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)
Sunni Muslim
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
Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials
Exports
transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos
fish
External Debt
$397,500,000,000 $
$943,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
reals (BRL) per US dollar - 1.8644 (2008 est.), 1.85 (2007 est.), 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004)
rufiyaa (MVR) per US dollar - NA (2007), 12.8 (2006), 12.8 (2005), 12.8 (2004), 12.8 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.700%
5.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
15
0
Location
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India
Area
8,514,877 km sq
298 km sq
Coastline
7,491 km
644 km
Climate
mostly tropical, but temperate in south
tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
