Brazil

Coordinates: 10°S 52°W  /  10°S 52°W  / -10; -52

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil, pronounced  [bɾaˈziw] ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil ),[11] is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3,300,000 sq mi)[12] and with over 211 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the largest country to have Portuguese (namely Brazilian Portuguese) as an official language and the only one in the Americas;[13][14] it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world;[15] as well as the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).[16] It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area.[17] Its Amazon basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats.[16] This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest, as environmental degradation through processes like deforestation has direct impacts on global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.

Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. In the first centuries of Colonial Brazil, the Indigenous Tupi language and the general languages derived from it were the main forms of communication of the entire colonial system, overcoming even the hegemony of the Portuguese language, contributing to the toponymy of the Brazilian territory, in Brazilian culture and vocabulary. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.[18] Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[19]

Brazil is a regional and middle power,[20][21][22] and an emerging power.[23][24][25][26] Brazil is classified as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank[27] and a newly industrialized country,[28] with the largest share of global wealth in South America. It is considered an advanced emerging economy,[29] having the twelfth largest GDP in the world by nominal, and eighth by PPP measures.[30][31] It is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.[32] Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

The word "Brazil" likely comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast.[33] In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember," formed from brasa ("ember") and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium).[34] As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was highly valued by the European textile industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil.[35] Throughout the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi) along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders (mostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorted European consumer goods.[36]

The official Portuguese name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross" (Terra da Santa Cruz),[37] but European sailors and merchants commonly called it simply the "Land of Brazil" (Terra do Brasil) because of the brazilwood trade.[38] The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name. Some early sailors called it the "Land of Parrots."[39]

In the Guarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama". This was the name the indigenous population gave to the region, meaning "land of the palm trees."[40]

Some of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais and provide evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years.[43][44] The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to 8,000 years ago (6000 BC). The pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the tropical forest region supported a complex prehistoric culture.[45] The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó in the Amazon delta from 400 CE to 1400 CE, developing sophisticated pottery, social stratification, large populations, mound building, and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.[42]

Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people,[46] mostly semi-nomadic, who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture. The indigenous population of Brazil comprised several large indigenous ethnic groups (e.g. the Tupis, Guaranis, Gês, and Arawaks). The Tupí people were subdivided into the Tupiniquins and Tupinambás, and there were also many subdivisions of the other groups.[47]

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the boundaries between these groups and their subgroups were marked by wars that arose from differences in culture, language and moral beliefs.[48] These wars also involved large-scale military actions on land and water, with cannibalistic rituals on prisoners of war.[49][50] While heredity had some weight, leadership status was more subdued over time, than allocated in succession ceremonies and conventions.[48] Slavery among the Indians had a different meaning than it had for Europeans, since it originated from a diverse socioeconomic organization, in which asymmetries were translated into kinship relations.[51]

Following the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, the land now called Brazil was claimed for the Portuguese Empire on 22 April 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral.[52] The Portuguese encountered indigenous peoples divided into several tribes, most of whom spoke languages of the Tupi–Guarani family and fought among themselves.[53] Though the first settlement was founded in 1532, colonization effectively began in 1534, when King John III of Portugal divided the territory into the fifteen private and autonomous Captaincy Colonies of Brazil.[54][55]

However, the decentralized and unorganized tendencies of the captaincy colonies proved problematic, and in 1549 the Portuguese king restructured them into the Governorate General of Brazil in the city of Salvador, which became the capital of a single and centralized Portuguese colony in South America.[55][56] In the first two centuries of colonization, Indigenous and European groups lived in constant war, establishing opportunistic alliances in order to gain advantages against each other.[57][58][59][60] By the mid-16th century, cane sugar had become Brazil's most important export,[53][61] while slaves purchased in Sub-Saharan Africa in the slave market of Western Africa[62] (not only those from Portuguese allies of their colonies in Angola and Mozambique), had become its largest import,[63][64] to cope with plantations of sugarcane, due to increasing international demand for Brazilian sugar.[65][66] Portuguese Brazil received more than 2.8 million slaves from Africa between the years of 1500 to 1800.[67]

By the end of the 17th century, sugarcane exports began to decline[68] and the discovery of gold by bandeirantes in the 1690s would become the new backbone of the colony's economy, fostering a Brazilian Gold Rush[69] which attracted thousands of new settlers to Brazil from Portugal and all Portuguese colonies around the world.[70] This increased level of immigration in turn caused some conflicts between newcomers and old settlers.[71]

Portuguese expeditions known as Bandeiras gradually advanced the Portugal colonial original frontiers in South America to approximately the current Brazilian borders.[72][73] In this era other European powers tried to colonize parts of Brazil, in incursions that the Portuguese had to fight, notably the French in Rio during the 1560s, in Maranhão during the 1610s, and the Dutch in Bahia and Pernambuco, during the Dutch–Portuguese War, after the end of Iberian Union.[74]

The Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil had two objectives that would ensure colonial order and the monopoly of Portugal's wealthiest and largest colony: to keep under control and eradicate all forms of slave rebellion and resistance, such as the Quilombo of Palmares,[75] and to repress all movements for autonomy or independence, such as the Minas Conspiracy.[76]

