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The Land |
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Geography
Topography
Rivers
Climate
Average Annual Temperatures
Average Annual Rainfall
Seasons
Vegetation
Fauna
Mineral Resources
Geography
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).
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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.
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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.
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Climate
Average Annual Temperatures
Although
90 percent of the country is within the tropical zone,
more than 60 percent of the population live in areas
where altitude, sea winds, or cold polar fronts moderate
the temperature. There are five climatic regions in
Brazil: equatorial, tropical, semi arid, highland tropical,
and subtropical. Plateau cities such as São Paulo,
Brasília, and Belo Horizonte have very mild climates
averaging 66°F (19°C). Rio de Janeiro, Recife,
and Salvador on the coast have warm climates balanced
by the constancy of the Trade Winds. In the southern
Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba, the subtropical
climate is similar to parts of the U.S. and Europe with
frosts occurring with some frequency. In this region
temperatures in winter can fall below freezing.
Despite
the popular image of the Amazon as a region of blistering
heat, temperatures of more than 90°F (32°C)
are rarely experienced there. In fact, the annual average
temperature in the Amazon region is in the range of
72 79°F (22-26°C), with only a very small seasonal
variation between the warmest and the coldest months.
The hottest part of Brazil is the northeast where, during
the dry season, between May and November, temperatures
of more than 100°F (38°C) are recorded frequently.
The northeast has greater seasonal variation in temperatures
than does the Amazon region. Along the Atlantic coast
from Recife to Rio de Janeiro, mean temperatures range
from 73°F to 81°F (23 27°C). Inland, on
higher ground; temperatures are lower, ranging from
64°F to 70°F (18 21°C). South of Rio, the
seasons are more noticeable and the annual range of
temperature greater. The average temperature for this
part of the country is in the range between 63°F
to 66°F (17 19°C).
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Average
Annual Rainfall
Brazil's
most intense rainfall is found around the mouth of the
Amazon River near the city of Belém, and also
in the vast upper regions of Amazônia where more
than 78 inches (2,000 millimeters) of rain falls every
year. Another important region of heavy rainfall is
along the edge of the great escarpment in the state
of São Paulo. Most of Brazil, however, has moderate
rainfall of between 39 to 59 inches (1,000 to 1,500
millimeters) a year, with most of the rain falling in
the summer, between December and April. The winters
tend to be dry. The driest part of the country is the
northeast, the so called "polygon of drought",
encompassing 10 percent of the country's territory.
In this region rainfall is undependable and the evaporation
rate is very high, making it difficult to raise crops.
Along the coastline, south from Recife, the mountains
trigger rainfall from the Trade Winds. In some places
behind the mountains, such as the region south of Salvador,
the hinterland is dry because the rain is dumped on
the mountains leaving very little for the area behind.
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Seasons
Seasons
in Brazil are the reverse of those in the U.S. and Europe:
Spring
= September 22 to December 21
Summer
= December 22 to March 21
Autumn
= March 22 to June 21
Winter
= June 22 to September 21
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Vegetation
The
variety of climates together with soil and drainage
conditions are reflected in Brazil's vegetation. In
the Amazon Basin and in those places along the Atlantic
coast where the rainfall is very heavy, there is tropical
rain forest composed of broadleaf evergreen trees growing
luxuriantly. The rain forest is made up of a great many
different species, as many as 3,000 in a sq. mile (2.6
sq. km). In the lowlands and plateaus of the eastern
coast where rainfall is slightly less and the dry season
is really dry, there is semi-deciduous forest, where
the trees are smaller than in the rain forest and lose
their leaves in the dry season. In the semi-arid northeast,
the caatinga, a dry bush, predominates. The greater
portion of the central part of Brazil is covered with
a woodland savanna known as the cerrado. This is a special
type of land combining sparse scrub trees and dryness
resistant grasses. In the south, needle-leafed pine
woods (Paraná-pine or Araucária) cover
the highlands; grassland covers the sea-level plains.
