Brazil General Information

Area: 8,547,404 sq km (3,300,170.9 sq miles). Population: 186,112,794 (official estimate 2005). Population Density: 22 per sq km. Capital: Brasília. Population: 2,051,146 (2000). Government: Federal Republic. Head of State and Government: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva since 2003. Time: Brazil spans several time zones: Eastern Standard Time: GMT - 3 (GMT - 2 from third Sunday in October to third Saturday in March). Western Standard Time: GMT - 4 (GMT - 3 from third Sunday in October to third Saturday in March). North East States and East Parà: GMT - 3. Amapa and West Parà: GMT - 4. Acra State: GMT - 5. Fernando de Noronha Archipelago: GMT - 2. Language: The official language is Portuguese, with different regional accents characterising each State. Spanish, English, Italian, French and German are also spoken, particularly in tourist areas. Four linguistic roots survive in the indigenous areas: Gê, Tupi-guarani, Aruak and Karib.

Religion: There is no official religion, but approximately 70 per cent of the population adhere to Roman Catholicism. A number of diverse evangelical cults are also represented, as are animist beliefs (particularly spiritism, umbanda and candomblé).

Electricity: Brasília and Recife, 220 volts AC; Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, 127 volts AC or 220 volts in larger hotels. Plugs are of the two-pin type. Most hotels provide 110-volt and 220-volt outlets, transformers and adaptors.

GEOGRAPHY: Brazil covers almost half of the South American continent and it is bordered to the north, west and south by all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador; to the east is the Atlantic. The country is topographically quite flat and at no point do the highlands exceed 3000m (10,000ft). Over 60 per cent of the country is a plateau; the remainder consists of plains. The River Plate Basin (the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, both of which have their sources in Brazil) in the far south is more varied, higher and less heavily forested. North of the Amazon are the Guiana Highlands, partly forested, partly stony desert. The Brazilian Highlands of the interior, between the Amazon and the rivers of the south, form a vast tableland, the Mato Grosso, from which rise mountains in the southwest that form a steep protective barrier from the coast called the Great Escarpment, breached by deeply cut river beds. The population is concentrated in the southeastern states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The city of São Paulo has a population of over 10 million, while over 5.5 million people live in the city of Rio de Janeiro.