The Statistics

 

The large country of Brazil takes up about half of South America. It covers a total area of 3,287,357 square miles. This consists of 3,265,080 square miles of land and 21,411 square miles of water. Brazil shares a border with nearly every country in South America The countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela all border Brazil. The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador. Interestingly enough, it has a larger landmass than United States (whom Brazil is very dependent upon).

With the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers. Many archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.

 

Brazil’s Size

 

In the world today, Russia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, and the United States (including Alaska) are the only countries that are bigger than Brazil. The large country has three time zones within it. The time zone furthest west in Brazil is one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time in the United States.

 

Brazil currently owns the chain of islands called Fernando de Noronha. They are roughly 217 miles northeast of Brazil’s “horn”. The country also possesses many other small islands in the Atlantic. These include Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de So Pedro e So Paulo, Trindade and Martim Vaz. Brazil made a portion of sea territory its own property in the early 1970s. This territory spreads out about 362,000 miles from the shore of the country (which including the islands). Brazil has five eco-systems, within its borders. These include the tropical rainforest, the pantanal, the cerrado, the mata atlantica and the pampasn and surrounding areas.

 

Rivers and Lakes in Brazil

 

s reported by the Brazilian government, there are 12 major hydrographic regions in Brazil. Of these regions, seven are river basins that are named after the major rivers within their region. The other five are groupings of different river basins in regions that do not have a major river.

 

Located in Brazil is the Amazon River. This is currently the widest and second longest river (after the Nile) in the world. The Paraná is another major river that has its source in Brazil. This river creates the border of Paraguay and Argentina. It then goes through Argentina and into the Atlantic Ocean (beside the southern coast of Uruguay).

 

Climate

 

Almost the entire country of Brazil is in the tropical zone. In spite of this, the climate of the country differs quite a bit from the tropical North to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn. Brazil has five climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and subtropical.

 

Precipitation levels also differ depending on the area of Brazil. Most of the country has average rainfall of between 39.4 and 59.1 inches a year. Most of the rainfall occurs in the summer (between December and April) south of the Equator.