FACTBOX-Brazil's cattle herd in the Amazon

May 31 (Reuters) - About a third of Brazil's 200 million-strong cattle herd is in the Amazon area, where most of its growth has occurred in recent years, leading to criticism that the industry is a major culprit in illegal deforestation.

Following are some facts about Brazil's cattle industry and its role in the Amazon basin, home to the world's largest rain forest.

- The number of cattle in the legal Amazon area, which covers seven states in Brazil's north, grew by 77 percent from 1997 to reach 70 million in 2007. That compared with 24 percent growth in Brazil's overall herd.

- Pasture areas in the Amazon grew by 44 percent between 1985 and 2006. About 15 percent of the Amazon area is now used for farming and ranching, or about 80 percent of the deforested land.

- According to the Friends of The Earth environment group, the main purchasers of beef from the Amazon area in 2008 were Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Algeria, Egypt and Libya, all major petroleum producers. China, Italy, Vietnam and Hong Kong accounted for most of the leather exports. Brazil is also a major supplier of beef to Europe and the United States.

- Government financing for the big meatpackers who dominate production in the area is mostly made through the BNDES national development bank. The World Bank's private financing agency, the IFC, has also supported the industry with loans worth $90 million to the Bertin meat company in 2007.

- Less than 6 percent of the financing for ranching in the Amazon goes toward raising pasture productivity, seen as crucial to prevent more deforestation. Currently, each cow in the Amazon has a grazing area about the size of a football field.

- Studies by Embrapa, the agriculture ministry's research arm, show that the cattle herd could be increased by 42 percent from the 2007 level of 70 million while reducing pasture area by 35 percent from 2006 levels through methods of recuperating degraded land.

(Sources: Friends of the Earth, Embrapa; ABIEC meat export group) (Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by Eric Walsh)