This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0000003383 Reproduction Date:
Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, the world's seventh largest economy at market exchange rates and the seventh largest in purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Brazil has a mixed economy with abundant natural resources. The Brazilian economy has been predicted to become one of the five largest in the world in the decades to come, the GDP per capita following and growing,[199] provided that large investments in productivity gains are made to substitute the GDP growth of the last decade that is attributable to the increase in the number of people working.[200] Its current GDP (PPP) per capita is $15,153 in 2014[4] 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 a 107 million (ranking 6th worldwide) and unemployment of 6.2% (ranking 64th worldwide).[201]
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.[202] Brazil has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.[21] It has become the fourth largest car market in the world.[203] Major export products include aircraft, electrical equipment, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, footwear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange juice, soybeans and corned beef.[204] Adding up, Brazil ranks 23rd worldwide in value of exports.
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[205] and the series of adverse financial events that followed it, the Central Bank of Brazil temporarily changed its monetary policy to a managed-float[206] scheme while undergoing a currency crisis, until definitively changing the exchange regime to free-float in January 1999.[207]
Brazil received an International Monetary Fund rescue package in mid-2002 of $30.4 billion,[209] then a record sum. Brazil's central bank paid back the IMF loan in 2005, although it was not due to be repaid until 2006.[210] 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.[211] Nonetheless, foreign direct investment (FDI), related to long-term, less speculative investment in production, is estimated to be $193.8 billion for 2007.[212] Inflation monitoring and control currently plays a major part in the Central bank's role of setting out short-term interest rates as a monetary policy measure.[213]
Between 1993 and 2010, 7012 mergers & acquisitions with a total known value of $707 billion with the involvement of Brazlian firms have been announced.[214] The year 2010 was a new record in terms of value with 115 billion USD of transactions. The largest transaction with involvement of Brazilian companies has been: Cia Vale do Rio Doce acquired Inco in a tender offer valued at US$18.9 billion.
Corruption costs Brazil almost $41 billion a year alone, with 69.9% of the country's firms identifying the issue as a major constraint in successfully penetrating the global market.[215] Local government corruption is so prevalent that voters only perceive it as a problem 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.[216] 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.[217] The purchasing power in Brazil is eroded by the so-called Brazil cost.[218]
The economy of the resource-rich nation had been booming until 2010 but stagnation followed and a recession is now underway, along with inflation and charges of corruption and the bankruptcy of a major oil business. Angry demonstrators in 2014 complained beforehand at the high $11.5 billion (USD) cost of sponsoring the FIFA World Cup, but Brazilians took pride in its smooth functioning. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced a conservative challenger for her re-election bid in the October 26, 2014, runoff,[219] but managed to secure a re-election with just over 51% of votes.[220]
Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country. The country had 5 million visitors in 2010, ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals as the second destination in South America, and third in Latin America after Mexico and Argentina. Revenues from international tourists reached US$6 billion in 2010, showing a recovery from the 2008-2009 economic crisis.[221] Historical records of 5.4 million visitors and US$6.8 billion in receipts were reached in 2011.[222][223]
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 city.[224]
In terms of the 2011 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 52nd in the world, 3rd among Latin American countries after Mexico and Costa Rica, and 7th in the Americas.[225] Brazil's competitive advantages are its natural resources, which ranked 1st on this criteria out of the 139 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.[225]
According to the
15th century
16th century
17th century
18th century
19th century
16th century Portuguese India
17th century Portuguese India
18th century Portuguese India
19th century Portuguese Macau
20th century Portuguese Macau
Unofficial translate
Political Institutions — The Executive
Brazil federal, state and local government
São Paulo organized the IV Pan American Games in 1963, and Rio de Janeiro hosted the XV Pan American Games in 2007.[384] On 2 October 2009, Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games and 2016 Paralympic Games, making it the first South American city to host the games[385] and second in Latin America after Mexico City. Furthermore, the country hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 1954 and 1963. At the 1963 event, the Brazil national basketball team won one of its two world championship titles.[386]
Brazil has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, like the 1950 FIFA World Cup[381] and recently has hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[382] The São Paulo circuit, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, hosts the annual Grand Prix of Brazil.[383]
Some sport variations have their origins in Brazil: beach football,[373] futsal (indoor football)[374] and footvolley emerged in Brazil as variations of football. In martial arts, Brazilians developed Capoeira,[375] Vale tudo,[376] and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[377] In auto racing, three Brazilian drivers have won the Formula One world championship eight times.[378][379][380]
Volleyball, basketball, auto racing, and martial arts also attract large audiences. The Brazil men's national volleyball team, for example, currently holds the titles of the World League, World Grand Champions Cup, World Championship and the World Cup.
The most popular sport in Brazil is football.[371] The Brazilian national football team is ranked among the best in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings, and has won the World Cup tournament a record five times.[372]
Brazil has a variety of candies such as brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls), cocada (a coconut sweet), beijinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and romeu e julieta (cheese with a guava jam known as goiabada). Peanut is used to make paçoca, rapadura and pé-de-moleque. Local common fruits like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, cocoa, cashew, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, and hog plum are turned in juices and used to make chocolates, popsicles and ice cream.[370]
The average meal consist mostly of rice and beans with beef and salad.[368] Often, it's mixed with cassava flour (farofa). Fried potatoes, fried cassava, fried banana, fried meat and fried cheese are very often eaten in lunch and served in most typical restaurants.[369] Popular snacks are pastel (a pastry), coxinha (chicken croquete), pão de queijo (cheese bread and cassava flour / tapioca), pamonha (corn and milk paste), esfirra (Lebanese pastry), kibbeh (from Arabic cuisine), empanada (pastry) and empada little salt pies filled with shrimps or heart of palm.
The national beverage is coffee and cachaça is Brazil's native liquor. Cachaça is distilled from sugar cane and is the main ingredient in the national cocktail, Caipirinha.[367]
Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's varying mix of indigenous and immigrant populations. This has created a national cuisine marked by the preservation of regional differences.[364] Examples are Feijoada, considered the country's national dish;[365] and regional foods such as vatapá, moqueca, polenta and acarajé.[366]
João Guimarães Rosa, Clarice Lispector and Manuel Bandeira.[361][362][363]
Choro is a very popular music instrumental style. Its origins are in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. In spite of the name, the style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtle modulations and full of syncopation and counterpoint.[351] Bossa nova is also a well-known style of Brazilian music developed and popularized in the 1950s and 1960s.[352] The phrase "bossa nova" means literally "new trend".[353] A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova acquired a large following starting in the 1960s.[354]
Popular music since the late eighteenth century began to show signs of forming a characteristically Brazilian sound, with samba considered the most typical and on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.[348] Maracatu and Afoxê are two Afro-Brazilian music traditions that have been popularized by their appearance in the annual Brazilian Carnivals.[349] The sport of capoeira is usually played with its own music refer to as capoeira music, which is usually considered to be a call-and-response type of folk music.[350]
The music of Brazil was formed mainly from the fusion of European and African elements.[346] Until the nineteenth century Portugal was the gateway to most of the influences that built Brazilian music, although many of these elements were not of Portuguese origin, but generally European. The first was José Maurício Nunes Garcia, author of sacred pieces with influence of Viennese classicism.[347] The major contribution of the African element was the rhythmic diversity and some dances and instruments that had a bigger role in the development of popular music and folk, flourishing especially in the twentieth century.[346]
[344] to Romanticism, Modernism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstractionism. Brazilian cinema dates back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century and has gained a new level of international acclaim since the 1960s.[345]
Some aspects of Brazilian culture were influenced by the contributions of Italian, German and other European as well Japanese, Jewish and Arab immigrants who arrived in large numbers in the South and Southeast of Brazil.[341] The indigenous Amerindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans influenced language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.[342]
The core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese empire.[339] Among other influences, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, Roman Catholicism and colonial architectural styles. The culture was, however, also strongly influenced by African, indigenous and non-Portuguese European cultures and traditions.[340]
Learning at least one second language (generally English and/or Spanish) is mandatory for all the 12 grades of the mandatory education system (primary and secondary education, there called ensino fundamental and ensino médio respectively). Brazil is the first country in South America to offer Esperanto to secondary students.[338]
There are significant communities of German (mostly the Brazilian Hunsrückisch, a High German language dialect) and Italian (mostly the Talian, a Venetian dialect) origins in the Southern and Southeastern regions, whose ancestors' native languages were carried along to Brazil, and which, still alive there, are influenced by the Portuguese language.[334][335] Talian is officially a historic patrimony of Rio Grande do Sul,[336] and two German dialects possess co-official status in a few municipalities.[337]
Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation. One hundred and eighty Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and a significant number of other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants.[330] In the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Nheengatu (a currently endangered South American creole language – or an 'anti-creole', according to some linguists – with mostly Indigenous Brazilian languages lexicon and Portuguese-based grammar that, together with its southern relative língua geral paulista, once was a major lingua franca in Brazil, being replaced by Portuguese only after governmental prohibition led by major political changes), Baniwa and Tucano languages had been granted co-official status with Portuguese.[333]
In 1990, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which included representatives from all countries with Portuguese as the official language, reached an agreement on the reform of the Portuguese orthography to unify the two standards then in use by Brazil on one side and the remaining lusophone countries on the other. This spelling reform went into effect in Brazil on 1 January 2009. In Portugal, the reform was signed into law by the President on 21 July 2008 allowing for a 6-year adaptation period, during which both orthographies will co-exist. The remaining CPLP countries are free to establish their own transition timetables.[332]
Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from those of its Spanish-speaking neighbors.[331]
Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, mostly similar to 16th-century Central and Southern dialects of European Portuguese[329] (despite a very substantial number of Portuguese colonial settlers, and more recent immigrants, coming from Northern regions, and in minor degree Portuguese Macaronesia), with some influences from the Amerindian and African languages, especially West African and Bantu.[330] As a result, the language is somewhat different, mostly in phonology, from the language of Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries (the dialects of the other countries, partly because of the more recent end of Portuguese colonialism in these regions, have a closer connexion to contemporary European Portuguese). These differences are comparable to those between American and British English.[330]
The official language of Brazil is Portuguese[325] (Article 13 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil), which almost all of the population speaks and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for business and administrative purposes. The most famous exception to this is a strong sign language law that was passed by the National Congress of Brazil. Legally recognized in 2002,[326] the law was regulated in 2005.[327] The law mandates the use of the Brazilian Sign Language, more commonly known by its Portuguese acronym LIBRAS, in education and government services. The language must be taught as a part of the education and speech and language pathology curricula. LIBRAS teachers, instructors and translators are recognized professionals. Schools and health services must provide access ("inclusion") to deaf people.[328]
According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) urban areas already concentrate 84.35% of the population, while the Southeast region remains the most populated one, with over 80 million inhabitants.[321]
However, in the last ten years Protestantism, particularly Pentecostal and/or Evangelical Protestantism, has spread in Brazil, while the proportion of Catholics has dropped significantly.[319] After Protestantism, individuals professing no religion are also a significant group, exceeding 7% of the population in the 2000 census. The cities of Boa Vista, Salvador and Porto Velho have the greatest proportion of Irreligious residents in Brazil. Teresina, Fortaleza, and Florianópolis were the most Roman Catholic in the country.[320] Greater Rio de Janeiro, not including the city proper, is the most Irreligious and least Roman Catholic Brazilian periphery, while Greater Porto Alegre and Greater Fortaleza are on the opposite sides of the lists, respectively.[320]
Catholicism is the country's predominant faith. Brazil has the world's largest Catholic population.[317] According to the 2000 Demographic Census (the PNAD survey does not inquire about religion), 73.57% of the population followed Catholicism; 15.41% Protestantism; 1.33% Kardecist spiritism; 1.22% other Christian denominations; 0.31% Afro-Brazilian religions; 0.13% Buddhism; 0.05% Judaism; 0.02% Islam; 0.01% Amerindian religions; 0.59% other religions, undeclared or undetermined; while 7.35% have no religion.[318]
Religion in Brazil formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of African slaves and indigenous peoples.[313] This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices within the overarching umbrella of Brazilian Catholicism, characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities,[314] and in some instances, Allan Kardec's Spiritism (most Brazilian Spiritists are also Christians). Religious pluralism increased during the 20th century,[315] and a Protestant community has grown to include over 22% of the population.[316] The most common Protestant denominations are Pentecostal, Evangelical, Baptist, Seventh-day Adventist, Lutheran and the reformed churches.
Higher percents of Blacks, mulattoes and tri-racials can be found in the eastern coast of the Northeastern region from Bahia to Paraíba[306][308] and also in northern Maranhão,[309][310] southern Minas Gerais[311] and in eastern Rio de Janeiro.[306][311] From the 19th century, Brazil opened its borders to immigration. About five million people from over 60 countries migrated to Brazil between 1808 and 1972, most of them of Portuguese, Italian, Spaniard, German, Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern origin.[312]
The brown population (officially called pardo in Portuguese, also colloquially moreno)[302][303] is a broad category that includes caboclos (assimilated Amerindians in general, and descendants of Whites and Natives), mulatos (descendants of primarily Whites and Afro-Brazilians) and cafuzos (descendants of Afro-Brazilians and Natives).[302][303][304][305][306] People of considerable Amerindian ancestry form the majority of the population in the Northern, Northeastern and Center-Western regions.[307]
Brazilian society is more [296][299][300][301]
Since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500, considerable [296]
In 2007, the National Indian Foundation estimated that Brazil has 67 different uncontacted tribes, up from their estimate of 40 in 2005. Brazil is believed to have the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world.[289]
According to the National Research by Household Sample (PNAD) of 2008, 48.43% of the population (about 92 million) described themselves as White; 43.80% (about 83 million) as Pardo (brown), 6.84% (about 13 million) as Black; 0.58% (about 1.1 million) as Asian; and 0.28% (about 536 thousand) as Amerindian (officially called indígena, Indigenous), while 0.07% (about 130 thousand) did not declare their race.[288]
In 2008, the illiteracy rate was 11.48%[285] and among the youth (ages 15–19) 1.74%. It was highest (20.30%) in the Northeast, which had a large proportion of rural poor.[286] Illiteracy was high (24.18%) among the rural population and lower (9.05%) among the urban population.[287]
The first census in Brazil was carried out in 1872 and recorded a population of 9,930,478.[279] From 1880 to 1930, 4 million Europeans arrived.[280] Brazil's population increased significantly between 1940 and 1970, because of a decline in the mortality rate, even though the birth rate underwent a slight decline. In the 1940s the annual population growth rate was 2.4%, rising to 3.0% in the 1950s and remaining at 2.9% in the 1960s, as life expectancy rose from 44 to 54 years[281] and to 72.6 years in 2007.[282] It has been steadily falling since the 1960s, from 3.04% per year between 1950 and 1960 to 1.05% in 2008 and is expected to fall to a negative value of –0.29% by 2050[283] thus completing the demographic transition.[284]
The population of Brazil, as recorded by the 2008 PNAD, was approximately 190 million[276] (22.31 inhabitants per square kilometre or 57.8/sq mi), with a ratio of men to women of 0.95:1[277] and 83.75% of the population defined as urban.[278] The population is heavily concentrated in the Southeastern (79.8 million inhabitants) and Northeastern (53.5 million inhabitants) regions, while the two most extensive regions, the Center-West and the North, which together make up 64.12% of the Brazilian territory, have a total of only 29.1 million inhabitants.
Television in Brazil began officially on 18 September 1950, with the founding of TV Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand.[271] Since then television has grown in the country, creating large public networks such as Globo, SBT, Record and Bandeirantes. Today it is the most important factor in popular culture of Brazilian society, indicated by research showing that as much as 67%[272][273] of the general population follow the same daily soap opera broadcast. Digital Television, using the SBTVD standard (based on the Japanese standard ISDB-T) was adopted 29 June 2006 and launched in 2 November 2007.[274] In May 2010, Brazil launched TV Brasil Internacional, an international television station, initially broadcasting to 49 countries.[275]
Radio broadcasting began on 7 September 1922, with a speech by then President Pessoa, and formalized on 20 April 1923 with the creation of "Radio Society of Rio de Janeiro."[270]
The Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, the first newspaper published in the country, began to circulate on 10 September 1808.[269] Largest newspapers nowadays are Folha de São Paulo (from the state of São Paulo, Super Notícia (Minas Gerias 296.799), O Globo (RJ 277.876) and O Estado de São Paulo (SP 235.217).[23]
The Brazilian press has its beginnings in 1808 with the arrival of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil, hitherto forbidden any activity of the press - was the publication of newspapers or books. The Brazilian press was officially born in Rio de Janeiro on 13 May 1808, with the creation of the Royal Printing, National Press by the Prince Regent Dom João.[268]
Higher education starts with undergraduate or sequential courses, which may offer different options of specialization in academic or professional careers. Depending on the choice, students can improve their educational background with courses of post-graduate studies or broad sense. To attend a higher education institution is required, by Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education, completing all levels of education suited to the needs of all students of teaching kindergarten, elementary and medium, provided the student does not hold any disability, whether physical, mental, visual or hearing.
