Brazil is the largest of the Latin American countries. Covering nearly half (47.3 percent) of the continent of South America, it occupies an area of 3,286,470 sq. miles (8,511,965 sq. km). It is the fifth largest country in the world after the Russian Federation, Canada, China, and the United States. Except for a small number of islands, Brazil consists of a single. unbroken land mass. On a map of the globe, it can be seen that the eastern bulge of Brazil conforms to the concave curve of the west coast of Africa. According to the theory of continental drift, this is no accident; Africa and South America once abutted each other, but drifted apart over millions of years. The Equator passes through the north of the country near Macapá; the Tropic of Capricorn passes through the south near São Paulo. Brazil’s greatest width, 2,684 miles (4,319.4 km), is almost the same as its greatest distance from north to south, 2,731 miles (4,394.7 km). Brazil has 10 neighbors: the Department of French Guiana and the countries of Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and Colombia bound Brazil on the north. Uruguay and Argentina are on the south, and on the west are Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru. Ecuador and Chile are the only two countries of continental South America that do not share a border with Brazil. The Atlantic Ocean extends along the entire eastern side of the country, giving it a coastline of 4,578 miles (7,367 km).
Topography
The landscape of Brazil is dominated by two prominent features, the Amazon River with its surrounding lowland basin of 1,544,400 sq. miles (4.000,000 sq. km) and the Central Highlands, a plateau that rises southward from the great river. Most of the Central Highlands consists of a tableland varying in altitude from 984 to 1,640 feet (300 to 500 meters) above sea level, broken by a number of low mountain ranges and cut by deep valleys. The highlands ascend steeply in the east forming an escarpment, where several peaks attain an altitude of 8,202 feet (2,500 meters) or more, and then drop precipitously to a narrow Atlantic coastal plain. A network of high moun tain ranges runs from the south of the country to the northeast forming a continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the interior. Brazil’s highest peak, Pico da Neblina, reaching 9,888 feet (3,014 meters), is in the north, close to the Venezuelan border.
Rivers
Brazil has one of the most extensive river systems in the world with eight drainage basins. : The Amazon and the Tocantins Araguaia basins in the north account for 56 percent of Brazil’s total drainage area. The Amazon River, the world’s largest river in volume of water and second longest after the Nile, is 4,087 miles (6,577 km) long, of which 2,246 miles (3,615 km) are in Brazilian territory. The river is navigable by ocean steamers as far as 2,414 miles (3,885 km) upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru. The Paraná-Paraguai river system drains the area from the southwestern portion of the state of Minas Gerais southward until it reaches the Atlantic through the River Plate (Rio da Prata) near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Brazil’s two southernmost states are drained through the Uruguay River also into the Prata. The São Francisco River is the largest river wholly within Brazil, flowing for over 1,000 miles (1,609 km) northward before it turns eastward into the Atlantic. It rises, like the Paraná and the Tocantins, in the Central Highlands of the coun try. The upper river is navigable for shallow draft riverboats in some areas, but only the last 172 miles (277 km) of the lower river is navigable for ocean-going ships. The hydroelectric potential of Brazil, according to the data provided by Eletrobrás in 1994, is of 127,867.6 MW/year of energy. Of this 24.42% is in operation and/or under construction, 35.80% are in inventory and 39.78% are estimated.
