Brazil, or the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America in area and population, with about 200 million people. Over the last decade it has also become one of the world’s fastest-growing economic powerhouses.

But the boom appears to have fizzled, at least for now. The country’s economy sputtered in the third quarter of 2011, officials said in early December, ending a long stretch of growth and pointing to some of the headwinds now facing Brazil and big economies in Asia, notably India and China.

A decline in consumer spending contributed to the slight contraction. Economists now see Brazil’s growth in 2011 slowing to 3 percent or lower, a sharp reversal from a booming 2010 in which the economy surged 7.5 percent, the country’s highest growth rate in two decades. Fearing a deeper slowdown, Brazilian authorities introduced a fiscal stimulus package, including tax cuts on some appliances and food, intended to get consumers to spend again.

Brazil still boasts indicators that suggest the economy is far from a crisis. Unemployment fell in October 2011 to 5.8 percent, a historic low, from 6 percent the previous month. The country also maintains $352 billion in foreign currency reserves, compared with just $54 billion at the end of 2005.

Brazil’s success over the last decade has been the result of a lucky confluence of global economic trends, with countries like China hungry for its commodities that include iron ore and soybeans, not to mention the oil recently found in abundance offshore. A surge in deal-making and the resilience of Brazil’s currency, the real, has attracted foreign investment bankers, hedge fund managers and venture capitalists. Well-educated Brazilians are returning from abroad. Compensation in some executive suites now rivals the pay on Wall Street.

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