In late 1807, Spanish and Napoleonic forces threatened the security of continental Portugal, causing Prince Regent João, in the name of Queen Maria I, to move the royal court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.[77] There they established some of Brazil's first financial institutions, such as its local stock exchanges[78] and its National Bank, additionally ending the Portuguese monopoly on Brazilian trade and opening Brazil to other nations. In 1809, in retaliation for being forced into exile, the Prince Regent ordered the Portuguese conquest of French Guiana.[79]

With the end of the Peninsular War in 1814, the courts of Europe demanded that Queen Maria I and Prince Regent João return to Portugal, deeming it unfit for the head of an ancient European monarchy to reside in a colony. In 1815, to justify continuing to live in Brazil, where the royal court had thrived for six years, the Crown established the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, thus creating a pluricontinental transatlantic monarchic state.[80] However, the leadership in Portugal, resentful of the new status of its larger colony, continued to demand the return of the court to Lisbon (v. Liberal Revolution of 1820). In 1821, acceding to the demands of revolutionaries who had taken the city of Porto,[81] D. João VI departed for Lisbon. There he swore an oath to the new constitution, leaving his son, Prince Pedro de Alcântara, as Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil.[82]

Tensions between Portuguese and Brazilians increased and the Portuguese Cortes, guided by the new political regime imposed by the 1820 Liberal Revolution, tried to re-establish Brazil as a colony.[83] The Brazilians refused to yield, and Prince Pedro decided to stand with them, declaring the country's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822.[84] A month later, Prince Pedro was declared the first Emperor of Brazil, with the royal title of Dom Pedro I, resulting in the foundation of the Empire of Brazil.[85]

The Brazilian War of Independence, which had already begun along this process, spread through the northern, northeastern regions and in Cisplatina province.[86] The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered on 8 March 1824;[87] Portugal officially recognized Brazil on 29 August 1825.[88]

On 7 April 1831, worn down by years of administrative turmoil and political dissent with both liberal and conservative sides of politics, including an attempt of republican secession[89] and unreconciled to the way that absolutists in Portugal had given in the succession of King John VI, Pedro I went to Portugal to reclaim his daughter's crown, abdicating the Brazilian throne in favor of his five-year-old son and heir (who thus became the Empire's second monarch, with the royal title of Dom Pedro II).[90]

As the new Emperor could not exert his constitutional powers until he came of age, a regency was set up by the National Assembly.[91] In the absence of a charismatic figure who could represent a moderate face of power, during this period a series of localized rebellions took place, such as the Cabanagem in Grão-Pará Province, the Malê Revolt in Salvador da Bahia, the Balaiada (Maranhão), the Sabinada (Bahia), and the Ragamuffin War, which began in Rio Grande do Sul and was supported by Giuseppe Garibaldi. These emerged from the dissatisfaction of the provinces with the central power, coupled with old and latent social tensions peculiar to a vast, slaveholding and newly independent nation state.[92] This period of internal political and social upheaval, which included the Praieira revolt in Pernambuco, was overcome only at the end of the 1840s, years after the end of the regency, which occurred with the premature coronation of Pedro II in 1841.[93]

During the last phase of the monarchy, internal political debate centered on the issue of slavery. The Atlantic slave trade was abandoned in 1850,[94] as a result of the British Aberdeen Act, but only in May 1888 after a long process of internal mobilization and debate for an ethical and legal dismantling of slavery in the country, was the institution formally abolished.[95]

The foreign-affairs policies of the monarchy dealt with issues with the countries of the Southern Cone with whom Brazil had borders. Long after the Cisplatine War that resulted in independence for Uruguay,[96] Brazil won three international wars during the 58-year reign of Pedro II. These were the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the devastating Paraguayan War, the largest war effort in Brazilian history.[97][98]

Although there was no desire among the majority of Brazilians to change the country's form of government,[99] on 15 November 1889, in disagreement with the majority of Army officers, as well as with rural and financial elites (for different reasons), the monarchy was overthrown by a military coup.[100] 15 November is now Republic Day, a national holiday.[101]

The early republican government was nothing more than a military dictatorship, with army dominating affairs both in Rio de Janeiro and in the states. Freedom of the press disappeared and elections were controlled by those in power.[102] Not until 1894, following an economic crisis and a military one, did civilians take power, remaining there until October 1930.[103][104][105]

If in relation to its foreign policy, the country in this first republican period maintained a relative balance characterized by a success in resolving border disputes with neighboring countries,[106] only broken by the Acre War (1899–1902) and its involvement in World War I (1914–1918),[107][108][109] followed by a failed attempt to exert a prominent role in the League of Nations;[110] Internally, from the crisis of Encilhamento[111][112][113] and the Armada Revolts,[114] a prolonged cycle of financial, political and social instability began until the 1920s, keeping the country besieged by various rebellions, both civilian[115][116][117] and military.[118][119][120]

Little by little, a cycle of general instability sparked by these crises undermined the regime to such an extent that in the wake of the murder of his running mate, the defeated opposition presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas, supported by most of the military, successfully led the Revolution of 1930.[121][122] Vargas and the military were supposed to assume power temporarily, but instead closed down Congress, extinguished the Constitution, ruled with emergency powers and replaced the states' governors with his own supporters.[123][124]

In the 1930s, three failed attempts to remove Vargas and his supporters from power occurred. The first was the Constitutionalist Revolution in 1932, led by the Paulista oligarchy. The second was a Communist uprising in November 1935, and the last one a putsch attempt by local fascists in May 1938.[125][126][127] The 1935 uprising created a security crisis in which Congress transferred more power to the executive branch. The 1937 coup d'état resulted in the cancellation of the 1938 election, formalized Vargas as dictator, beginning the Estado Novo era, which was noted for government brutality and censorship of the press.[128]

