Brazil in numbers

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Wednesday September 27, 2006

Rio de Janeiro- An estimated 126 million Brazilians are expected to vote on Sunday, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva likely headed for reelection. Also up for election are 513 deputies and 27 senators in the bicameral Congress, 1,059 state legislators and the governors of the country's 26 states and the Federal District including Brasilia.

Voting is compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years of age in Brazil, the most populous and wealthy South American country with 188 million people.

The 10th global economic power, according to the World Bank rankins, had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 794 billion dollars in 2005, with growth rate of 2.4 per cent last year.

It exports vehicles, steel, aircraft and textiles, and is immersed in a tough struggle, as the main element of the G20, to force industrialised nations eliminate their agricultural subsidies.

However, economic inequality at home prevails, with 20 per cent of the population below the poverty level. Annual GDP per capita was 8,400 dollars in 2005. The richest tenth of the population claims 31.3 per cent of the country's income and the poorest tenth receives 0.7 per cent.

A former Portuguese colony, Brazil became independent in 1822. The country peacefully overcame two decades of military rule in 1985.

The administrations of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and his successor Lula (2002-2006) have undertaken efforts to liberalise the economy, keep inflation under tight control and maintain a current account surplus to meet substantial debt payments.

As the fifth largest country in the world, the mostly tropical Brazil borders every country in South America except Chile and Ecuador.

The country is geographically dominated by the vast Amazon rainforest with sparse population, but the country's richest and most densely populated region, the South-east, is home to the huge cities of Sao Paulo - Brazil's financial capital - and Rio de Janeiro.

The South American giant is also the largest Catholic country in the globe, although evangelic Christianity has made important inroads among Brazilians in recent years.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa