Brazzil
Official Word
February 2003

Sunny Side Up

In a direct response to those whose pastime is to badmouth Brazil,
the Brazilian government has compiled an extensive list of
Brazilian marvels. We reproduce the list, here, in its entirety.

Guilherme Leite Ribeiro

During the several years that I have spent living overseas, I always have been surprised with the amount of misinformation about my country. Brazil is still only considered the country of samba, Carnaval, soccer and mulatas.

The international press, especially American and European, always target this particular point of view. For example: the homeless, the slums, Amazon fires, Indian massacres, underage prostitution, minors in the workforce, and urban violence. Until 1983, Brazil refused to discuss these problems, although continuously fighting with the press. On the other hand, the press always presented these problems to the public in a very sensationalist way. Also, with the return of democracy, not only did these problems become a reason for internal discussions, but also they were a concern for international organizations. As a result, measures were taken to solve this conflict.

The press became obsessed with spreading a negative image of Brazil and did not take into consideration other aspects. The only exception was the newspapers specialized in economics and finance, which could not ignore the big socio-economical revolution in Brazil after the Real Plan, in July 1994. The press concentrated on and publicized this one aspect, which got a lot of public attention. And newspaper sales rose, which resulted in diversion of attention from other problems.

The positive aspects of Brazil were practically unknown. It was not of public knowledge that solutions were adopted by the Federal, State and local governments.

As a demonstration of complete ignorance, an Italian student at one of the most prestigious universities in Italy wrote, in one of the exams I corrected while I was the Consul General of Brazil in Milan, the following: "Brazil is a country bordering the civilized world".

This example and others examples of ignorance inspired me to gather information in Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and now in English which I entitled "Did you know that?" My goal is to inform Brazilians regarding our country and to teach foreigners properly. There are some dramatic situations, which occur within a country that is undergoing development.

We have some examples like: the "scugnizzi" in Naples (the street children), the "homeless" in the streets of New York, Milan, London, Paris and other important cities, minor prostitution, pedophilia, unemployment (which sometimes goes up to 60 percent among young people between the age of 19 to 25, like in Southern Italy), organized crime (Italian mafia, Russian mafia, etc), drug distribution and urban deterioration in the suburbs of the big cities.

In my opinion, the worst is the escalating racism all over Europe regarding Africans, Turkish, Algerians, Albanians, etc… We Brazilians are also targets. When soccer player Roberto Carlos—and so many other Brazilian soccer players in Italy who were African blacks and mulattos—was playing for the Internazionale of Milan, he was cursed "nero bastardo" (s.o.b.) by the opposite rooters. In Milan I read these pieces of racism. On July 12, 1998, "La Repubblica", showed the title "Beaten by a negro. Fighting for his life"; and on July 14, 1998 "Capri, a 15 year-old American tourist was raped at the garden". Interesting enough, these titles did not mention that, in this last specific incident, the rapist was a white Italian male.

In Brazil, races and religions coincide living together with mutual respect, harmony. Racial discrimination is severely punished by the Afonso Arinos law. In downtown Rio de Janeiro, in a place called SAARA, you will find Arabs and Jews working peacefully in the same neighborhood.

When I became Head of the Brazilian Financial Office of the Ministry of External Relations in New York, I decided to update this document as much as I could. I hope that all Brazilians and foreigners, who love Brazil, will also contribute with any additional information towards this document.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

AERONAUTICS INDUSTRY

AGRICULTURE AND CATTLE RAISING

AREA

 CLIMATE

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

ECONOMY

EDUCATION

ENERGY

ENVIRONMENT

HEALTH

HISTORY

HOMELESS CHILDREN

INDIANS

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

INVESTMENTS

LAND REFORM

LIFESTYLE AFTER THE REAL PLAN

MARKET

MINING

POPULATION

PUBLIC OPINION

SLUMS

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TRANSPORTATION

WORLD RANK

 

Did you Know?

Agriculture and Livestock

That Brazil is the largest nation in terms of arable land of the world, with 22% of this area, and that it produced 94 million tons of grains in the 2000/2001 harvest?