Foreign policy during the Vargas years was marked by the World War II. Brazil remained neutral until August 1942, when the country entered on the allied side,[129][130] after suffering retaliation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, in a strategic dispute over the South Atlantic.[131] In addition to its participation in the battle of the Atlantic, Brazil also sent an expeditionary force to fight in the Italian campaign.[132]

With the Allied victory in 1945 and the end of the fascist regimes in Europe, Vargas's position became unsustainable and he was swiftly overthrown in another military coup, with democracy "reinstated" by the same army that had ended it 15 years earlier.[133] Vargas committed suicide in August 1954 amid a political crisis, after having returned to power by election in 1950.[134][135]

Several brief interim governments followed Vargas's suicide.[136] Juscelino Kubitschek became president in 1956 and assumed a conciliatory posture towards the political opposition that allowed him to govern without major crises.[137] The economy and industrial sector grew remarkably,[138] but his greatest achievement was the construction of the new capital city of Brasília, inaugurated in 1960.[139]

Kubitschek's successor, Jânio Quadros, resigned in 1961 less than a year after taking office.[140] His vice-president, João Goulart, assumed the presidency, but aroused strong political opposition[141] and was deposed in April 1964 by a coup that resulted in a military regime.[142]

The new regime was intended to be transitory[143] but gradually closed in on itself and became a full dictatorship with the promulgation of the Fifth Institutional Act in 1968.[144] Oppression was not limited to those who resorted to guerrilla tactics to fight the regime, but also reached institutional opponents, artists, journalists and other members of civil society,[145][146] inside and outside the country through the infamous "Operation Condor".[147][148] Despite its brutality, like other authoritarian regimes, due to an economic boom, known as an "economic miracle", the regime reached a peak in popularity in the early 1970s.[149]

Slowly, however, the wear and tear of years of dictatorial power that had not slowed the repression, even after the defeat of the leftist guerrillas,[150] plus the inability to deal with the economic crises of the period and popular pressure, made an opening policy inevitable, which from the regime side was led by Generals Ernesto Geisel and Golbery do Couto e Silva.[151] With the enactment of the Amnesty Law in 1979, Brazil began a slow return to democracy, which was completed during the 1980s.[93]

Civilians returned to power in 1985 when José Sarney assumed the presidency. He became unpopular during his tenure through failure to control the economic crisis and hyperinflation he inherited from the military regime.[152] Sarney's unsuccessful government led to the election in 1989 of the almost-unknown Fernando Collor, subsequently impeached by the National Congress in 1992.[153]

Collor was succeeded by his vice-president, Itamar Franco, who appointed Fernando Henrique Cardoso Minister of Finance. In 1994, Cardoso produced a highly successful Plano Real,[154] that, after decades of failed economic plans made by previous governments attempting to curb hyperinflation, finally stabilized the Brazilian economy.[155][156] Cardoso won the 1994 election, and again in 1998.[157]

The peaceful transition of power from Cardoso to his main opposition leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006), was seen as proof that Brazil had achieved a long-sought political stability.[158][159] However, sparked by indignation and frustrations accumulated over decades from corruption, police brutality, inefficiencies of the political establishment and public service, numerous peaceful protests erupted in Brazil from the middle of first term of Dilma Rousseff, who had succeeded Lula after winning election in 2010 and again in 2014 by narrow margins.[160][161]

Rousseff was impeached by the Brazilian Congress in 2016, halfway into her second term,[162][163] and replaced by her Vice-president Michel Temer, who assumed full presidential powers after Rousseff's impeachment was accepted on 31 August. Large street protests for and against her took place during the impeachment process.[164] The charges against her were fueled by political and economic crises along with evidence of involvement with politicians (from all the primary political parties) in several bribery and tax evasion schemes.[165][166]

In 2017, the Supreme Court requested the investigation of 71 Brazilian lawmakers and nine ministers of President Michel Temer's cabinet who were allegedly linked to the Petrobras corruption scandal.[167] President Temer himself was also accused of corruption.[168] According to a 2018 poll, 62% of the population said that corruption was Brazil's biggest problem.[169]

Through the Operation Car Wash, the Federal Police of Brazil has since acted on the deviations and corruption of the PT and allied parties at that time. In the fiercely disputed 2018 elections, the controversial conservative candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) was elected president, winning in the second round Fernando Haddad, of the Workers Party (PT), with the support of 55.13% of the valid votes.[170]

In the early 2020s, Brazil became one of the hardest hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving the second-highest death toll worldwide after the United States.[171] Experts have largely blamed the situation on the leadership of President Bolsonaro, who throughout the pandemic has repeatedly downplayed the threat of COVID-19 and dissuaded states and cities from enforcing quarantine measures, prioritizing the nation's economy.[171][172][173]

Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior,[174] sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north. It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile.[16]

It also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.[16] Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse.[174] Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and 34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W.[16]

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8,515,767.049 km2 (3,287,956 sq mi),[175] including 55,455 km2 (21,411 sq mi) of water.[16] It spans four time zones; from UTC−5 comprising the state of Acre and the westernmost portion of Amazonas, to UTC−4 in the western states, to UTC−3 in the eastern states (the national time) and UTC−2 in the Atlantic islands.[176]

