Download Brazil!

• A grouping acronym that refers to the
countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China:
BRIC
• All deemed to be at a similar stage of newly
advanced economic development
– Symbol of the shift in global economic power
away from the developed G7
• France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, USA, &
Canada
• It is estimated that BRIC economies will
overtake G7 economies by 2027
• They account for more than a quarter of the
world's land area and more than 40% of the
world's population
The ten largest economies in the world in 2050, measured in GDP (billions USD),
according to Goldman Sachs
Categories
Brazil
Russia
India
China
USA
Area
5
1
7
3
4
Population
5
9
2
1
3
107
221
90
156
118
5
7
2
1
3
GDP Growth Rate
115
87
13
6
159
Human Development
Index*
73
65
119
89
4
Exports
22
9
19
1
2
Imports
20
17
10
2
1
External Debt
25
22
27
18
1
Electricity
Consumption
10
5
3
1
2
Mobile Phones
5
4
2
1
3
Internet Users
5
7
4
1
2
Population Growth
Labor Force
• World's 6th largest by Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and is expected to become
5th by the end of 2012
– Largest economy in Latin America
– 2nd largest economy in the western hemisphere
• From 1950 to 2005 the population of Brazil
grew from 51 million to approximately 187
million inhabitants!
– Need: food!
– Response: green revolution!
• Expanding development of cattle and crop raising
• BUT at the expense of the RAINFORESTS of the Amazon
• “Green Ox” – cattle raised on
hay & mineral salts
– Exported to Asia, Europe & the
Americas after the “mad cow”
scares
– Largest cattle herd in the world,
with more than 80 million heads
• 80% of the planet's orange juice
• Oil!
– 2006-2007 Brazil
became self
sufficient in terms
of their oil
production
– The world's 15th
largest oil producer
• Deforestation of the Amazonian rainforests is a
result of the following:
– Clearing for cattle pasture
– Places for people to live and subsistence farming
– Infrastructure improvements (roads, bridges, etc.)
– Commercial agriculture
– Logging
• Tropical rainforests (6-7%
of the earth's surface)
contain over 1/2 of all the
plant and animal species
in the world
• 57% of all rainforests
remaining are located in
Latin America, with 30%
located in Brazil
• Atlantic coast of Brazil has
lost 90-95% of its
rainforest
• 2.4 acres per second: equivalent to
two U.S. football fields
• 149 acres per minute
• 214,000 acres per day: an area larger
than New York City
• 78 million acres per year: an area
larger than Poland
• On average, 137 species become
extinct everyday; or 50,000 each
year!
• Extinctions: plants, insects, animals,
indigenous peoples, etc.
• Habitat fragmentation: This disturbs the
animals' habitat and may force them to enter
habitats which are already occupied
• Soil erosion and desertification
• Climate change: more carbon dioxide is
released into the atmosphere, thus increasing
the effects of global warming
• Loss of culture: People who live in the
rainforest depend on the natural environment
for food, shelter, materials for cooking,
clothing, etc.
– There were an estimated 10 million Indians living
in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago.
Today there are less than 200,000
• Social conflicts and struggles over land and
natural resources.
• Conflicts over racial and ethnic rights.