That we are the top world producer of coffee, oranges and sugarcane; the second largest producer of cassava, beef, beans and soybean; the third of poultry, refined sugar and corn; the fourth of grains and cocoa; the seventh of eggs and pork; the eighth of cotton and rice? And that we are the second largest world exporter of chicken and the fourth of pork?

Climate

That Brazil isn't only a tropical country, like everyone thinks, but that, in the South Region, the average annual temperature is 18o Celsius (64.4o F). And that it snows in some states of this region?

Communications

That, by 2005, there will be 60 million cell phones in operation and that, currently, there are already 20 million in use, compared to 5.6 million in July of 1998?

That, in 1994, the country had less than a million cell phones; in 1998, they totaled 5.6 million and that today there are 23.2 million cell phones, or in other words, an expansion of 310% in only 2 years?

That, in 1994, Brazil had 13 million fixed phone lines and, that by the end of 2000, this number reached 38.3 million?

That Brazil is ranked 9th among the nations that most use the Internet, with 10.9 million people online - losing only to USA, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, China, Canada, South Korea and Italy?

That 61% of Latin American websites are Brazilian?

That Brazilian television was the 4th of the world to go on the air daily, after the United States, Great Britain and France?

That TV Globo is the 4th largest television station of the world, surpassed only by the 3 largest American stations (ABC, CBS and NBC)?

That the transmission facilities of the Radio Nacional in Brasilia is the fifth largest in the world, and the largest in Latin America?

Living conditions after the Real Plan

That inflation, for the entire year of 2000, was 4.38% and that just in March of 1983 is reached 83%? That with the end of inflation, with the subsequent increase of the purchasing power of salaries and with the greater concern of the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso for matters of a social nature, the real average income of those employed increased 27% in the metropolitan regions?

That in the 1998-2000 period, 13 million people climbed over the poverty line, reducing the percentage of the country's poor population from 43.8% to 32.7%?

That, in the 6 largest cities of Brazil, the percentage of the poor dropped from 42%, in July of 1994, to 28% in January of 1996?

That the average monthly income of the population rose from R$ 364 (US$ 145) in 1992 to R$ 472 (US$ 188) in 1999?

That 5,160,000 families began receiving running water in their homes, which raised the percentage of inhabitants with running water from 69.5% to 81% from 1992 to 1997?

That the number of residences with trash collection services increased to 5,260,000, that is, from 64% to 74% between 1992 and 1997?

That 3,650,000 families began to receive electricity in their homes and that 2,790,000 had phone lines installed, rising from 88% to 93% between 1992 and 1997?

That the sewage system reached 1,640,000 homes, rising from 50.3% to 59.4% between 1992 and 1999?

That the consumption of industrialized food products also grew from 1994 to 1997? That in the case of chicken, the increase was of 39.9%; of beef, 27.1%; and of pork, 26.1%? That the consumption of yogurt rose 85.9%; of cheese, 51.8%; of beer, 56.8%; of soft drinks, 71.5%; and of cookies and crackers, 42.6%?

That our unemployment rates are lower than the Europeans? That in Italy, for example, the jobless rate is 12% and that in Brazil it was 4.8% in December of 2000?

Economy

That Brazil has the 8th largest economy of the world and that, in 20 years, will become the 4th largest economic power, competing for this position with France, Italy and Great Britain?

That the GDP grew, on average, 4% a year from 1994 to 1996, in comparison to only 0.22% in the period of 1990 to 1993, and that, in 2000, growth was 4.6%?

That the per capita GDP, which had dropped to 1.25% a year, from 1990 to 1993, increased 2.51% annually from 1994 to 1997?

That, according to the World Bank, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Russia will be the nations with the highest development rates in the next 25 years?

That we are responsible for 42% of the GDP of Latin America and that the GDP of Argentina is the same as that of the interior of the state of São Paulo (excluding the metropolitan region); and that the GDP of Chile is equal to that of Greater Campinas metropolitan area (a city in the state of São Paulo)?

That, of the 500 largest corporations of Latin America, 300 are Brazilian; 80 are Mexican; 60 are Argentinean; and 30 are Chilean?