Brazil is the longest country in the world, spanning 4,395 km (2,731 mi) from north to south. Brazil is also the only country in the world that has the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn running through it. Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of the terrain lies between 200 meters (660 ft) and 800 meters (2,600 ft) in elevation.[177] The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country.[177] The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills.[177]

The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to 1,200 meters (3,900 ft).[177] These ranges include the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountains and the Serra do Mar.[177] In the north, the Guiana Highlands form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the Amazon Basin from rivers that empty into the Orinoco River system, in Venezuela, to the north. The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at 2,994 meters (9,823 ft), and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean.[16]

Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic.[178] Major rivers include the Amazon (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the Paraná and its major tributary the Iguaçu (which includes the Iguazu Falls), the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and Tapajós rivers.[178]

The climate of Brazil comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large area and varied topography, but most of the country is tropical.[16] According to the Köppen system, Brazil hosts six major climatic subtypes: desert, equatorial, tropical, semiarid, oceanic and subtropical. The different climatic conditions produce environments ranging from equatorial rainforests in the north and semiarid deserts in the northeast, to temperate coniferous forests in the south and tropical savannas in central Brazil.[179] Many regions have starkly different microclimates.[180][181]

An equatorial climate characterizes much of northern Brazil. There is no real dry season, but there are some variations in the period of the year when most rain falls.[179] Temperatures average 25 °C (77 °F),[181] with more significant temperature variation between night and day than between seasons.[180]

Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate.[180] This region is as extensive as the Amazon basin but has a very different climate as it lies farther south at a higher altitude.[179] In the interior northeast, seasonal rainfall is even more extreme.[182]

The semiarid climatic region generally receives less than 800 millimeters (31.5 in) of rain,[182] most of which generally falls in a period of three to five months of the year[183] and occasionally less than this, creating long periods of drought.[180] Brazil's 1877–78 Grande Seca (Great Drought), the worst in Brazil's history,[184] caused approximately half a million deaths.[185] A similarly devastating drought occurred in 1915.[186]

South of Bahia, near the coasts, and more southerly most of the state of São Paulo, the distribution of rainfall changes, with rain falling throughout the year.[179] The south enjoys subtropical conditions, with cool winters and average annual temperatures not exceeding 18 °C (64.4 °F);[181] winter frosts and snowfall are not rare in the highest areas.[179][180]

Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, recognized as having the greatest biological diversity in the world,[187] with the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, sustaining the greatest biodiversity.[188] In the south, the Araucaria pine forest grows under temperate conditions.[188] The rich wildlife of Brazil reflects the variety of natural habitats. Scientists estimate that the total number of plant and animal species in Brazil could approach four million, mostly invertebrates.[188]

Larger mammals include carnivores pumas, jaguars, ocelots, rare bush dogs, and foxes, and herbivores peccaries, tapirs, anteaters, sloths, opossums, and armadillos. Deer are plentiful in the south, and many species of New World monkeys are found in the northern rain forests.[188][189] Concern for the environment has grown in response to global interest in environmental issues.[190] Brazil's Amazon Basin is home to an extremely diverse array of fish species, including the red-bellied piranha.

By 2013, Brazil's "dramatic policy-driven reduction in Amazon Basin deforestation" was a "global exception in terms of forest change", according to scientific journal Science.[191]: 852  From 2003 to 2011, compared to all other countries in the world, Brazil had the "largest decline in annual forest loss", as indicated in the study using high-resolution satellite maps showing global forest cover changes.[191]: 850  The annual loss of forest cover decreased from a 2003–2004 record high of more than 40,000 square kilometers (4,000×10 ^3 ha; 9.9×10 ^6 acres; 15,000 sq mi) to a 2010–2011 low of under 20,000 square kilometers (2,000×10 ^3 ha; 4.9×10 ^6 acres; 7,700 sq mi),[191]: 850  reversing widespread deforestation[191]: 852  from the 1970s to 2003.

In 2017, preserved native vegetation occupies 61% of the Brazilian territory. Agriculture occupied only 8% of the national territory and pastures 19.7%.[192] In terms of comparison, in 2019, although 43% of the entire European continent has forests, only 3% of the total forest area in Europe is of native forest.[193]

In 2020 the government of Brazil pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse gases emissions by 43% by 2030. It also set as indicative target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 if the country gets 10 billion dollars per year.[194]

The form of government is a democratic federative republic, with a presidential system.[18] The president is both head of state and head of government of the Union and is elected for a four-year term,[18] with the possibility of re-election for a second successive term. The current president is Jair Bolsonaro. The previous president, Michel Temer, replaced Dilma Rousseff after her impeachment.[195] The President appoints the Ministers of State, who assist in government.[18] Legislative houses in each political entity are the main source of law in Brazil. The National Congress is the Federation's bicameral legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Judiciary authorities exercise jurisdictional duties almost exclusively. Brazil is a democracy, according to the Democracy Index 2010.[196]

The political-administrative organization of the Federative Republic of Brazil comprises the Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities.[18] The Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities, are the "spheres of government". The federation is set on five fundamental principles:[18] sovereignty, citizenship, dignity of human beings, the social values of labor and freedom of enterprise, and political pluralism. The classic tripartite branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial under a checks and balances system) are formally established by the Constitution.[18] The executive and legislative are organized independently in all three spheres of government, while the judiciary is organized only at the federal and state and Federal District spheres.

