Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/180

LEFT BB.AZIL 158 BKAZIL two outlying islands: Trimdad and Fernando de Noronha, both of volcanic formation and practically not yet settled. Production and Commerce. — Among the mineral treasures, besides gold and diamonds, iron of superior quality is abundant; salt, also, is extensively pro- duced in saline marshes by the alternate processes, according to the season, of inundation and evaporation. The ex- ports are coffee, cotton, cocoa, sugar, to- bacco, hides, tallow, horns, drugs, pre- cious stones, chiefly diamonds, gold, dy^, rice, manioc, tapioca, spirits, rosewood, etc. The value of exports varies con- siderably according to the price of cof- fee which represents more than three- fourths of the total. The chief ai-ticles of commerce are coffee, rubber, cacao, tobacco, and cotton. In the two former, Brazil leads the world. The yield of coffee was 846,480 tons in 1917 and the rubber crop was 41,500 tons. The aver- age annual production of tobacco is 50,- 000,000 kilos, sugar 300,000 tons, cotton 90,000 tons, wheat 2,421,031 tons, rice 371,989 tons, and beans 326,826 tons. The live-stock in 1917 comprised 17,321,- 210 hogs, 8,443,400 cattle, 1,407,600 horses, 4,604,000 sheep, 351,900 mules, and 138,900 goats. The chief centers of foreign trade, and, with Sao Paulo, in the interior, the principal cities of the Republic, are Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, Porto Alegre, and Rio de Janeiro. The last named is the chief port. The exports and imports of Brazil were as follows in the year 1918: Ex- ports, $284,275,000; imports, $247,351,- 250. The exports were largest to the United States, totaling $98,474,000. The exports to the United Kingdom were valued at $28,700,500, and to Argentina $43,188,250. The imports from the United States were valued at $88,982,- 750. For the first seven months of 1919 the exports totaled 1,140,575 tons, amounting to a money value of 1,289,- 390,000 milreis; the imports were 1,708,- 103 tons, valued at 761,372,000 milreis. Education. — Elementary education is free and in some of the states compul- sory. There are about 13,000 schools with an attendance of 750,000. No uni- versity exists, though there are numer- ous normal, agricultural, commercial, and technical schools. There are many public libraries, that at Rio de Janeiro having over 400,000 volumes. Defense. — Military service is univer- sal between the ages of 21 and 45. Two years' service is required in the ranks, seven in the reserve, seven in the terri- torial army and eight in the national guard. In 1918 the men available in the first line numbered 402,000 and in the second 493,000. The navy has two dreadnoughts, two protected cruisers, two coast defense ships of about 3,200 tons each, an almost obsolete protected cruiser, two river monitors, five torpedo gunboats, four first-class torpedo boats, three submarines, and ten destroyers. There are three naval arsenals. Railvxiys. — The total railway mileage is 30,101 kilometers, distributed among the various states as follows: S5o Paulo, 6,706; Rio de Janeiro, 3,131; Minas Geraes, 6,527; Rio Grande do Sul, 2,756; Pernambuco. 2,098; Bahia, 1,839; Matto Grasso, 1,168; Parana, 1,064; Santa Catharina, 1,018; Ceara, 891; Para, 456; Espiritu Santo, 652; Para- hyba, 368; Alagoas, 364; Rio Grande do Norte, 313; Sergipe, 292; Federal Dis- trict, 187; Goyaz, 179; Maranhao, 91; and Amazonas, 6. 15,251 kilometers are owned by the Federal Government, 2,464 kilometers by the state governments, and 10,051 by private companies. Revenues. — The revenues and expendi- tures of the Government for 1919 were as follows, in milreis (a gold milreis representing 54.6 cents in United States money and a paper milreis 27.5 cents) : Revenue. 113,533,434 gold; 502,989,000 paper. Expenditure, 80,369,827 gold; 476,641,194 paper. For 1920 the budget estimates were 80,953,000 milreis gold and 526,953,000 milreis paper. The foreign indebted- ness of the country was 116,434,274 pounds sterling; the internal debt was 1,012,137,000 milreis. The public wealth was figured at 30,000,000 contos (a conto equals 1,000 milreis), including these items: personal property, 7,000,- 000; improved property, 5,500,000; un- improved property, 10,000,000; railroads and ports, 2,000,000; live stock, 5,000,- 000; manufacturing industries, 500,000. Government. — Executive authority is vested in a president whose term is four years and who is not eligible for re-elec- tion for a consecutive period. Legisla- tive authority resides with the two chambers of the National Congress, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The former has 63 members, elected for nine years, and the latter 212 members, elected for a three-year term. The Pres- ident in 1920 was Epitacio de Silva Pessoa, whose term expires in 1922. He visited the United States in 1919 after having served in Paris as one of the Brazilian delegates to the Peace Congress. History. — It was only in 1531 that the Portuguese, busy as they were in India, ■here planted their first settlement. In