Geography of Brazil

Brazil is the third largest country in the Americas and the fifth largest in the world. Its limits are: to the south, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay; to the east, the Atlantic Ocean; to the north, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana; and to the west Peru and Bolivia.

The relief of Brazil is resolved into three large topographic units: the Amazon River basin, which occupies the northern third of the country, the Brazilian massif, which occupies almost the remaining thirds and serves as its border on the south and Guyanese shield, which limits it in the northern part and of which only a part is Brazilian. The altitude of the Brazilian territory is generally moderate. It does not present large mountain ranges, mountain ranges or the like.

Extreme points

Extreme points of the country.

The extreme points of the Brazilian territory by their position are the following:

• northernmost point: born of the river Ailã, on Mount Caburai, in Roraima, on the border with Guyana (05°15′05′′N 060°12′33′′O / 5.25139, -60.20917 (Monte Caburaí (North));
• southernmost point: curve of the Chuy stream, in Rio Grande do Sul, on the border of Uruguay (33°45′09′S 053°22′07′O / -33.75250, -53.36861 (Barra do Chuí (South)));
• Westerner point: emerging from the river Moa, in the Sierra del Divisor or Contamana, in the state of Acre, on the border with Peru (07°32′39′′S 073°59′04′O / -7.54417, -73.98444 (Serra do Divisor (West)));
• easternmost point: South Island, in the group of islands of Trinidad and Martin Vaz, in the Holy Spirit (Spirit)20°28′28′′S 028°50′26′′O / -20.47444, -28.84056 (Ilhas Martin Vaz (East)));
• easternmost continental point: Ponta do Seixas, Paraíba07°09′28′′S 034°47′38′′O / -7.15778, -34.79389 (Ponta do Seixas (East))).

The extreme points for their elevation are:

• highest point: peak da Neblina, with approximately 2,990 m;
• lower point: sea level, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

The localities in extreme positions are:

• northernmost town: Uiramutã, Roraima;
• southernmost town: Chuí, Rio Grande do Sul;
• most eastern town: João Pessoa, Paraíba 07°09′28′′S 034°47′38′′O / -7.15778, -34.79389 (João Pessoa (easternmost town));
• Westerner town: Mâncio Lima, Acre.

Time zones

Time regions of Brazil in September 2013

The Brazilian territory, including the oceanic islands, has four time zones, all west of the Greenwich meridian (longitude 0.o). In each strip of 15.o between meridians there is a variation of 1 hour. This means that in Brazil, the official time varies from 2 to 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, which regulates clocks and time. The first band includes the oceanic islands (longitude 30.o W), with two hours less than in UTC, synchronized with Greenwich Mean Time or Zulu Time. The second band (45.o W) is 3 hours behind UTC and is the official time of Brazil (Brasilia time) and includes the states of the Federal District, Pará, Amapá, Tocantins, Goiás and the South, Southeast and Northeast regions; the third (60.o W), with four hours less, includes Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Roraima, Rondônia and a large part of the state of Amazonas, and the fourth and last band (UTC-5) includes the states of Acre and a small part of the state of Amazonas.

Relief

The peak of Neblina, 2,994 m, the highest peak in Brazil, in the north

In contrast to the Andes, which reached elevations of nearly 7,000 m in relatively recent times and reversed the direction of Amazonian rivers from west to east, the formation of Brazil is very old. 36% of the territory is covered by crystalline Precambrian shields, especially in the center. Rio de Janeiro's incredible bornhardt or isolated granite inselberg, known as the Sugar Loaf, is an example of the shield in Brazil, where the bedrock has been sculpted into domes after tens of thousands of years. millions of years of erosion.