All members of the executive and legislative branches are directly elected.[197][198][199] Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams.[197] For most of its democratic history, Brazil has had a multi-party system, proportional representation. Voting is compulsory for the literate between 18 and 70 years old and optional for illiterates and those between 16 and 18 or beyond 70.[18]

The country has more than 40 active political parties. Together with several smaller parties, four political parties stand out: Workers' Party (PT), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) and Democrats (DEM). Fifteen political parties are represented in Congress. It is common for politicians to switch parties, and thus the proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changes regularly.[200] Almost all governmental and administrative functions are exercised by authorities and agencies affiliated to the Executive.

Brazilian law is based on the civil law legal system[201] and civil law concepts prevail over common law practice. Most of Brazilian law is codified, although non-codified statutes also represent a substantial part, playing a complementary role. Court decisions set out interpretive guidelines; however, they are seldom binding on other specific cases. Doctrinal works and the works of academic jurists have strong influence in law creation and in law cases.

The legal system is based on the Federal Constitution, promulgated on 5 October 1988, and the fundamental law of Brazil. All other legislation and court decisions must conform to its rules.[202] As of April 2007[update], there have been 53 amendments. States have their own constitutions, which must not contradict the Federal Constitution.[203] Municipalities and the Federal District have "organic laws" (leis orgânicas ), which act in a similar way to constitutions.[204] Legislative entities are the main source of statutes, although in certain matters judiciary and executive bodies may enact legal norms.[18] Jurisdiction is administered by the judiciary entities, although in rare situations the Federal Constitution allows the Federal Senate to pass on legal judgments.[18] There are also specialized military, labor, and electoral courts.[18] The highest court is the Supreme Federal Court.

This system has been criticized over the last few decades for the slow pace of decision-making. Lawsuits on appeal may take several years to resolve, and in some cases more than a decade elapses before definitive rulings.[205] Nevertheless, the Supreme Federal Tribunal was the first court in the world to transmit its sessions on television, and also via YouTube.[206][207] In December 2009, the Supreme Court adopted Twitter to display items on the day planner of the ministers, to inform the daily actions of the Court and the most important decisions made by them.[208]

The armed forces of Brazil are the largest in Latin America by active personnel and the largest in terms of military equipment.[209] The country was considered the 9th largest military power on the planet in 2021.[210][211] It consists of the Brazilian Army (including the Army Aviation Command), the Brazilian Navy (including the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation), and the Brazilian Air Force. Brazil's conscription policy gives it one of the world's largest military forces, estimated at more than 1.6 million reservists annually.[212]

Numbering close to 236,000 active personnel,[213] the Brazilian Army has the largest number of armored vehicles in South America, including armored transports and tanks.[214] It is also unique in Latin America for its large, elite forces specializing in unconventional missions, the Brazilian Special Operations Command,[215][216][217] and the versatile Strategic Rapid Action Force, made up of highly mobilized and prepared Special Operations Brigade, Infantry Brigade Parachutist,[218][219] 1st Jungle Infantry Battalion (Airmobile)[220] and 12th Brigade Light Infantry (Airmobile)[221] able to act anywhere in the country, on short notice, to counter external aggression.[222] The states' Military Police and the Military Firefighters Corps are described as an ancillary forces of the Army by the constitution, but are under the control of each state's governor.[18]

Brazil's navy, the second-largest in the Americas, once operated some of the most powerful warships in the world with the two Minas Geraes-class dreadnoughts, which sparked a South American dreadnought race between Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.[223] Today, it is a green water force and has a group of specialized elite in retaking ships and naval facilities, GRUMEC, unit specially trained to protect Brazilian oil platforms along its coast.[224] It is the only navy in Latin America that operates an aircraft carrier, PHM Atlantico,[225] and one of the ten navies of the world to operate one.[214]

The Air Force is the largest in Latin America and has about 700 crewed aircraft in service and effective about 67,000 personnel.[226]

Brazil has not been invaded since 1865 during the Paraguayan War.[227] Additionally, Brazil has no contested territorial disputes with any of its neighbors[228] and neither does it have rivalries, like Chile and Bolivia have with each other.[229][230] The Brazilian military has also three times intervened militarily to overthrow the Brazilian government.[231] It has built a tradition of participating in UN peacekeeping missions such as in Haiti, East Timor and Central African Republic.[232]

Brazil's international relations are based on Article 4 of the Federal Constitution, which establishes non-intervention, self-determination, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of conflicts as the guiding principles of Brazil's relationship with other countries and multilateral organizations.[233] According to the Constitution, the President has ultimate authority over foreign policy, while the Congress is tasked with reviewing and considering all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to Brazilian foreign policy.[234]

Brazil's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power.[235] Brazilian foreign policy has generally been based on the principles of multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and non-intervention in the affairs of other countries.[236] Brazil is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.

