Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census)
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 10%
Languages
Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Exports
transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos
External Debt
$397,500,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
reals (BRL) per US dollar - 1.8644 (2008 est.), 1.85 (2007 est.), 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.700%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
15
0
Location
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Area
8,514,877 km sq
36,125 km sq
Coastline
7,491 km
350 km
Climate
mostly tropical, but temperate in south
tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
