Brazil

Brazil Geography

Location
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Geographic coordinates
10 00 S, 55 00 W

Area
total: 8,511,965 sq km
land: 8,456,510 sq km
water: 55,455 sq km
note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Area - comparative
slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries
total: 14,691 km
border countries: 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

Coastline
7,491 km

Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin

Climate
mostly tropical, but temperate in south

Terrain
mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m

Natural resources
bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber

Land use
arable land: 6.96%
permanent crops: 0.9%
other: 92.15% (2001)

Irrigated land
26,560 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards
recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south

Environment - current issues
deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; there is a lucrative illegal wildlife trade; 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; wetland degradation; severe oil spills

Environment - international agreements
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note
largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador



- Info Provided by the CIA World Factbook -