An increasingly well-developed tool of Brazil's foreign policy is providing aid as a donor to other developing countries.[237] Brazil does not just use its growing economic strength to provide financial aid, but it also provides high levels of expertise and most importantly of all, a quiet non-confrontational diplomacy to improve governance levels.[237] Total aid is estimated to be around $1 billion per year, which includes.[237] In addition, Brazil already managed a peacekeeping mission in Haiti ($350 million) and makes in-kind contributions to the World Food Programme ($300 million).[237] This is in addition to humanitarian assistance and contributions to multilateral development agencies. The scale of this aid places it on par with China and India.[237] The Brazilian South-South aid has been described as a "global model in waiting".[238]

In Brazil, the Constitution establishes five different police agencies for law enforcement: Federal Police Department, Federal Highway Police, Federal Railroad Police, Military Police and Civil Police. Of these, the first three are affiliated with federal authorities and the last two are subordinate to state governments. All police forces are the responsibility of the executive branch of any of the federal or state powers.[18] The National Public Security Force also can act in public disorder situations arising anywhere in the country.[239]

The country still has above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of gun violence and homicide. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the number of 32 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest rates of homicide of the world.[240] The number considered tolerable by the WHO is about 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.[241] In 2018, Brazil had a record 63,880 murders.[242] However, there are differences between the crime rates in the Brazilian states. While in São Paulo the homicide rate registered in 2013 was 10.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, in Alagoas it was 64.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.[243]

Brazil also has high levels of incarceration and the third largest prison population in the world (behind only China and the United States), with an estimated total of approximately 700,000 prisoners around the country (June 2014), an increase of about 300% compared to the index registered in 1992.[244] The high number of prisoners eventually overloaded the Brazilian prison system, leading to a shortfall of about 200,000 accommodations.[245]

Brazil is a federation composed of 26 states, one federal district, and the 5570 municipalities.[18] States have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Federal government. They have a governor and a unicameral legislative body elected directly by their voters. They also have independent Courts of Law for common justice. Despite this, states have much less autonomy to create their own laws than in the United States. For example, criminal and civil laws can be voted by only the federal bicameral Congress and are uniform throughout the country.[18]

The states and the federal district may be grouped into regions: Northern, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and Southern. The Brazilian regions are merely geographical, not political or administrative divisions, and they do not have any specific form of government. Although defined by law, Brazilian regions are useful mainly for statistical purposes, and also to define the distribution of federal funds in development projects.

Municipalities, as the states, have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Union and state government.[18] Each has a mayor and an elected legislative body, but no separate Court of Law. Indeed, a Court of Law organized by the state can encompass many municipalities in a single justice administrative division called comarca (county).

Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, the world's ninth largest economy and the eighth largest in purchasing power parity (PPP) according to 2018 estimates. Brazil has a mixed economy with abundant natural resources. After rapid growth in preceding decades, the country entered an ongoing recession in 2014 amid a political corruption scandal and nationwide protests.

Its Gross domestic product (PPP) per capita was $15,919 in 2017[246] putting Brazil in the 77th position according to IMF data. Active in agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors Brazil has a labor force of over 107 million (ranking 6th worldwide) and unemployment of 6.2% (ranking 64th worldwide).[247]

The country has been expanding its presence in international financial and commodities markets, and is one of a group of four emerging economies called the BRIC countries.[248] Brazil has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.[32] The country is a major exporter of soy, iron ore, pulp (cellulose), maize, beef, chicken meat, soybean meal, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, orange juice, footwear, airplanes, cars, vehicle parts, gold, ethanol, semi-finished iron, among other products.[249][250]

Brazil's diversified economy includes agriculture, industry, and a wide range of services.[254] Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 5.1% of the GDP in 2007.[255] Brazil is the largest producer of various agricultural commodities.[256] and also has a large cooperative sector that provides 50% of the food in the country.[257] The world's largest healthcare cooperative Unimed is also located in Brazil, and accounts for 32% of the healthcare insurance market in the country.[258]

Brazil is one of the largest producers of animal proteins in the world. In 2019, the country was the world's largest exporter of chicken meat.[259][260] It was also the world's second largest producer of beef,[261] third largest producer of milk,[262] fourth largest producer of pork[263] and seventh largest producer of eggs.[264]

In the mining sector, Brazil stands out in the extraction of iron ore (the second highest world exporter), copper, gold,[265] bauxite (one of the five largest producers in the world), manganese (one of the five largest producers in the world), tin (one of the largest producers in the world), niobium (concentrates 98% of reserves known to the world)[266] and nickel. In terms of precious stones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine and garnet.[267][268]

Industry in Brazil - from automobiles, steel and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft and consumer durables - accounted for 30.8% of the gross domestic product.[255] Industry is highly concentrated in metropolitan São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte.[269] Brazil has become the fourth largest car market in the world.[270] Major export products include aircraft, electrical equipment, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, footwear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange juice, soybeans and corned beef.[271] In total, Brazil ranks 23rd worldwide in value of exports. In the food industry, in 2019, Brazil was the second largest exporter of processed foods in the world.[272] In 2016, the country was the 2nd largest producer of pulp in the world and the 8th producer of paper.[273] In the footwear industry, in 2019, Brazil ranked 4th among world producers.[274] In 2019, the country was the 8th producer of vehicles and the 9th producer of steel in the world.[275][276][277] In 2018, the chemical industry of Brazil was the 8th in the world.[278][279][280] Although it was among the five largest world producers in 2013, Brazil's textile industry is very little integrated into world trade.[281]

The tertiary sector (trade and services) represented 75.8% of the country's GDP in 2018, according to the IBGE. The service sector was responsible for 60% of GDP and trade for 13%. It covers a wide range of activities: commerce, accommodation and catering, transport, communications, financial services, real estate activities and services provided to businesses, public administration (urban cleaning, sanitation, etc.) and other services such as education, social and health services, research and development, sports activities, etc., since it consists of activities complementary to other sectors.[282][283] Micro and small businesses represent 30% of the country's GDP. In the commercial sector, for example, they represent 53% of the GDP within the activities of the sector.[284]

