GeodlySouth America
Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth-largest in the world, covering nearly half of the continent. It borders every South American country except Chile and Ecuador. With more than 200 million people it is also the most populous country in Latin America and the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.
Portuguese explorers reached the coast in 1500, and Brazil remained a Portuguese colony for more than three centuries. It declared independence on 7 September 1822 and was an empire until it became a republic in 1889. In 1960 the government moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília, a new capital built in the interior to draw people and investment away from the coast. Its plan, by Lúcio Costa, and its buildings, by Oscar Niemeyer, made it one of the best-known planned cities of the twentieth century.
The flag of Brazil
The flag is green with a large yellow rhombus. In the middle is a blue disc filled with white stars and crossed by a white band with the motto Ordem e Progresso, Order and Progress.
Green and yellow come from the imperial flag and are commonly linked to Brazil’s forests and its gold. The blue disc shows the night sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889, when the republic was proclaimed. Each star stands for a state, plus one for the Federal District, so the flag has 27 stars. Stars were added as new states were created.
Landscape and geography
The Amazon basin covers much of northern Brazil, and around 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies inside the country. The Amazon River carries more water than any other river on Earth. To the south-west, the Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world, flooded for part of each year and home to jaguars, caimans and giant river otters.
Most Brazilians live near the Atlantic coast, in cities such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The country also has the dry backlands of the north-east and the Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna in the centre.
Did you know?
- Brazil has won the men’s FIFA World Cup five times, more than any other country.
- Brazil spans several time zones, and its easternmost point is one of the closest places in the Americas to Africa.
- The Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro was completed in 1931.
- Brasília’s layout is often compared to an aeroplane or a bird, with government buildings along the central axis and housing along the wings.
Key facts
- Capital
- Brasília
- Continent
- South America
- Population
- About 216 million
- Land neighbours
- 10
- Coast
- Has a coastline
- European Union
- Not a member
- NATO
- Not a member
Land neighbours
Brazil in numbers
| Population | 216,422,446 people |
|---|---|
| Land area | 8,358,140 km² |
| Population density | 25.6 people/km² |
| Total GDP | $2,170,000,000,000 |
| GDP per capita | $10,044 |
| Life expectancy | 72.8 years |
| Unemployment rate | 7.8% |
| Coastline | 7,491 km |
| Forest coverage | 59.4% |
| Human Development Index | 0.760 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites | 23 sites |
| Airports | 4,093 airports |
These are the figures used in GeoDecide. They are rounded and can lag behind the latest official statistics.
World rankings
Geo Sort asks you to place countries by rank. A lower number means a higher place in that category.
| Land Area | #5 |
|---|---|
| Coastline | #16 |
| FIFA Ranking (M) | #6 |
| Military Strength | #12 |
| Avg Annual Temperature | #47 |
| UNESCO Sites | #13 |
| Population Density | #151 |
| Highest Point | #62 |
Practise Brazil on Geodly
- Flag Drawing: The flag of Brazil is in the Easy set. Draw it from memory and compare your drawing with the real design.
- Border Clash: Draw the border between Brazil and Argentina on a blank map.
- Geo Click: Find Brazil on the map, or locate its capital, Brasília, in the capital modes.
- Geo Chain: Link countries through shared land borders. Knowing the 10 neighbours of Brazil gives you more routes.
- GeoDecide: Compare Brazil with other countries on the statistics listed above.
- Geo Sort: Place Brazil in the category where its world rank is strongest.
- Terra Tac Toe: Use Brazil as an answer when its facts fit both the row and the column of a square.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Brazil · CIA World Factbook: Brazil