The main mountain range reaches elevations below 2000 m, although smaller ones exceed it. The Serra do Mar hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço, the largest in extension, extends through the south central part of the country. The highest mountains are in the north, where there are various mountain ranges, such as the Sierra de Tumucumaque, in Pacaraima, between Brazil, Venezuela and French Guiana, with a length of 120 km. The highest peaks in Brazil are found in the Serra do Imeri, and are Pico da Neblina, at 2,994.80 m, and Pico Phelps, at 2,992 m, on the same mountain. Third and fourth, you have to travel to the other end of the country, to the state of Minas Gerais, where the Pico da Bandeira, 2,892 m, in the Serra do Caparaó, and the Piedra de Mina, 2,798 m, in the Sierra de la Mantiqueira. However, most of the country is below 1000 m

In general, the country is divided into plains, plateaus, and depressions. The plateaus or planaltos can be very old crystalline rocks or sedimentary rocks from the Cenozoic and Mesozoic periods. Plateaus of sedimentary materials, characterized by the presence of slopes, are found in the eastern and western Amazon basin, in the Parnaíba river basin and in the Paraná river sub-basin. Plateaus in crystalline areas are characterized by the presence of hills and mountains associated with volcanic intrusions and ancient folding. These units include those in the northern Amazon (Guiana Shield), those in the southern Amazon and in the Chapada dos Parecis, southeast of Mato Grosso. The Borborema plateau and the Serras de Sudeste come from the elevation of ancient foldings. In the center and southeast, there are large elevated areas in the orogenic belts, characterized by mountain ranges. This set constitutes the so-called Brazilian plateau, which occupies a large area in the center of the country and whose main chains are the Serra de Mantiqueira, Serra do Mar, Serra do Espinhaço and Serra Geral.

The Amazonian plain extends along the main rivers of the basin, such as the Solimões River.

The plains are formed by the deposit of sediments of fluvial, lacustrine or marine origin. In the interior of Brazil, they are associated with large rivers. One of the main ones is the Amazonian plain, formed by várzeas, associated with várzea forests or floodplains, fluvial terraces, less than 30 m high, which only flood with strong floods, and mainland, up to 350 m. high, formed basically by sandstone. Other important plains are those of the Guaporé or Iténez river, that of the Araguaia river and that of the Paraguay river, which is part of the Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world and covers western Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay. On the extreme southern coast are the plains of the lagoons of Los Patos and Merín, between Brazil and Uruguay. Along the coast there are small plains, associated with the mouths of important rivers, such as the Doce River or the Paraíba do Sul River.

The depressions are formed by the intense erosion of the crystalline shields, interposed between the plateaus and the plains. Like the plateaus, they are widely affected by paleoclimatic variations, especially in the Tertiary and Quaternary. However, the western Amazonian depression has a different genesis, from fluvial processes that ended up giving rise to a flat terrain with small, low hills. The other depressions are found in the large basins. Those of the north and south of the Amazon, those of the upper Paraguay and those of the rivers Araguaia and São Francisco, also known as Pernambucana, stand out.

Geology

Topographic map of Brazil

Most of the territory dates back to the Precambrian period. Thus, the geological formations have gone through several erosive phases that have worn them down and given rise to large sedimentary basins. Brazil lies within the South American Plate, which extends from the Andes to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The oldest exposed terranes correspond to cratons formed by metamorphic rocks between 2 and 4.5 billion years old. The Amazon craton, divided between the Guiana Shield, to the north, and the central Brazilian or Guaporé Shield, presents predominantly intrusive rocks, such as granite, together with residual sedimentary deposits. The old São Francisco craton, which extends from Minas Gerais to the center of Bahia, and the Sul-riograndense craton, which outcrops in the Southern Region of Brazil, stand out with similar characteristics.

Chapada diamantina, in the state of Bahia

Throughout the Precambrian period, large orogenies developed from which three mountain ranges emerged. The first, or Atlantic orogeny, extends from the Northeast Region to the coast of Rio Grande do Sul. In these areas, there is a great complexity of structural and lithological formations, prevailing metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, migmatite, quartzite and a mixture of mica and quartz. Important mountain ranges, including the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountain ranges, are currently found in this belt, shaped by the weather, beyond the fault lines. For its part, the Brasilia orogeny extends from the south of Tocantins to the southeast of Minas Gerais. In this region, narrow and elongated mountain ranges arise, sometimes with the appearance of chapadas (reliefs on slopes that form plains ending in cliffs). Among the main ones, the Serra de Canastra and the Serra dos Veadeiros stand out. Finally, the Paraguai-Araguaia orogeny extends from the north of Goiás to the south of Mato Grosso and reappears south of the Pantanal, in the Serra do Bodoquena. It is formed by a chain of mountains originated by ancient foldings that have been partially preserved.