That capital goods (machinery and equipment) for the construction industry, the electric energy sector and for mixed purposes expanded, in the last 4 years, 49%, 17% and 9%, respectively?

That the Mercosur economic bloc - of which Brazil is a member, together with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - has a GDP of US$ 1.141 trillion, occupies 10% of the surface of the American continent and possesses a population of 212 million inhabitants (26% of the continent's total population)?

That Brazil is responsible for 30% of the earnings of the coffee sector in the world, 20% of soybean, 8.5% of chicken, 4.5% of footwear, 3.2% of steel and 2.9% of automobiles?

That supermarkets, in 1999, earned US$ 35 billion, with 55,300 stores, 670,000 direct jobs and 2 million indirect ones, being responsible for 85% of food supply in the country?

That, between 1990 and 1999, 4,900,000 businesses were constituted, of which 2.7 million (55.1%) are considered micro and small-sized?

That their production represent nearly 20% of the GDP, 60% of jobs and 30% of the gross sum of the nation's industrial production?

Education

That the illiteracy rate has been diminishing rapidly, dropping from 18.3% in 1990 to 13.8% in 1998? And that, in 2001, 94% of children between the ages of 10 and 14 years are in school?

That illiteracy among youths 10 to 14 years of age in urban areas is inferior to 5% today?

That, in 1992, 18.2% of children between 7 and 14 years of age weren't in school and that, in 1999, only 4% weren't enrolled?

That, in 2000, the government distributed 110 million school textbooks to 32,500,000 students in elementary schools as part of the National Textbook Program.

That the Informatics in Education Program (PROINFO) has installed 30,000 computers and accessories in over 2,276 elementary schools where 200,000 students are enrolled?

Electricity

That the world's biggest hydroelectric powerplant is Itaipu?

That Brazil is the world's 12th biggest electricity producer ?

Slums

That for a number of years city authorities in Rio de Janeiro have been developing the "Neighborhood Slum Program" which will urbanize all city slums?

History

That during the Second World War Brazil sent 25,000 soldiers to Italy to fight the Nazi-fascists? That 500 of them died fighting in Italy defending democracy? That, in Pistoia, Italy, there is a cemetery for those Brazilian soldiers?

Indians

That in Brazil there are 554 Indian reservations covering a total area of 946,452 square kilometers, which is equal to over 11% of the total territory of the country? That 220 of those reservation areas (covering 436,400 square kilometers) have been demarcated?

That there are 325,652 Indians living on those reservations? That the Indians belong to 227 ethnic groups and speak 170 different languages?

That 94,190 square kilometers, out of the total of 224,000 square kilometers which comprise the state of Roraima, are Indian reservation areas? And that only 9,910 Yanomani Indians live in those areas; that is, one Indian for every 10 square kilometers?

That the Indian population of Brazil has been growing at twice the rate of the rest of the population (3.2% compared to 1.4%)?

Aircraft Industry

That a Brazilian, Santos Dumont, invented the airplane?

That Embraer, the Brazilian Aeronautical Corporation, has sold 4,959 aircraft in its 27 years of existence?

That Brazil is the world's third biggest manufacturer of regional service and training aircraft?

That Embraer sells jets and turbo-propeller aircraft to First World countries such as the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland, China and Sweden?

That Embraer is the world's fourth biggest manufacturer of commercial aircraft?

Informatics

That the number of computers in Brazil rose from 5.1 million in 1997 to 9.2 million in 2000?

That Brazil is in seventh place in number of computers and at the moment is the world's biggest informatics market?

Investments

That, according to a survey of 1,000 businessmen responsible for 90% of all direct investments in the world, made in February 2001, by the American consultancy firm, A.T. Kearney, Brazil is in third place in the preference of mega-investors, behind only the United States and China.

That, according to economic analysts, there are a series of factors which explain why Brazil has become one of the stars of the emerging country marketplace over the last few years. That, among these factors, is economic stability, the size of the consumer market, the existence of a solid financial system, a democratic government and the fact that Brazil is one of the best positioned countries among the emerging nations in the New Economy and has the world's most competitive agricultural sector?

