Brazil: Industry and Agriculture

Among the Latin American countries, Brazil is the leader in overall economic potential. The industry of this country is important, but agriculture remains the main filler of the state budget. It employs over 20 percent of the population.

The main economic indicators of the country

Football, textiles, wheat, coffee ... What country are you talking about? Of course, about the state called Brazil! Industry and agriculture in this country are approximately equally developed, although the number of employed is still the leading agrocomplex (20% vs. 13%). About 60% of the population still works in the service sector.

In the 1990s, there was a crisis in Brazil in the economy, so investors were not in a hurry to invest money in this country. However, over time, thanks to literate policy, the situation in the state has recovered. And already at the beginning of the new millennium, all experts noted a marked increase in the Brazilian economy.

Today, Brazil, whose industry provides almost 30 percent of GDP, is the No. 1 country in terms of economic potential among the South American states. Despite this, about 23% of its inhabitants, according to the UN's findings, are below the poverty line.

The country annually exports products for almost 200 billion dollars (imports - 187 billion). The main articles of Brazilian exports are coffee, cars, biofuels, clothing, soybeans and wheat. The main partners of Brazil in the world market are: the USA, China, Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.

Brazil: Industry and its location

Brazil is a country that, due to its natural features, badly needs competent regional policy. Thus, the territorial distribution of Brazil's industry is uneven. The contrast in economic development between the east and west of the country is striking.

The most developed region of Brazil is its south-eastern coast. It is here that the main financial centers of the country are located - the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. The city of Sao Paulo is often compared to a powerful locomotive that pulls the whole country.

In the south of Brazil, a large agricultural region has formed. The West and the center are "wild", often undeveloped, expanses of Brazil, where cattle breeding is fragmented.

Brazil: Industry and its specialization

The number of employed in the Brazilian industry is declining from year to year. To date, the main industries in Brazil are:

• Power engineering;
• Mining industry;
• light industry;
• Automotive.

In particular, the country is among the world leaders in the production of biofuel and textiles, the extraction of iron ore. This is the modern specialization of the Brazilian industry.

About forty kinds of minerals are mined today in this country. Among them, the most important for the economy are iron and tungsten ores, gold, zirconium and bauxite. But only half satisfies its needs in oil. Therefore, it is forced to import this energy resource.

The automotive industry of Brazil is represented by numerous enterprises of international companies "Mercedes-Benz", "Scania" and "Fiat". Annually in the country it is made about one and a half million cars, and also buses.

Other industries in Brazil are also quite developed. It is about light (production of fabrics and shoes), chemical industry and oil refining.

Energy and biofuel production

2756 power plants are operating today in Brazil. Their total capacity is 121,226 MW. It is interesting that over 80 percent of all electricity in the country is produced in environmentally friendly hydroelectric power stations (HPPs).

Brazil provides electricity not only to itself, but also to neighboring states - Paraguay and Venezuela.

The country ranks second in the world in the production of biofuel - bioethanol. In 2006, Brazil produced almost 17 million liters of this fuel, although the technological capacity of enterprises in this country is much higher. The raw material for this purpose is sugar cane, the plantations of which are also found in Brazil. Thus, here the Brazilian economy is absolutely not dependent on the conjuncture of the world market: if the demand for cane sugar falls - the country immediately reacts to this and produces more bioethanol.

Agriculture of Brazil

On the scale of agricultural production, the country is in the top three world leaders. Thus, Brazil supplies to the world market about 6% of the world's agricultural output.

Brazil - is, above all, the production of coffee, soybeans, corn, sugar cane, cocoa and bananas. The forestry has great prospects for development in the country. But this resource is still poorly mastered: it all boils down to the collection of rubber and nuts. Although to preserve the forests of the Amazon is a definite plus.

In recent years, Brazil has collected at least 600 million tons of reeds annually. This figure is the highest in the world. Of corn, maize is most revered in the country: two harvests of this useful crop are harvested per year.

Livestock is about 40% of the value of all agricultural products in Brazil. It is developed in the central-western part of the country and is represented mainly by pastoral cattle breeding.

Coffee production

Brazil is a "coffee" country. Everyone knows about this, perhaps. For more than a century, it has held the world's leading position in the production of coffee beans.

The very first coffee bushes in Brazil were planted in 1727. According to legend, they were brought here from French Guiana. Already in the middle of the XIX century, Brazil suffered a real coffee fever. This plant not only allowed Brazil to become an important player in the world market, but also stimulated the construction of a railway network on the territory of the country. Freight trains of coffee grains from the interior transported to large ports on the Atlantic coast.

In 2009, the country supplied almost 2 million tons of this product to the world market, which in percentage terms was 32%.

Finally

Brazil is the country with the greatest economic potential in the Latin American region. The main branches here are energy, mining, chemical, automotive and light industries. Agriculture in Brazil specializes in the production of coffee, the cultivation of sugar cane, soybean and corn.