| Geography and Climate |
Brazil is located in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Area is slightly smaller than the US. Total land boundary is 14,691 km, border countries are Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643 km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru 1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km.
Brazil has a tropical climate, but temperate in south. Terrain consists mostly of flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt. The elevation extreme has lowest point in Atlantic Ocean 0 m and highest point in Pico da Neblina 3,014 m. Natural resources are bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber. Land use: arable land: 5%, permanent crops: 1%, permanent pastures: 22%, forests and woodland: 58%, other: 14% (1993 est.). Natural hazards are recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south.
Environment—current issues: deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities.
Geography—note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |