With a land area of approximately 3. The contiguous US covers a total area of approximately 3 million square miles. The state of Alaska which is separated from the contiguous US by Canada is the largest state with a total area of approximately square miles.
The total area of the US varies from source to source. It shares its borders with all of the South American countries except Chile and Ecuador. It is the fifth-largest country by both total area and land area, spanning over an area of approximately 3.
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the entire Southern Hemisphere. Although the total area of the US is approximately , square miles larger than the total area of Brazil, Brazil is larger than the contiguous US by approximately , square miles.
Brazil is a federal republic with a president, a National Congress, and a judiciary. From until recently, the country struggled with democracy. But in , the military government was peacefully removed, and by , Brazil's politics and economy had become fairly stable.
Brazil has many different soils and climates, so it can produce a great variety of crops. Its agricultural exports include sugarcane, latex, coffee, cocoa beans, cotton, soybeans, rice, and tropical fruits. Brazil is also South America's most industrial nation, producing chemicals, steel, aircraft, and cars. Until recently, scientists thought Brazil was first settled by Asians about 10, years ago.
But new evidence shows there were people living there at least 32, years ago. Some experts think they may have arrived from islands in the Pacific Ocean. Brazil was added to the map of the world during the great European explorations in the late 15th century led by Portugal and Spain.
When Europeans first reached the coast of Brazil, the country was home to about 30 million indigenous people, or Amerindians. Today, only about , remain, living primarily in Brazil's remotest places. Portugal established its first colony in Brazil in Colonists created sugarcane plantations along the coast and sent diamonds and gold back to Europe.
Soon, people from West Africa were brought to Brazil to work as slaves. The discovery of large inland gold reserves brought thousands of people from the coasts and as far away as Europe to the interior of the country.
In , Brazilians tried to kick out their Portuguese rulers. The rebellion was soon put down, but it started a movement toward independence. By , Brazil was a sovereign nation. Kings of Portuguese blood ruled until , when military leaders and landowners expelled the king, and Brazil became a federal republic.
Poultry exports increased 26 percent in , and 20 percent in The European Union increased its imports of Brazilian poultry by 50 percent in Brazil's pork production was equal to 1. Fishing is limited, and lamb and sheep are not raised in Brazil due to the tropical weather. The manufacturing sector contributed The manufacturing sector decreased as a percentage of gross domestic product from 31 percent in to This was caused in part by a lack of foreign investment and inflationary problems during the s and s.
The instability generated by inflation and uncertain government policies caused tremendous fluctuations in manufacturing growth rates.
Major products in the manufacturing sector are televisions, VCRs, telephones, and computer chips. There are a few national companies that are domestically oriented, such as Consul and Brastemp. There are also companies that are primarily export oriented, such as Nokia, Intel, and Compaq. State participation in manufacturing occurs in the production of textiles and clothing, footwear, food, and beverages.
These industries comprise a large proportion of the manufacturing sector, but there are also new industries that have been developed in the last few decades with government aid. Machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, sugar cane and wood derivatives, and chemicals are important manufacturing industries. Direct government participation is noticed in the oil processing industry and passenger jet aircraft industry through partial ownership of such companies.
Indirect government participation is noticed in the textile industry and machinery industry through export subsidies and low interest loans. Automobiles are the most important manufactured items in Brazil. Brazil's passenger automotive production was approximately 1. Workers are highly unionized, receiving the highest salaries among the manufacturing industries.
In , , people were employed in the industry. Crude steel production in was Vast reserves of ore and high domestic demand for steel products have helped the industry. The national textile industry is responsible for 3 percent of world production. Brazil has the largest textile operating facilities in Latin America.
The textile industry is also labor intensive, employing 1. Fibers and leather are used to produce clothing, shoes, and luggage. Brazilian shoes are exported mainly to Europe, where they are famous for their quality.
The Brazilian textile industry was comprised of 44, mostly small producers in The Brazilian paper and pulp industry was responsible for the production of , metric tons of newsprint in The industry consisted of approximately companies, employing approximately 80, people directly in their processing operations and 60, people in forestry operations.
The mining sector was protected by the constitution against foreign majority participation of direct mining companies. This was a setback for the development of the mining sector because domestic investors lacked the capital for extensive mineral exploration. Private Brazilian investors and Brazilian corporations own the majority of the mineral industry.
The participation of foreign capital is very limited due to Brazilian mining laws. However, in the Congress approved an amendment to the constitution allowing private companies including foreigners to participate in the mining industry through joint ventures , deregulating investments, and the privatization of state-owned mining plants.
Shortly afterwards, the state-owned Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was privatized. In mining contributed 0. The country is the world's largest producer of bauxite, gemstones, columbium, gold, iron ore, kaolin, manganese, tantalum, and tin.
Major exports are iron ore, tin, and aluminum. In production of diamonds accounted for 1, carats, sixth in the world. Reserves of petroleum in Brazil were estimated in to be at million metric tons. Brazil's iron ore reserves are estimated at 20 billion metric tons. Mining operations started in , extracting iron ore from the state of Minas Gerais, located on the country's Midwest. With the help of foreign investments, iron ore production increased to In Brazil became the world's leading exporter of iron ore, exporting million metric tons in , mostly to Japan and Germany.
The number of tourists that visit Brazil increased considerably during the s. In , 1. In , 5. Argentina ranked first with 1. Brazil has over 10, hotels and other forms of accommodation. Approximately 63 percent of the existing hotel rooms were occupied in The historic city of Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, and the churches of Bahia also attract many tourists.
Brazil is most famous for its Carnival, that usually takes place in February. Foreign and government investments in tourism are important to the economy.
Investments in that region were responsible for renovating airports, improving public sanitation, preserving natural ecosystems, and restoring cultural practices. These investments rapidly boosted the tourist economy in the northeast, and foreign investment helped with the construction of multimillion dollar resorts in the coastal areas of the northeast.
Such investments helped attract an increasing number of tourists to the northeast region. Other investments funded by the IDB and Brazilian government are planned for the Amazon and Pantanal regions, and in the south of Brazil. The government owns most of the financial sector, the largest component of the services industry. The assets of the 3 major banks represented approximately 23 percent of the gross domestic product in The Bank of Brazil is the largest bank in Brazil and the largest financial institution in Latin America.
It has This represented more than 50 percent of the total gross domestic product of that year. This part of the financial services sector employed , people in This sector is responsible for the highest number of employed people in all sectors of the services industry. The number of companies that employ or more workers is low; there were 75 companies which hired or more workers in in the retail section, and 31 companies with or more workers in the wholesale section.
The bulk of employed people in this sector come from companies that employ less than employees. Combined retail and wholesale sectors were made up of , retail and wholesale outlets. There are few retail chains in the economy.
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