NationMaster - Brazilian Military statistics

Air force personnel	50,000	[11th of 49]
Armed forces growth	4	[65th of 132]
Armed forces personnel	288,000	[18th of 166]
Army personnel	195,000	[13th of 49]
Conscription Conscription exists.
Conventional arms exports	$100,000,000.00	[14th of 40]
Conventional arms imports	$38,000,000.00	[49th of 85]
Expenditures > Dollar figure	$13,408,000,000.00	[9th of 170]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49	51,381,000	[5th of 175]
Manpower > Military age	18	[107th of 129]
Navy personnel	68,250	[2nd of 49]
Service age and obligation 21-45 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 9 to 12 months; 17-45 years of age for voluntary service; an increasing percentage of the ranks are "long-service" volunteer professionals; women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in early 1980s when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks; women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps (2001)
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier > National examples > Description The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the platform of the location.
US military exports	$50,225.00 thousand	[14th of 109]
Weapon holdings	2,153,000	[38th of 137]
WMD > Biological There is no evidence that Brazil has ever developed or produced biological weapons. It ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1973 and signed the Mendoza Declaration in 1991, which prohibits biological as well as chemical agents. Brazil's opposition to biological weapons is evident from reports that senior government officials oppose using biological agents even to control coca production in neighboring Colombia. Brazil does have the capacity to produce biological agents; for example, it has one of the world’s largest crops of the castor bean (which naturally produces the toxin ricin) and is proficient in advanced biological techniques such as gene sequencing. However, there is no indication that Brazil presents a biological weapons threat; it is, in fact, a staunch proponent of biological weapons nonproliferation.
WMD > Chemical There is no evidence that Brazil has ever embarked on a chemical warfare (CW) program; to the contrary, Brazil is an extremely active participant in CW nonproliferation efforts. Even before the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) came into existence, Brazil engaged in regional nonproliferation efforts. For example, in September 1991, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile signed the Mendoza Declaration, which commits signatories not to use, develop, produce, acquire, stock, or transfer—directly or indirectly—chemical or biological weapons. Brazil participated actively in the negotiations for the CWC and ratified it in March 1996, thereby becoming a charter member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). By the end of 2000, Brazil had hosted five OPCW inspections of its chemical industry sites, as well as the first simulation of a challenge inspection of private industry.
WMD > Missile Brazil curtailed the military potential of its space launch vehicle (SLV) program in the early 1990s and joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Previously, however, military control over the SLV program and an ambitious export program of short-range rockets had raised concerns that Brazil might develop ballistic missiles and supply other countries with them.
WMD > Nuclear From the 1960s to the early 1990s, Brazil pursued an ambitious program of nuclear energy and technological development, which included construction of an unsafeguarded uranium enrichment facility under Navy direction. However, Brazil has since disavowed nuclear weapons, become a State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and, with Argentina, established a bilateral inspection agency to verify both countries' pledges to use atomic energy only for peaceful purposes. Brazil mines uranium, which is shipped to foreign countries for conversion and enrichment, and returned to Brazil, where it is fabricated in Resende into fuel for its two nuclear power reactors. When completed, a uranium enrichment plant under construction at Resende will allow the country to make its own low-enriched uranium fuel for its nuclear power industry. As of mid-2005, the government of Brazil was considering the possibility of signing an Additional Protocol with the IAEA and was planning to release a comprehensive report on the future of the country's nuclear program.
WMD > Overview Brazil has abjured nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and curtailed its ballistic missile program in the early 1990s. From the 1970s to the early 1990s, however, Brazil’s nuclear program aroused concern that the country was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The international community—and Washington in particular—raised additional concerns that technology from Brazil’s space launch vehicle (SLV) program would be used for production of ballistic missiles. Brasilia is now a member of all key international nonproliferation regimes.

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SOURCES: Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy; calculated on the basis of data on armed forces from IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press; IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, unless otherwise indicated. Acronyms: Amnesty International (AI); European Council of Conscripts Organizations (ECCO); Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR); National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO); Service, Peace and Justice in Latin America (SERPAJ); War Resisters International (WRI); World Council of Churches (WCC); SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). 2005. SIPRI Arms Transfers. Database. February. Stockholm.; CIA World Factbook, 28 July 2005; CIA World Factbook, December 2003; CIA World Factbook, 14 June, 2007 ; Wikipedia: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ; Study by David Lochhead and James Morrell; available from the Center for International Policy; Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC); The Nuclear Threat Initiative

ALTERNATIVE NAMES: Brazil, Federative Republic of Brazil, Republica Federativa do Brasil, Brasil

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COMMENTARY

From Rio
26th November 2005

Independence Day: September 7 1822 (From Portugal after a 322-year rule). Brazil then became an Empire, not a Republic, and the Emperor was the heir to Portugal's throne who decided to rebel against his daddy and live here instead.
Major armed conflicts? Before Independence, the French and Dutch tried to estabilish themselves in Brazilian territory but failed.
After the Independence, the big conflict was Paraguayan War. In which Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay teamed up against Paraguayan crazy dictator Solano Lopez. The Paraguayan armed forces were at the time stronger than everyone else combined, but they still failed because of poor planning. The bloodshed was such that half of the Paraguayan population was killed.
This war, despite a victory, was a major blow to the Brazilian economy. The subsequent crisis strenghtened the desire for a big reform of the government system, and we decided to turn into a Republic in 1889.
And Brazil was also the only Latin American nation to fight in European soil during WW-II. Sided with the Allies, of course. Brazilian army won some battles in Italy.
Today the Armed forces are experiencing some hardships in Brazil because the government is making an effort to reduce expenditures, and there's not much need for a powerful Defense system in the relatively peaceful region of South America.

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