About Brazil

- Official name: Federal Republic of Brazil.
- Capital: Brasília.
- Area: 8,514,876 sq km, divided into 26 states and one federal district.
- Population: 203 million inhabitants (estimate 2011).
- Population density: 23.8 inhabitants / km ² (with 87% of urban population and 70% of Brazilians living within 100 km of the sea).
- Currency: real (plural reais).
- Official language: Brazilian Portuguese.
- Rules: constitutional democracy. Presidential system.
- Head of state: Dilma Rousseff (PT, center left) since 1 January 2011. This is the first Brazilian woman to hold this position.
- Major religion: Roman Catholic (79% of the population).
- Minimum monthly salary: Rls 510 (about € 230 per month).
- Heritage Sites UNESCO World: Brasilia, the Iguaçu National Park, the historic city of Olinda, the historic center of the city of Diamantina, the historical center of the city of Goiás, central history of Salvador da Bahia, the historic center of São Luis, the sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas, the historic city of Ouro Preto, the Pantanal Conservation Area, the complex of Amazon Conservation Central Coast discovery - the Atlantic Forest Reserves (States of Bahia and Espirito Santo), the Atlantic forest - South-East Reserves (States of Paraná and São Paulo).

Economy

International in the doldrums, the Minister of Finance announced that Brazil will be among the top 5 world economies by 2020. The country has considerable advantages: the fifth country in the world's population, Brazil repaid its foreign debt, it is independent of raw materials and mineral resources, and reached energy self-sufficiency.

Brazil is among the leading producers and agri-food industry in the world. Agriculture plays a major role in the economy, although it represents only 6% of GDP, and contributes very significantly to the maintenance of growth. The forest holds riches (rubber, vegetable oils, resins, medicinal plants ...), but the Northern Forest states are affected by the growth of agribusiness.

Nearly a third of the country's GDP comes from industries and mines. Brazil remains a country at different speeds, with poor regions (the Northeast), emerging (states located on the Venezuelan border in Minas Gerais) and developed (large southern states).

Lula has contributed to the emergence of his country as a world power. Better still, he managed to impose on the diplomatic front. The only downside, not least, the lack of interest towards the "landless", the main social movement in Brazil and Latin America, who reproached him for his excitement against land reform.