ever summit meeting of South American leaders.

Congress approved a new civil code in August 2001, which is expected to replace the 1916 code in 2003. In early 2002 Rio de Janeiro was hit by an outbreak of dengue fever. The national football side won the World Cup tournament in June in a tournament co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

K.

The Lula Presidency

The left-wing leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won the presidential election run-off in October 2002 with 61 per cent of the vote. It was the fourth attempt at the presidency by the former metal-worker and trade unionist and the first left-wing president to come to power since 1964. Silva announced his commitment to stabilizing the economy, a condition of Brazil receiving a loan package valued at US$30 billion from the International Monetary Fund. Within two years of taking office he had made visible improvements to the running of the economy, including presiding over a rise in production and a lowering of unemployment. However a series of scandals, where his coalition was accused of bribing members of Congress to support the government, nearly derailed his re-election campaign and he was forced into a second round of voting. Silva defeated Geraldo Alckmin in the runoff election in October 2006.