Brazil pegged its currency, the real, to the U.S. dollar in 1994. However, after the East Asian financial crisis, the Russian default in 1998[285] and the series of adverse financial events that followed it, the Central Bank of Brazil temporarily changed its monetary policy to a managed float regime[286] scheme while undergoing a currency crisis, until definitively changing the exchange regime to free-float in January 1999.[287]

Brazil received an International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package in mid-2002 of $30.4 billion,[288] a record sum at the time. Brazil's central bank repaid the IMF loan in 2005, although it was not due to be repaid until 2006.[289] One of the issues the Central Bank of Brazil recently dealt with was an excess of speculative short-term capital inflows to the country, which may have contributed to a fall in the value of the U.S. dollar against the real during that period.[290] Nonetheless, foreign direct investment (FDI), related to long-term, less speculative investment in production, is estimated to be $193.8 billion for 2007.[291] Inflation monitoring and control currently plays a major part in the Central bank's role in setting short-term interest rates as a monetary policy measure.[292]

Corruption costs Brazil almost $41 billion a year alone in 2010, with 69.9% of the country's firms identifying the issue as a major constraint in successfully penetrating the global market.[293] Local government corruption is so prevalent that voters perceive it as a problem only if it surpasses certain levels, and only if a local media e.g. a radio station is present to divulge the findings of corruption charges.[294] Initiatives, like this exposure, strengthen awareness which is indicated by the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index; ranking Brazil 69th out of 178 countries in 2012.[295] The purchasing power in Brazil is eroded by the so-called Brazil cost.[296]

Brazil is the world's tenth largest energy consumer with much of its energy coming from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol; the Itaipu Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation,[297] and the country has other large plants like Belo Monte and Tucuruí. The first car with an ethanol engine was produced in 1978 and the first airplane engine running on ethanol in 2005.[298]

In total electricity generation, in 2019 Brazil reached 170,000 megawatts of installed capacity, more than 75% from renewable sources (the majority, hydroelectric plants).[299] In 2019, Brazil had 217 hydroelectric plants in operation, with an installed capacity of 98,581 MW, 60.16% of the country's energy generation.[300] Brazil is one of the 5 largest hydroelectric energy producers in the world (2nd place in 2017).[301]

As of January 2022,[ref] according to ONS, total installed capacity of wind power was 21 GW, with average capacity factor of 58%.[302][303] While the world average wind production capacity factors is 24.7%, there are areas in Northern Brazil, specially in Bahia State, where some wind farms record with average capacity factors over 60%;[304] the average capacity factor in the Northeast Region is 45% in the coast and 49% in the interior.[305]

In 2019, wind energy represented 9% of the energy generated in the country.[306] In 2019, it was estimated that the country had an estimated wind power generation potential of around 522 GW (this, only onshore), enough energy to meet three times the country's current demand.[307][308] Brazil is one of the 10 largest wind energy producers in the world (8th place in 2019, with 2.4% of world production).[309][310]

As of March 2022,[ref] according to ONS, total installed capacity of photovoltaic solar was 14 GW, with average capacity factor of 23%.[311] Some of the most irradiated Brazilian States are Minas Gerais, Bahia and Goiás.[312][313] In 2019, solar power represented 1.27% of the energy generated in the country.[306] In 2020, Brazil was the 14th country in the world in terms of installed solar power (7.8 GW).[314]

In 2020, Brazil was the 2nd largest country in the world in the production of energy through biomass (energy production from solid biofuels and renewable waste), with 15,2 GW installed.[315]

Recent oil discoveries in the pre-salt layer have opened the door for a large increase in oil production.[316] The governmental agencies responsible for the energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Council for Energy Policy, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, and the National Agency of Electricity.[317] In the beginning of 2020, in the production of oil and natural gas, the country exceeded 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, for the first time. In January this year, 3.168 million barrels of oil per day and 138.753 million cubic meters of natural gas were extracted.[318]

Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country. The country had 6.36 million visitors in 2015, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the main destination in South America and second in Latin America after Mexico.[320] Revenues from international tourists reached US$6 billion in 2010, showing a recovery from the 2008–2009 economic crisis.[321] Historical records of 5.4 million visitors and US$6.8 billion in receipts were reached in 2011.[322][323] In the list of world tourist destinations, in 2018, Brazil was the 48th most visited country, with 6.6 million tourists (and revenues of 5.9 billion dollars).[324]

Natural areas are its most popular tourism product, a combination of ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as cultural tourism. Among the most popular destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to São Paulo.[325]

In terms of the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil ranked in the 28st place at the world's level, third in the Americas, after Canada and United States.[326][327]

Brazil's main competitive advantages are its natural resources, which ranked 1st on this criteria out of all countries considered, and ranked 23rd for its cultural resources, due to its many World Heritage Sites. The TTCI report notes Brazil's main weaknesses: its ground transport infrastructure remains underdeveloped (ranked 116th), with the quality of roads ranking in 105th place; and the country continues to suffer from a lack of price competitiveness (ranked 114th), due in part to high ticket taxes and airport charges, as well as high prices and high taxation. Safety and security have improved significantly: 75th in 2011, up from 128th in 2008.[327]

The first study into the impact of the creative industries on the Brazilian economy was published by FIRJAN.[328] The creative economy in Latin America was termed the"Orange Economy" in a publication released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This 2013 study valued Brazil's Orange Economy at US$66,87 billion providing 5,280,000 jobs and responsible for US$9,414 million in exports, with the value of creative exports being higher than coffee exports over the same period (US$8,016 million).