That Brazil is Latin America's largest recipient of Japanese capital?

That the Brazilian Privatization Program is the biggest in the world, with planned sales worth more than $130 billion in telecommunications, energy, sanitation, banks and gas distributors? That the steel, petrochemical and fertilizer sectors have already been privatized?

That, over the last decade, the total volume of direct foreign investment in Brazil rose by 3,000%?

That, in 2000, the total volume of direct foreign investments in Brazil reached $27 billion?

Environment

That countries in the northern hemisphere cannot teach countries in the southern hemisphere how to take care of their forests because, in Europe, for example, only 2% of forest remains, while in Latin America 59% of the forests are still standing?

That the countries mostly responsible for global warming are the United States, with emissions of over 186 billion tons of carbon gases, the European Union countries, over 127 billion tons, and Russia, over 68 billion tons? Brazilian emissions of carbon gases are less than 7 billion tons, which is equivalent to only 4% of American emissions? And that these are the people who complain about Brazil?

That more than 1,500 species of fish can be found in the waters of the rivers of the Amazon region?

That 33% of the large leaf forests of the world are in the Amazon, which contains 3,500,000 hectares of virgin forest and 750 species of trees?

That the Amazon contains some 30% of the planet's genetic reserves and is the most diversified and complex ecosystem known to exist anywhere on earth?

That around 22% of the world's fresh water rivers are located in the Amazon region?

Street kids

That, contrary to what is found in the international press, Brazil does not have 11 million, or 7 million, or 5 million, or even 2 million street kids? The reason being that there are no firm statistics on the subject.

That, according to a survey by a non-governmental organization, Ibase, in 1994 (the year of the last survey) there were less than a thousand street kids in Rio de Janeiro?

Market Data

That Brazil presently has 43 million consumers and that in 2005 that number will rise to 65 million? That Brazil is the world's fifth biggest consumer market?

That Brazil is in fifth place in purchasing power, behind only the United States, China, Japan and Germany?

That Brazil's middle class consists of 35 million families, according to the IBGE? In other words, Brazil's middle class is 8% bigger than the population of Germany, and bigger than the sum of the populations of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Island, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Brazil's middle class is bigger than the population of France and Canada added together. It is equal to one-third of the population of the United States or 72% of the population of Japan.

That Brazil is the world's third biggest franchise market, behind only the United States and Canada? And that the number of franchises in Brazil rose 96% between 1995 and 1999, reaching a total of 46,534 with 226,334 direct employees?

Mining

That Brazil is the world's second biggest producer of iron ore, the fifth biggest producer of manganese, the sixth biggest producer of primary aluminum, the seventh biggest producer of gold and the eighth biggest producer of tin?

That Brazil has the world's fifth biggest reserves of iron ore and tin?

Population

That Brazil has the fifth largest population in the world, with 170 million inhabitants?

That 40% of the population of Latin America is Brazilian?

That there are 23 million Italians and descendants of Italians in Brazil and that in São Paulo there are 5 million descendants of Italians, which means there are more Italians in São Paulo than in Rome?

That it is estimated that the percentage of the population below the poverty line at the moment is 16%, and that by 2005 that number is expected to fall to 10%?

Industrial Production

That Brazil is the world's tenth biggest industrial power?

That Brazil is the world's eleventh biggest manufacturer of vehicles? That Audi, Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Renault-Citroen, Scania, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo have factories in Brazil?

That Brazil is the world's second biggest manufacturer of ceramic coating and compressors for refrigeration? The fourth biggest beer brewer? The fifth biggest manufacturer of gasoline and radios? The sixth biggest of cigarettes and CDs? The seventh biggest of refrigerators, textiles and clothing? The eighth biggest of undulated cardboard, chemical products and instant foods?

That 70% of Brazil's exports are manufactured goods?

That Petrobras, using domestic technology, holds the world record in ultra-deep water drilling, having reached a depth of 1,700 meters?

Land Reform

That, during the last six years, 400,000 landless rural workers have received lots and that they have been settled on an area equal to twice the size of Belgium?

