What is the population of Brazil?
Population | 211,715,973 |
Population Growth Rate | 0.83% |
Urban Population | 84.6% |
Population in Major Urban Areas | Sao Paulo 19.924 million; Rio de Janeiro 11.96 million; Belo Horizonte 5.487 million; Porto Alegre 3.933 million; Recife 3.733 million; BRASILIA (capital) 3.813 million |
Nationality Noun | Brazilian(s) |
Nationality Adjective | Brazilian |
Ethnic Groups | white 53.7%, mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%, black 6.2%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%, unspecified 0.7% |
Languages Spoken |
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 |
Language Note | Portuguese is Brazil's official language. English, German, and French are popular second languages. Although Spanish is also understood by Portuguese speakers, some Brazilians may be offended when deliberately spoken in Spanish. |
What are the health conditions in Brazil?
Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 15-49 | 80.3% |
Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population | 6.51 |
Drinking Water Source - percent of rural population improved | 85.3% |
Drinking Water Source - percent of total population unimproved | 2.5% |
Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved | 99.7% |
Health Expenditures - percent of GDP | 8.9% |
Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population | 2.3 |
Infant Mortality Rate - female deaths/1,000 live births | 16.34 |
Infant Mortality Rate - male deaths/1,000 live births | 23.16 |
Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births | 19.83 |
Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births | 56 |
Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 18.8% |
Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population | 1.76 |
Sanitation Facility Access - percent of total population unimproved | 18.7% |
Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved | 87% |
Sanitation Facitlity Access - percent of rural population improved | 49.2% |
Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman | 1.81 |
Underweight - percent of children under five years | 2.2% |
How long do people live in Brazil?
Life Expectancy at Birth | 73 Years |
Life Expectancy at Birth - female | 76 Years |
Life Expectancy at Birth - male | 69 Years |
Median Age | 30 Years |
Median Age - female | 31 Years |
Median Age - male | 29 Years |
Birth Rate - births/1,000 population | 15 |
Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population | 6.51 |
Median Age | 30 Years |
Median Age - female | 31 Years |
Median Age - male | 29 Years |
Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population | -0.17 |
Population Growth Rate | 0.83% |
Sex Ratio 0-14 Years - male/female | 1.04 |
Sex Ratio 15-24 Years - male/female | 1.03 |
Sex Ratio 25-54 Years - male/female | .98 |
Sex Ratio 55-64 Years - male/female | .97 |
Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female | 1.05 |
Sex Ratio of Total Population - male/female | .98 |
Sex Ratio Over 64 Years - male/female | .74 |
What are the health conditions in Brazil?
What is school like in Brazil?
Education Expenditures - percent of GDP | 5.8% |
Literacy - female | 88.8% |
Literacy - male | 88.4% |
Literacy - total population | 88.6% |
Literacy Definition | age 15 and over can read and write |
Can people in Brazil read?
Literacy - female | 88.8% |
Literacy - male | 88.4% |
Literacy - total population | 88.6% |
Literacy Definition | age 15 and over can read and write |
Predominant Language |
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 |
What is school like in Brazil?
A related problem is the lack of properly trained teachers. As many as a quarter of a million teaching positions remain unfilled each year, which means that many people are hired to teach without any training besides their desire to help where they can. Too often, that is not enough.
Most students in both public and private schools are required to wear a school uniform, which usually includes a simple T-shirt with the school’s name printed on it.
Interestingly, part of the reason for the overcrowding is that the government has been working to increase the number of children who attend school. In 2000, 94 percent of primary-aged children attended school, as opposed to only 84 percent nearly a decade earlier and 50 percent in 1960. More children, fewer funds—the result is educational failure for hundreds of thousands of children. It is not surprising that there is a very high drop out rate as the children get older.
School begins in
School begins at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning and lasts only four hours, finishing at noon. Students return home to eat their midday meal, which is still the most important meal of the day in much of the country. Some schools are in session Monday through Saturday and just have Sunday off, although most hold classes only Monday through Friday. After the midday meal, students are expected to study at home.
But Brazilian schools are in trouble, especially the public schools. The government has not supplied enough funds to properly run the school system. Teachers are not properly trained, and children are not learning as they should. Fewer than 1 out of every 20 fourth graders is able to read very well at all, and less than 2 of every 20 have the math skills that they should have. Private and community groups recognize the terrible conditions of modern education and are trying to add classes and opportunities outside of the schools, but they have too few resources and there are far too many children to take care of.
One way of dealing with the social problems that the children face is by providing school fulltime instead of just in the mornings. This helps keep them off the streets and out of trouble. Also, by educating the children better, caring individuals hope to teach the children to get better jobs than their parents have and thus break the cycle of poverty in which these children are being raised. Approximately 60 percent of all Brazilian adults have four years of school or less. Similarly, because many older children must quit school to get a job, less than 40 percent of secondary-school aged children are in school. In poorer families, children quit school as early as ten years old to join their families at work.
High school students take classes in Portuguese, literature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics, math, history, geometry, social studies, physical education, and a second language (typically English).
Most kids are able to write and read very basic Portuguese when they leave school for jobs, but many are not able to do so fluently with a very large vocabulary. In other words, most can get by in day to day living, but even simple reports would be challenging for most to write.
In some rural areas where teachers and schools just cannot meet the demands, the government broadcasts classes over the radio.
One study reported on the drop out rate of students from schools. To begin with, only 12.5% of all preschool age children actually attend preschool. Of every 100 students that begin first grade, half will quit during the first two years of school. Thirteen more will be gone by fourth grade, and another 20 will quit by 8th grade. Only 9 of the original 100 will finish high school, and only 6 will attend university. The study did not say how many would graduate from the university.
Is Brazil a safe place to visit?