The Mato Grosso swamplands (Pantanal Mato-grossense),
a plain which covers 88,803 sq. miles (230,000 sq. km)
in the western portion of the center of the country,
is covered in tall grasses, weeds, and widely dispersed
trees. Large patches of it are submerged during the
rainy season. The Amazon Basin and the Pantanal Mato-Grossense,
already much altered by man's actions, constitute two
of the world's largest biological reserves.
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Fauna
Of
the twelve categories of mammals that inhabit the tropics
of the Western Hemisphere, eleven are present in Brazil,
representing over 600 species. This includes several
species of the cat family such as the jaguar and smaller
cats such as the puma, jaguarundi, and the ocelot. Other
mammals include: sloths, anteaters, tapirs, armadillos,
marine dolphins, capybaras (a large aquatic rodent,
some weighting up to 145 pounds [66 kilograms]), and
30 species of monkeys. Brazil has a larger variety of
birds than any other country, with 1,600 species including
many varieties of parrot. There are at least 40 species
of turtles, 120 lizards, 230 snakes, five species of
alligators, 331 species of amphibians, and 1,500 species
of freshwater fish. Naturalists have cataloged over
1,000,000 invertebrates in Brazil of which more than
700,000 are insects. A study conducted by the Brazilian
Statistical Institute (IBGE) in 1990 identified 303
endangered species and sub-species in Brazil.
The
Amazon forest contains the largest single reserve of
biological organisms in the world. No one really knows
how many species there are in the Amazon forest, but
scientists estimate that there are between 800,000 and
5 million species living there, amounting to 15 to 30
percent of all the species in the entire world. As naturalists
catalogue new species of freshwater fish, their findings
suggest that there may be as many as 3,000 kinds of
fish in the Amazon's rivers and lakes. Among the specialized
fish found in the area are: the pirarucu, said to be
the largest freshwater fish in the world with specimens
measuring over 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length and weighing
275 pounds (125 kilograms); the tambaqui, a member of
the fruit eating characin family which possesses teeth
that can crack seeds as hard as those of the rubber
tree and the jauari palm; and the piranha. The ferocity
of the meat-eating piranha has been exaggerated. Although
it is true that some species in rare circumstances have
killed large animals and even people, their behavior
depends on the state of their habitat. In main river
channels and in larger lakes they appear to leave swimmers
unmolested. Only when they lack nourishment do they
become aggressive.
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Mineral Resources
Brazil
is known to possess extremely rich mineral deposits,
although the country's resources have yet to be comprehensively
surveyed. Brazil has the world's sixth largest reserves
of commercially recoverable iron ore, some 20.3 billion
tons, 8.6 percent of the world total. The iron content
is high, varying from 50 to 70 percent for hematite
and itabirite. Most of the deposits - nearly 95 percent
- are concentrated in the states of Minas Gerais and
Pará with Minas Gerais alone accounting for 75
percent. Brazil's identified deposits are sufficient
to supply the world demand for iron (based on current
levels and predictable growth) for the next 20 years.
In addition to iron ore, Brazil has the world's sixth
largest reserves of manganese, with proven deposits
of 53.8 billion tons, the world's third largest reserves
of bauxite, 3.9 billion tons, and 5.2 percent of the
world's reserves of nickel, 8.9 million tons, with the
state of Goiás holding 74 percent of Brazil's
deposits. The recent confirmation of the existence of
large, high-grade (1.3 percent) uranium reserves in
the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás is of great
significance. Brazil possesses reserves of potassium,
phosphate, tungsten (an element used for hardening steel),
cassiterite (the chief source of tin), lead, graphite,
chrome, gold, zirconium (a strong ductile metallic element
with many industrial uses), and the rare mineral, thorium,
a radioactive metallic element.
Brazil
produces 90 percent of the world's supply of gems, such
as diamonds, aquamarines, topazes, amethysts, tourmalines,
and emeralds.
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