| The President |
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| Official Name: |
Federative Republic of Brazil |
| Capital: |
Brasilia |
| National Date: |
September 7th (Independence Day) |
| Territory: |
8.547.403.5 km2 |
| Forest Area: |
5.511.000 km2 |
| Climate: |
90% of the country is located in the tropics with five distinct climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semi-arid, tropical at altitude and sub-tropical. |
| Population: |
Estimated at 185 million (fifth largest in the world). |
| Main Cities: |
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Florianópolis and Manaus. |
| Language: |
Portuguese |
| Currency: |
Real, which is divided into 100 centavos (R$). |
| Political System: |
Presidential Federative Republic, consisting of 27 states and one Federal District. |
Head of State
and Government: |
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006 for a 4-year mandate. |
Minister of Foreign
Relations: |
Ambassador Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim. |
| Legislative Branch: |
The National Congress is a bicameral assembly. The lower house, the Chamber of Deputies has 513 seats, members being elected by proportional representation to 4-year mandates. The upper house, the Federal Senate is comprised of 81 Senators (3 per state plus 3 for the Federal District) elected to 8 year mandates. Both House members are elected directly by the people. |
| The Judiciary: |
The Judiciary Branch is headed by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) consisting of 11 Justices appointed by the President of the Republic upon approval by the Senate. It judges cases involving constitutional issues. The High Court of Justice is entrusted with examining intra-constitutional matters and establishing standard jurisprudence in the country. It is comprised of at least 33 Justices also appointed by the President of the Republic, and submitted for approval by the Senate. One third of the Court’s judges are selected from the regional federal courts, one third from among the associate justices of the courts of justice in the states, and one third from among the members of the Public Prosecution Services. The Judiciary also has intermediate instance state and federal courts and singular judges, all selected by public examination. |
