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Brazil: World
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Brazil is the giant of South America with nearly half of the continent's area and people; worldwide it ranks fifth in both area and population, which is as diverse as it is large. About 54 percent (95 million) are mainly of European origin, descendants of immigrants from Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and Eastern Europe. More than 45 percent (80 million) are black or of mixed-race, a legacy of the African slave trade. Less than 1 percent (700,000) are from indigenous groups, mostly Indians in the Amazon region; smaller numbers of Japanese, other Asians, and Arabs live in the larger Brazilian cities.
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Brazil has traditionally been a leader in the inter-American community and played an important role in collective security efforts, as well as in economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. Brazil supported the Allies in both World Wars. During World War II, its expeditionary force in Italy played a key role in the Allied victory at Monte Castello. It is a member of the Organization of American States (OAS) and a party to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty). Recently, Brazil has given high priority to expanding relations with its South American neighbors and is a founding member of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Community of South American Nations (CASN) and Mercosul, a customs union including Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Brazil, with Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador as associate members.
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There is no evidence that Brazil has ever developed or produced biological weapons. It ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1973 and signed the Mendoza Declaration in 1991, which prohibits biological as well as chemical agents. Brazil's opposition to biological weapons is evident from reports that senior government officials oppose using biological agents even to control coca production in neighboring Colombia. Brazil does have the capacity to produce biological agents; for example, it has one of the world’s largest crops of the castor bean (which naturally produces the toxin ricin) and is proficient in advanced biological techniques such as gene sequencing. However, there is no indication that Brazil presents abiological weaponsthreat; it is, in fact, a staunch proponent ofbiological weaponsnonproliferation.
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Brazil has one of the most extensive river systems in the world with eight drainage basins. : The Amazon and the Tocantins Araguaia basins in the north account for 56 percent of Brazil's total drainage area. The Amazon River, the world's largest river in volume of water and second longest after the Nile, is 4,087 miles (6,577 km) long, of which 2,246 miles (3,615 km) are in Brazilian territory. The river is navigable by ocean steamers as far as 2,414 miles (3,885 km) upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru.
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Most Brazil tours either start or finish in Rio. Beside touring the world famous beaches and mountains surrounding Rio, tour operators in Brazil can ... arrange for visitors to this city to tour the historic downtown neighborhoods of Centro, Lapa and Santa Trersa. Here, Brazil tours will include a walk down some of the old colonial narrow cobbled streets, grand plazas, tours of the churches and museums. What's more, no tour of Brazil can be considered complete without the experience of shopping in Rio!
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Over the past decade, Brazil has consolidated its position as an important agribusiness producer and major food supplier to international markets. Brazilian agriculture has benefited from currency devaluations, low production costs, rapid technological advancements, and domestic and foreign investment to expand production capacity. Brazil is a very competitive exporter of soybeans, soymeal, sugar, poultry, beef, coffee, tobacco, frozen concentrated orange juice, soyoil, and ethanol. Brazil, a pioneer in biofuels production, is a world leader in using fuel ethanol in the transport sector. Export earnings have financed imports of wheat (for which growing conditions are poor) and, on occasion, corn (mainly used as feed in the expanding poultry sector). ERS economists provide analysis on Brazil's agricultural production, trade, and policy.
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