According to the IBGE, in 2011, the literacy rate of the population was 90.4%, meaning that 13 million (9.6% of population) people are still illiterate in the country; functional illiteracy has reached 21.6% of the population.[265] Illiteracy is highest in the Northeast, where 19.9% of the population is illiterate.[266]
[264] The
In 2002, Brazil accounted for 40% of malaria cases in the Americas.[263] Nearly 99% are concentrated in the Legal Amazon Region, which is home to not more than 12% of the population.[263]
According to the Brazilian Government, the most serious health problems are:[262]
The Brazilian public health system, the National Health System (SUS), is managed and provided by all levels of [260] The public health services are universal and available to all citizens of the country for free. Nevertheless millions of affluent Brazilians have private health care coverage.[261]
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.[258] Bulk carriers have to wait up to 18 days before being serviced, container ships 36,3 hours on average.[259]
For freight transport waterways are of importance, e.g. the industrial zones of Manaus can only be reached by means of the Solimões- Amazonas waterway (3,250 km (2,019 mi) with 6 meters minimum depth).
There are about 2,500 airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the second largest number in the world, after the United States.[256] 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.[257]
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.[255] 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, Teresina and Fortaleza.
Brazilian roads are the primary carriers of freight and passenger traffic. The road system totaled 1.98 million km (1.23 million mi) in 2002. The total of paved roads increased from 35,496 km (22,056 mi) (22,056 mi) in 1967 to 184,140 km (114,419 mi) (114,425 mi) in 2002.[254]
Uranium is enriched at the Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory, mostly for research purposes (as Brazil obtains 88% from its electricity from hydroelectricity[250]) and the country's first nuclear submarine will be delivered in 2015 (by France).[251] Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America[252] 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.[253]
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.[246] 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 INPE.[247][248] The Brazilian Space Agency has the most advanced space program in Latin America.[249]
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.[242] The first car with an ethanol engine was produced in 1978 and the first airplane engine running on ethanol in 2005.[243] Recent oil discoveries in the Pre-salt layer have opened the door for a large increase in oil production.[244] 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.[245]
The industry — from automobiles, steel and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft, and consumer durables— accounted for 30.8% of the gross domestic product.[239] Industry is highly concentrated in metropolitan São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte.[241]
Brazil's diversified economy includes agriculture, industry, and a wide range of services.[238] Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 5.1% of the gross domestic product in 2007.[239] Brazil is one of the largest producer of oranges, coffee, sugar cane, cassava and sisal, soybeans and papayas.[240]
In 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Foz do Iguaçu, São Paulo, Florianópolis and Salvador were the most visited cities by international tourists for leisure trips. The most popular destinations for business trips were São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre.[237] In 2006 Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza were the most popular destinations for business trips.
In 2005, tourism contributed with 3.2% of the country's revenues from exports of goods and services, and represented 7% of direct and indirect employment in the Brazilian economy.[233] In 2006 direct employment in the sector reached 1.9 million people.[234] Domestic tourism is a fundamental market segment for the industry, as 51 million people traveled throughout the country in 2005,[235] and direct revenues from Brazilian tourists reached USD 22 billion,[236] 5.6 times more receipts than international tourists in 2005.
Despite continuing record breaking of international tourism revenues, the number of Brazilian tourists travelling overseas has been growing steadily since 2003, resulting in a net negative foreign exchange balance, as more money is spent abroad by Brazilian than receipts from international tourists visiting Brazil. Tourism expenditures abroad grew from USD 5.8 billion in 2006, to USD 8.2 billion in 2007, a 42% increase, representing a net deficit of USD 3.3 billion in 2007, as compared to USD 1.5 billion in 2006, a 125% increase from the previous year.[231] This trend is caused by Brazilians taking advantage of the stronger Real to travel and making relatively cheaper expenditures abroad.[231] Brazilians traveling overseas in 2006 represented 4% of the country's population.[232]
[223][222] billion in receipts.US$6.8 In 2011 the historical record was reached with 5.4 million visitors and [221] By 2010 the industry had recovered, and arrivals grew above 2006 levels to 5.2 million international visitors, and receipts from these visitors reached USD 6 billion.[230] of 2008-09.Great Recession This trend changed in 2009, when both visitors and revenues fell as a result of the [229], which began in 2004, but which makes Brazil a more expensive international destination.Brazilian Real 4 billion in 2005 to 5 billion in 2007, despite 330 000 fewer arrivals. This favorable trend is the result of the strong devaluation of the US dollar against the USD In spite of this trend, revenues from international tourism continued to rise, from [228][227][226]
Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Sérgio Jimenez
Italy, Germany, Spain, United States, Argentina
Germany, France, Italy, Argentina, United States