Country name:
conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
conventional short form:
Brazil
local long form:
Republica Federativa do Brasil
local short form:
Brasil
Government type:
federal republic
Capital:
name:
Brasilia
geographic coordinates:
15 47 S, 47 55 W
time difference:
UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins third Sunday in October; ends third Sunday in February
note:
Brazil has three time zones, including one for the Fernando de Noronha Islands
Administrative divisions:
26 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Acre, Alagoas, Amapa, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Distrito Federal*, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Paraiba, Parana, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins
Independence:
7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 7 September (1822)
Constitution:
several previous; latest ratified 5 October 1988; amended many times, last in 2012 (2012)
Legal system:
civil law; note - a new civil law code was enacted in 2002 replacing the 1916 code
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
voluntary between 16 to under 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory 18 to 70 years of age; note - military conscripts by law cannot vote
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011); Vice President Michel Miguel Elias TEMER Lulia (since 1 January 2011); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011); Vice President Michel Miguel Elias TEMER Lulia (since 1 January 2011)
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president
elections:
president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single four-year term; election last held on 3 October 2010 with runoff on 31 October 2010 (next to be held on 5 October 2014 and, if necessary, a runoff election on 26 October 2014)
election results:
Dilma ROUSSEFF (PT) elected president in a runoff election; percent of vote - Dilma ROUSSEFF 56.01%, Jose SERRA (PSDB) 43.99%
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; 3 members from each state and federal district elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third and two-thirds of members elected every four years, alternately) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections:
Federal Senate - last held on 3 October 2010 for two-thirds of the Senate (next to be held in October 2014 for one-third of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014)
election results:
Federal Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PMDB 19, PT 15, PSDB 11, DEM (formerly PFL) 7, PTB 6, PP 4, PDT 4, PR 4, PSB 3, PCdoB 2, PSOL 2, other 4; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PT 88, PMDB 79, PSDB 53, DEM (formerly PFL) 43, PP 41, PR 41, PSB 34, PDT 28, PTB 21, PSC 17, PCdoB 15, PPS 12, PPS 12, PRB 8, PMN 4, PSOL 3, other 26
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Federal Court (consists of 11 justices)
judge selection and term of office:
justices appointed by the president and approved by the Federal Senate; justices appointed to serve until mandatory retirement at age 70
subordinate courts:
Federal Appeals Court, Superior Court of Justice, Superior Electoral Court, regional federal courts; state court system
Political parties and leaders:
Brazilian Communist Party or PCB [Ivan Martins PINHEIRO]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Landless Workers' Movement or MST
other:
industrial federations; labor unions and federations; large farmers' associations; religious groups including evangelical Christian churches and the Catholic Church
International organization participation:
AfDB (nonregional member), BIS, BRICS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, CPLP, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, LAS (observer), Mercosur, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OECD (Enhanced Engagement, OPANAL, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mauro Luiz Iecker VIEIRA (since 11 January 2010)
chancery:
3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 238-2805
FAX:
[1] (202) 238-2827
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hartford (CT), Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Liliana AYALDE (since 1 August 2013)
embassy:
Avenida das Nacoes, Quadra 801, Lote 3, Distrito Federal Cep 70403-900, Brasilia
mailing address:
Unit 7500, DPO, AA 34030
telephone:
[55] (61) 3312-7000
FAX:
[55] (61) 3225-9136
consulate(s) general:
Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo
consulate(s):
Recife
Flag description:
green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars; the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress); the current flag was inspired by the banner of the former Empire of Brazil (1822-1889); on the imperial flag, the green represented the House of Braganza of Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil, while the yellow stood for the Habsburg Family of his wife; on the modern flag the green represents the forests of the country and the yellow rhombus its mineral wealth; the blue circle and stars, which replaced the coat of arms of the original flag, depict the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889 - the day the Republic of Brazil was declared; the number of stars has changed with the creation of new states and has risen from an original 21 to the current 27 (one for each state and the Federal District)
National symbol(s):
Southern Cross constellation
National anthem:
name:
"Hino Nacional Brasileiro" (Brazilian National Anthem)
lyrics/music: Joaquim Osorio Duque ESTRADA/Francisco Manoel DA SILVA
note: music adopted 1890, lyrics adopted 1922; the anthem's music, composed in 1822, was used unofficially for many years before it was adopted
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Brazil on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Brazil Government 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Brazil Government 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 10-Feb-15