Geography

Information

Words do little justice to describe Brazil's geography. The fifth largest country in the world, Brazil occupies the lion's share of the land mass of the South American continent. This gigantic country occupies a total area of 3.3 million square miles (8.5 million sq km). It borders every South America country except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is even larger than the US if we exclude Alaska. It's also larger than continental Europe if we exclude Russia. Brazil's geography is divided in four distinct regions:
Catlantic Coast	This long and narrow region (with over 4500 miles of coastline) lies from Maranhão state to the Uruguayan border. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the coastal mountains and central plateau on the west. On the northern states starting in Bahia, the region is flatter, containing calm oceans, sand dunes and palm and coconut trees. The transition to the central plateau is smooth and steady, making rivers more navigable. South of Bahia, on the other hand, contains an irregular rocky regions making unfeasible for navigation. This coastal region contains many islands, bays, and sudden peaks, such as the Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro.
Expansive highlands located in a region that extends over most of Brazil's interior and south of the Amazon Basin. It consists mostly of cerrado scrubland bordered by forests in the north. The elevated plateau contains small mountain ranges that rise no more than 1860 feet (3000 m) in height with an average elevation of 310 feet (500 m). The Planalto is known for long rivers like São Francisco, Araguaia and Tocantins.	Planalto Central (Central Plateau)
Amazon Basin	The immense Amazon River is the world's largest river. Located in the north and west of Brazil from the Andes to the Central Plateau, the Amazon Basin contains the world's largest tropical rainforest. In the far west, the basin spreads up to 800 miles (1300 km) in breadth. It is estimated that over one thousand rivers flow into the Amazon, ten of which carry more water than the Mississippi River. The Amazon River carries 20% of the world's fresh water, and brings more fresh water into the oceans than any other river system.
Located in the south, these two regions are known by open forests, low woodlands, long rivers and wetland areas. The best known region is the Pantanal, a wildlife-packed area of vast wetlands. The area is the half size of France, 230,000 sq km. Another natural wonder in this region are the Iguazu Falls. A National Park, Iguazu lies by the Iguacu River which extends for 1550 sq km and contains the most magnificent waterfalls in the world.	South: Parana - Paranagua Basin