A 2021 study into the Intellectual Property Intensive Sectors in the Brazilian Economy was undertaken as part of the National Strategy on Intellectual Property 2021–2030.[329] The study found that 450 of Brazil's 673 economic classes could be classified as IP-intensive sectors which collectively employed 19,3 million people. The share of GDP between 2014 and 2016 across these economic classes amounted to R$2,1 trillion Reais or 44,2% of GDP.

Technological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities and research institutes, with the majority of funding for basic research coming from various government agencies.[330] Brazil's most esteemed technological hubs are the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the Butantan Institute, the Air Force's Aerospace Technical Center, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the National Institute for Space Research.[331][332]

The Brazilian Space Agency has the most advanced space program in Latin America, with significant resources to launch vehicles, and manufacture of satellites.[333] Owner of relative technological sophistication, the country develops submarines, aircraft, as well as being involved in space research, having a Vehicle Launch Center Light and being the only country in the Southern Hemisphere the integrate team building International Space Station (ISS).[334]

The country is also a pioneer in the search for oil in deep water, from where it extracts 73% of its reserves. Uranium is enriched at the Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory, mostly for research purposes (as Brazil obtains 88% of its electricity from hydroelectricity[335]) and the country's first nuclear submarine was delivered in 2015 (by France).[336]

Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America[337] with an operational Synchrotron Laboratory, a research facility on physics, chemistry, material science and life sciences, and Brazil is the only Latin American country to have a semiconductor company with its own fabrication plant, the CEITEC.[338] According to the Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010 of the World Economic Forum, Brazil is the world's 61st largest developer of information technology.[339] Brazil was ranked 57th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from 66th in 2019.[340][341][342][343]

Among the most renowned Brazilian inventors are priests Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Landell de Moura and Francisco João de Azevedo, besides Alberto Santos-Dumont,[344] Evaristo Conrado Engelberg,[345] Manuel Dias de Abreu,[346] Andreas Pavel[347] and Nélio José Nicolai.[348]

Brazilian science is represented by the likes of César Lattes (Brazilian physicist Pathfinder of Pi Meson),[349] Mário Schenberg (considered the greatest theoretical physicist of Brazil),[350] José Leite Lopes (only Brazilian physicist holder of the UNESCO Science Prize),[351] Artur Ávila (the first Latin American winner of the Fields Medal)[352] and Fritz Müller (pioneer in factual support of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin).[353]

Brazilian roads are the primary carriers of freight and passenger traffic. The road system totaled 1,720,000 km (1,068,758 mi) in 2019.[355] The total of paved roads increased from 35,496 km (22,056 mi) in 1967 to 215,000 km (133,595 mi) in 2018.[356][357] The country has about 14,000 km (8,699 mi) of divided highways, 5,000 km (3,107 mi) only in the State of São Paulo. Currently it's possible to travel from Rio Grande, in the extreme south of the country, to Brasília (2,580 km (1,603 mi)) or Casimiro de Abreu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (2,045 km (1,271 mi)), only on divided highways. The first investments in road infrastructure have given up in the 1920s, the government of Washington Luís, being pursued in the governments of Getúlio Vargas and Eurico Gaspar Dutra.[358] President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–61), who designed and built the capital Brasília, was another supporter of highways.[359]

Brazil's railway system has been declining since 1945, when emphasis shifted to highway construction. The total length of railway track was 30,875 km (19,185 mi) in 2002, as compared with 31,848 km (19,789 mi) in 1970. Most of the railway system belonged to the Federal Railroad Corporation RFFSA, which was privatized in 2007.[360] The São Paulo Metro was the first underground transit system in Brazil. The other metro systems are in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Salvador and Fortaleza. The country has an extensive rail network of 28,538 kilometers (17,733 miles) in length, the tenth largest network in the world.[361] Currently, the Brazilian government, unlike the past, seeks to encourage this mode of transport; an example of this incentive is the project of the Rio–São Paulo high-speed rail, that will connect the two main cities of the country to carry passengers.

There are about 2,500 airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the second largest number in the world, after the United States.[362] São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, near São Paulo, is the largest and busiest airport with nearly 20 million passengers annually, while handling the vast majority of commercial traffic for the country.[363]

For freight transport waterways are of importance, e.g. the industrial zones of Manaus can be reached only by means of the Solimões–Amazonas waterway (3,250 kilometers or 2,020 miles in length, with a minimum depth of six meters or 20 feet). The country also has 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) of waterways.[361] Coastal shipping links widely separated parts of the country. Bolivia and Paraguay have been given free ports at Santos. Of the 36 deep-water ports, Santos, Itajaí, Rio Grande, Paranaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Sepetiba, Vitória, Suape, Manaus and São Francisco do Sul are the most important.[364] Bulk carriers have to wait up to 18 days before being serviced, container ships 36.3 hours on average.[365]

The Brazilian public health system, the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde – SUS), is managed and provided by all levels of government,[366] being the largest system of this type in the world.[367] On the other hand, private healthcare systems play a complementary role.[368]

Public health services are universal and offered to all citizens of the country for free. However, the con