ABSTRACT
Brazil is the largest country in South America, with an area of 8.5 million square kilometres and an estimated population of 188 million inhabitants in 2007. According to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), the country belongs to the group of countries with high human development (HDI of 0.800 in 2005); but it has also been characterized by high levels of social inequality: data for 2007 show that Brazil has the 11th highest level of income concentration in the world (UNDP, 2007). From another perspective, the physical and demographic characteristics of the country – with extreme climate conditions, unequal distribution of surface water availability, and heterogeneity in the pattern of demographic occupation – often exacerbated by socio-economic, political and cultural constraints, act as systemic conditions that frame and even shape policies and actions in the water and sanitation services (WSS) sector.