The process of erosion of the crystalline shields has formed large sedimentary basins, of which the three main ones are the Amazon basin, the Parnaíba river basin and the Paraná river basin. Sediments have been deposited throughout the Phanerozoic period, in the last 600 million years, giving rise to different types of sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, siltstone, and argillite. Especially, in the Paraná basin, lava deposits that occurred between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused magmatic rock beds to be deposited on top of sedimentary rocks. Subsequently, processes of epirogenesis (slow ascent of a craton or shield) caused the emergence of basins that, in turn, gave rise to the cliffs of the Mantiqueira or Mar mountain ranges. For this reason, in the current relief it is possible to find sedimentary terrain with levels higher than that of the crystalline shields. In this way, the sedimentary basins suffered an intense process of erosion on the edges, originating peripheral depressions. In the Mesozoic period, the basins received most of the sediments. In the Cenozoic period, important deposits are formed in the western part of the Amazon basin and on the coast of the Northeast Region (Tertiary) and, more recently, in the Pantanal plain and along the course of the Amazon River and its tributaries.

Mineral Resources

Satellite image of the iron mine of Carajás, in 2009, in the state of Pará.

Brazil has a considerable part of the world's mineral resources and is one of the main exporters, with more than a hundred mineral substances, among which the production of iron (especially in the Iron Quadrilateral) and niobium stand out, of which it is the world's largest exporter. It is also important to extract kaolinite (agrochemicals and construction), tantalite (tantalum, for mobiles, is part of coltan), bauxite (aluminum), graphite, asbestos, cassiterite (tin), magnesite, vermiculite (insulator), ornamental stones, talc, phosphates and gold.

Brazilian oil and natural gas reserves are concentrated mainly in the oceanic regions along the coast, with smaller amounts in the Amazon. Recently, important reserves have been discovered in the pre-salt layer, the part of the continental shelf formed after the separation of Gondwana by deposition of thick layers of evaporites, crystallization of dissolved salts in lakes and seas. In the Southern Region there are important reserves of coal, which is mainly used to feed the country's thermoelectric plants. Uranium production is concentrated in a single mine in Caetité, in Bahia, where uraninite has been found, destined for the country's nuclear power plants (Almirante Álvaro Alberto Nuclear Power Plant).

Edaphology

Latisol from Brazil. The red soil, rich in iron and aluminum oxides, needs fertilizers and calcium to become fertile.

Due to the heterogeneity of the geological and environmental conditions of the Brazilian territory, a great diversity of soils can be found throughout the country. To systematize this classification, the Sistema Brasileiro de Classificação de Solos has been created and an official taxonomic system for classifying soils grouped into 13 orders that include all the peculiarities found in the territory.

The most representative soils of the country, with close to 3,000,000 km², 31.5% of the territory, are the latosols, with a relatively high iron and aluminum oxides, which occupy a large area throughout the country. They have good agricultural potential if corrected correctly with limestone and chemical fertilizers. Also known as oxisols or ferralsols, what was formerly known as lateritic soils, with high iron and aluminum content, quartz and kaolinite clay. Red or yellow in color, they have a thin layer of humus due to the existing vegetation and a less fertile lower layer washed by the rains on top of the parent rock.

Followed by entisols, which in Brazil are called neossolos, underdeveloped soils, without defined horizons, covering 1,130,776 km², 13.28 % Of the territory; There are many types, but they are usually composed of sand, iron oxide, aluminum oxide and kaolinite (clay).

Then there are the Nitisols, known in other classifications as Acrisols and Alfisols and close to Oxisols, deep, red and well-drained, with more than 30% clay, but covering less than 1% of the country.

Organosols, also known as histosols, are made up of at least 75% organic material. They act as a carbon sink, but they are sporadic in Brazil, although they are everywhere.

Finally, there is terra preta, a type of dark and fertile soil found in the Amazon river basin, also called "black land of the Amazon", very fertile and developed by indigenous peoples throughout over thousands of years. It is formed by the natural soil of the region, lateritic, charcoal, ceramic fragments, organic waste and microorganisms.