That, in order to implement its land policy, a total of 13.2 million hectares have been expropriated or purchased by the government; an area three and a half times the size of Switzerland, or almost half the size of Italy?

Health

That the Brazilian Family Health Program consists of 143,000 community health agents who visit 82 million families every month?

That the Brazilian program to fight AIDS, which distributes the so-called "cocktail" free of charge, has been called one of the best programs in the world by the World Health Organization?

That the Brazilian pharmaceutical products market has an annual turnover of $8 billion?

That each year Brazil vaccinates 20 million children free of charge against various diseases, among them polio?

That, between 1989 and 1998, the infant mortality rate in Brazil fell from 50.9 per thousand to 36.1 per thousand; that is, a drop of over 29% in nine years?

That life expectancy in Brazil rose from 66 in 1992, to 68 in 1999?

Area

That, with a total area of 8,547,403 square kilometers (3,286,170 square miles), Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world? All of Europe could fit inside Brazil.

Transportation

That Brazil has the world's eighth largest fleet of vehicles, behind only the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain? And that Brazil has the world's seventh largest fleet of helicopters, with 900 of them?

Miscellaneous (Science and Quality)

That the growth of scientific productivity in Brazil between 1995 and 1998 was only less than in South Korea? And that between 1981 and 1998, scientific productivity rose 365%, three times the world average, which was 104%?

That Brazil is the only country in the southern hemisphere to participate in the Genome Project?

That Brazil is the developing nation with the most companies that have received ISO 9000 certificates of quality - a total of 6,890? And that Mexico only has 300 ISO certificates? And Argentina only has 265?

World Ranking

Brazil is in first place in number of cattle; coffee, sugarcane, fruit and orange production, as well as iron ore reserves. It is also Latin America's largest user of the Internet.

Brazil is in second place in iron ore production; bean, manioc, soybean and beef production; ceramic coating, compressors for refrigeration and blue jeans; in production and exports of poultry; it is also the biggest market for executive jets, helicopters, fax machines, biscuits and analgesics.

Brazil is in third place in production of refined sugar and corn; aircraft for training and regional services; soda pop; it is the biggest market for franchises, soda pop and motorcycles.

Brazil is in fourth place in production of grains, cacao and beer; in production and exports of pork; the biggest market for informatics, shopping centers, refrigerators, freezers and washing machines; as well as in number of TV stations.

Brazil is in fifth place in size and population; as a manufacturer of gasoline and radios, manganese; phonograph market; biggest consumer market.

Brazil is in sixth place in production of milk, iron bars, cast iron, aluminum and cement; biggest CD market and iron ore reserves.

Brazil is in seventh place in gold, cellulose and egg production; manufacture of refrigerators, textiles and clothing; number of computers and TV sets; biggest fleet of helicopters and vehicles.

Brazil is in eighth place in cotton, rice, raw steel and tin production; manufacture of cardboard, chemicals and instant food; number of credit cards; number of vehicles.

Brazil is in ninth place in manufacture of vehicles and Internet users.

Brazil is in tenth place in size of industrial base and generation of electricity.

Brazil is in twelfth place in manufacture of lubricants.

Brazil is in fourteenth place in nickel production.

Brazil is in seventeenth place in zinc production.

Brazil is in eighteenth place in production of brute petroleum and copper.

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Sources: The major data above was taken out of "Perfil da Economia Brasileira—2000", edited by CBMM—Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração, "Brasil—Conjuntura Econômica", from the Brazilian Ministry of External Affairs, e "Sete Anos de Real", from the Office of the President of Brazil. Another resources: Anthropos Consulting (Dr. Luis Marins); the Brazilian magazines Veja and Exame, Brazilian newspapers (Jornal do Brasil e O Globo), Secretaria de Estado de Assistência Social do Ministério da Previdência Social (Brazilian Social Security Agency); Annual Statistics Report from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.).

Ambassador Guilherme Leite Ribeiro, the author, is head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Financial Office in New York. Send your correspondence to Brazilian Financial Office,  565 Fifth Ave - 17th floor - New York, N.Y. 10017 - Fax: (646) 487.2531/9636. You can also send your email to guilherm@bellatlantic.net

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