EUROSCI Network Center in Brazil

The Brazilian National EUROSCI Network Center was created to better serve the needs of Brazilian students and scholars. Brazil is the largest country in both South America and Latin America, besides being the largest of the Americas by continental area, and the world's fifth-largest country by both area and population, with an estimated 207 million inhabitants in 2017. Brazil also has a young population. In 2016, there were nearly 8.1 million undergraduate students enrolled in Brazilian universities, up from 4.63 million in 2005. Brazil's economy was also the world's ninth-largest by nominal GDP in 2016. Brazil is a founding member of a number of international organizations, such as the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the CPLP. The EU is Brazil’s leading trade partner, representing around 20% of Brazil’s total trade. At the 1st EU-Brazil summit, in 2007, Brazil entered in a strategic partnership with the European Union, which places Brazil high on the latter's agenda. The present relationship is governed by the EC-Brazil Framework Cooperation Agreement of 1992, the EU-Mercosul Framework Cooperation Agreement of 1995, and the Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation of 2004. The EU is currently seeking a free trade agreement with Mercosur, the regional trading bloc led by Brazil.