Lesotho (2003) | Brazil (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 37.7% (male 353,554; female 349,092)
15-64 years: 56.8% (male 516,017; female 541,694) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 41,735; female 59,867) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years:
28.57% (male 25,390,039; female 24,449,902) 15-64 years: 65.98% (male 56,603,895; female 58,507,289) 65 years and over: 5.45% (male 3,857,564; female 5,659,886) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef |
Airports | 28 (2002) | 3,264 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
total:
570 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 141 914 to 1,523 m: 370 under 914 m: 33 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total:
2,694 1,524 to 2,437 m: 68 914 to 1,523 m: 1,279 under 914 m: 1,347 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
8,511,965 sq km land: 8,456,510 sq km water: 55,455 sq km note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than the US |
Background | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody South African military intervention. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002. | Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of the interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970s. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem. |
Birth rate | 27.26 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 18.45 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY 99/00 est.) |
revenues:
$151 billion expenditures: $149 billion, including capital expenditures of $36 billion (1998) |
Capital | Maseru | Brasilia |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | mostly tropical, but temperate in south |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 7,491 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 5 October 1988 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form:
Federative Republic of Brazil conventional short form: Brazil local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil local short form: Brasil |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | real (BRL) |
Death rate | 24.58 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 9.34 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $735 million (2002) | $232 billion (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS
embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Anthony S. HARRINGTON embassy: Avenida das Nacoes, Quadra 801, Lote 3, Distrito Federal Cep 70403-900, Brasilia mailing address: Unit 3500, APO AA 34030 telephone: [55] (061) 321-7272 FAX: [55] (061) 225-9136 consulate(s) general: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo consulate(s): Recife |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Rubens Antonio BARBOSA chancery: 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-2700 FAX: [1] (202) 238-2827 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA $4.4 million | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $41.5 million (2000) | NA |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue, but the government has strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, also generating royalties for Lesotho. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. | Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. In the late eighties and early nineties, high inflation hindered economic activity and investment. "The Real Plan", instituted in the spring of 1994, sought to break inflationary expectations by pegging the real to the US dollar. Inflation was brought down to single digit annual figures, but not fast enough to avoid substantial real exchange rate appreciation during the transition phase of the "Real Plan". This appreciation meant that Brazilian goods were now more expensive relative to goods from other countries, which contributed to large current account deficits. However, no shortage of foreign currency ensued because of the financial community's renewed interest in Brazilian markets as inflation rates stabilized and the debt crisis of the eighties faded from memory. The maintenance of large current account deficits via capital account surpluses became problematic as investors became more risk averse to emerging market exposure as a consequence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the Russian bond default in August 1998. After crafting a fiscal adjustment program and pledging progress on structural reform, Brazil received a $41.5 billion IMF-led international support program in November 1998. In January 1999, the Brazilian Central Bank announced that the real would no longer be pegged to the US dollar. This devaluation helped moderate the downturn in economic growth in 1999 that investors had expressed concerns about over the summer of 1998. Brazil's debt to GDP ratio for 1999 beat the IMF target and helped reassure investors that Brazil will maintain tight fiscal and monetary policy even with a floating currency. The economy continued to recover in 2000, with inflation remaining in the single digits and expected growth for 2001 of 4.5%. Foreign direct investment set a record of more than $30 billion in 2000. |
Electricity - consumption | 40 million kWh (2001) | 353.674 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 5 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 40 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) | 39.86 billion kWh
note: supplied by Paraguay (1999) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) | 337.44 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
5.28% hydro: 90.66% nuclear: 1.12% other: 2.94% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m |
Environment - current issues | population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa | deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities
note: President CARDOSO in September 1999 signed into force an environmental crime bill which for the first time defines pollution and deforestation as crimes punishable by stiff fines and jail sentences |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1% |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 10.54 (2002), 8.61 (2001), 6.94 (2000), 6.11 (1999), 5.53 (1998) | reals per US dollar - 1.954 (January 2001), 1.830 (2000), 1.815 (1999), 1.161 (1998), 1.078 (1997), 1.005 (1996)
note: from October 1994 through 14 January 1999, the official rate was determined by a managed float; since 15 January 1999, the official rate floats independently with respect to the US dollar |
Executive branch | chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile
head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution, which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch |
chief of state:
President Fernando Henrique CARDOSO (since 1 January 1995); Vice President Marco MACIEL (since 1 January 1995); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Fernando Henrique CARDOSO (since 1 January 1995); Vice President Marco MACIEL (since 1 January 1995); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 4 October 1998 (next to be held NA October 2002) election results: Fernando Henrique CARDOSO reelected president; percent of vote - 53% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $55.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000) | manufactures, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee |
Exports - partners | US 97.5%, Canada 0.9%, France 0.6% (2002) | US 23%, Argentina 11%, Germany 5%, Netherlands 5%, Japan 5% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle in the corner | green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars (one for each state and the Federal District) arranged in the same pattern as the night sky over Brazil; the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.106 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.13 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 20%
industry: 46% services: 34% (2001) |
agriculture:
9% industry: 29% services: 62% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,500 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2002 est.) | 4.2% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 10 00 S, 55 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador |
Highways | total: 5,940 km
paved: 1,087 km unpaved: 4,853 km (1999) |
total:
1.98 million km paved: 184,140 km unpaved: 1,795,860 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% |
lowest 10%:
1% highest 10%: 47.6% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | - | limited illicit producer of cannabis, minor coca cultivation in the Amazon region, mostly used for domestic consumption; government has a large-scale eradication program to control cannabis; important transshipment country for Bolivian, Colombian, and Peruvian cocaine headed for the US and Europe; also used by traffickers as a way station for narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia; upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling; important market for Bolivian, Peruvian, and Colombian cocaine |
Imports | NA (2001) | $55.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000) | machinery and equipment, chemical products, oil, electricity |
Imports - partners | Hong Kong 51.9%, China 25%, France 3.9% (2002) | US 24%, Argentina 12%, Germany 10%, Japan 5%, Italy 5% (1999) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 7 September 1822 (from Portugal) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999) | 6.9% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment |
Infant mortality rate | total: 86.21 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 91.28 deaths/1,000 live births female: 80.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
36.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10% (2002 est.) | 6% (2000) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AfDB, BIS, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 50 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 28,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Federal Tribunal (11 ministers are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate); Higher Tribunal of Justice; Regional Federal Tribunals (judges are appointed for life) |
Labor force | 838,000 | 79 million (1999 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | services 53.2%, agriculture 23.1%, industry 23.7% |
Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total:
14,691 km border countries: Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643 km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru 1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
5% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 22% forests and woodland: 58% other: 14% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French |
Legal system | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in the May 2002 election
elections: last held 25 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 54%, BNP 21%, LPC 7%, other 18%; seats by party - LCD 76, BNP 21, LPC 5, other 18 |
bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; three members from each state or federal district elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period) 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 4 October 1998 for one-third of Senate (next to be held NA October 2002 for two-thirds of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held 4 October 1998 (next to be held NA October 2002) election results: Federal Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PMDB 27, PFL 20, PSDB 16, PT 7, PPB 5, PSB 3, PDT 2, PPS 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PFL 106, PSDB 99, PMDB 82, PPB 60, PT 58, PTB 31, PDT 25, PSB 19, PL 12, PCdoB 7, other 14 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 36.94 years
male: 36.76 years female: 37.13 years (2003 est.) |
total population:
63.24 years male: 58.96 years female: 67.73 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83.3% male: 83.3% female: 83.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean |
Map references | Africa | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
171 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,788,999 GRT/6,067,314 DWT ships by type: bulk 33, cargo 26, chemical tanker 5, combination ore/oil 9, container 12, liquefied gas 11, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 56, roll on/roll off 12, short-sea passenger 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs | - |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police | Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes naval air and marines), Brazilian Air Force, Federal Police (paramilitary) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $13.408 billion (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1.9% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 459,723 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
48,298,486 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 250,560 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
32,388,786 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
1,762,740 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Independence Day, 7 September (1822) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun:
Brazilian(s) adjective: Brazilian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber |
Net migration rate | -0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 2,980 km; petroleum products 4,762 km; natural gas 4,246 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; Lesotho People's Congress or LPC [Kelebone MAOPE]; United Democratic Party or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE] | Brazilian Democratic Movement Party or PMDB [Jader BARBALHO, president]; Brazilian Labor Party or PTB [Roberto JEFFERSON]; Brazilian Social Democracy Party or PSDB [Teotonio VILELA Filno]; Brazilian Socialist Party or PSB [Miguel ARRAES, president]; Brazilian Progressive Party or PPB [Paulo Salim MALUF]; Communist Party of Brazil or PCdoB [Sergio Roberto Gomes SOUZA, chairman]; Democratic Labor Party or PDT [Leonel BRIZOLA, president]; Liberal Front Party or PFL [Jorge BORNHAUSEN, president]; Liberal Party or PL [Francisco Teixeira de OLIVEIRA]; Popular Socialist Party or PPS [Ciro GOMEZ, president]; Worker's Party or PT [Jose DIRCEU, president] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | left wing of the Catholic Church, Landless Worker's Movement, and labor unions allied to leftist Worker's Party are critical of government's social and economic policies |
Population | 1,861,959
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
174,468,575
note: Brazil took an intercensal count in August 1996 which reported a population of 157,079,573; that figure was about 5% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, which is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census; estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999) | 17.4% (1990 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.19% (2003 est.) | 0.91% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1,365, FM 296, shortwave 161 (of which 91 are collocated with AM stations) (1999) |
Radios | - | 71 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa
narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995) |
total:
30,539 km (2,129 km electrified); note - excludes urban rail broad gauge: 5,679 km 1.600-m gauge (1199 km electrified) standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge narrow gauge: 24,666 km 1.000-m gauge (930 km electrified) dual gauge: 336 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails) (1999 est.) |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Roman Catholic (nominal) 80% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age |
Telephone system | general assessment: rudimentary system
domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
good working system domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations international: 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to MERCOSUR Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 17.039 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 4.4 million (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 138 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt |
Total fertility rate | 3.52 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 2.09 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2002) | 7.1% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | 50,000 km |