Climate

Brazil's climate is largely tropical, only the south has a subtropical climate.

Biogeographic map of Brazil.

• The northern region, which comprises the states of Amazonas, Acre, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and Amapá, has an equatorial climate, which gives the region a good annual distribution of rains, with high temperatures, and low annual thermal amplitude. In Boa Vista, Roraima, in the Guayanese shield, beyond the Amazon rainforest, in an area of savannah and in the northern hemisphere, 1650 mm of annual precipitation fall in 115 days, with less than 100 mm from October to March, only 20 mm in January and February and more than 300 mm in June and July. Temperatures, very warm and constant, range from 24-34.orOctober C and 22-30.orJune and July C. In Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, instead, the rains are more regular; 2,285 mm falls in 180 days, with little less than 100 mm between July and September, and more than 200 mm between September and May, with a maximum of 315 mm in March and storms two of every three days. In Belém, the state of Pará, on the coast, the southern mouth of the Amazon river falls 2,725 mm in 215 days, with little less than 100 mm in October and November, and more than 400 mm in February and March, with 24 days of rain monthly between January and May.

• The north-east region has a varied climate from the equatorial climate (and part of Piauí) to semi-arid (the Caatinga region, which includes the heart of the north-east region), and tropical, in the southern centre of Bahia. The states of the region are Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará, Sergipe, Alagoas, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. In Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, 1600 mm per year fall in 135 days, with a dry station very charged between August and December (10 mm in November), and more than 300 mm in March and April, with temperatures ranging between 25-31.orOctober to January, and 22-30.orJune and July C. In Salvador de Bahia, more south on the central coast, 1,910 mm fall in 179 days, with less than 100 mm alone in January, and more than 200 mm between April and July, with 20 days of rain each month. Temperatures range from 21-26.orJuly and August C and 24-30.orJanuary to March.

• The central-west region, which comprises the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás, in addition to the Federal District, presents a semi-humid climate, with an important rainy period, which feeds the Pantanal Mato-Grossense. In Brasilia, 1,550 mm fall in 133 days, with less than 20 mm between June and August, very dry, and more than 200 mm between November and January. With more than 1000 m of altitude, temperatures are fresher, between 13-25.orJune and July C, and 18-27.orC November and December.

Map of Köppen of the climate of Brazil. In dark blue, equatorial climate; in medium blue, monzonic; in light blue, tropical savannah; in red, warm desert; in pumpkin, warm semi-arid; the green tones correspond to subtropical and oceanic climate.

• The Southeast region, composed of the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, comprises in the highest regions, a pleasant tropical climate, with the four well-defined seasons. Already in the west and northwest of the state of São Paulo and in the Triângulo Mineiro predominates the semi-humid tropical weather similar to the serrano climate of the center-west. In Rio de Janeiro there are 1070 mm in 93 days, with less than 50 mm between June and August and more than 100 mm between December and March. Temperatures range from 18-25.orJuly C and 24-30.orFebruary C. As the southern hemisphere, the stations are opposed to those in the north of the country, and the best time to visit it is from May to October. In São Paulo, 1,455 mm falls in 134 days, with less than 50 mm in July and August and more than 200 mm between December and February. Far from the equator to the south and at 760 m altitude, the temperatures are cooler. between 12-22.orJune and July C, local winter, and 19-28.orFebruary C, in the rain.

• The southern region of the country has a subtropical climate, with low temperatures in the gaúchas and Catalan mountains, the occurrence of frosts in the region is common during the winters. Like, snow formation in very cold years. It is composed of the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande del Sur. In Florianópolis, on the coast, 1,520 mm fall in 120 days, very regularly distributed, with around 100 mm between April and August and more than 150 mm between January and March. Temperatures between 13-20.orJuly C and 22-28.orFebruary C. In the south end, in Porto Alegre, 1,425 mm are divided between 90 mm in March and just over 100 mm the rest of the years, with an average of 9 days of rain, but temperatures indicate that the seasons are already well defined, between 11-19.orJuly C and 21-30.orJanuary C.

• It depends on the altitude and latitude of the area: from the aridity of the interior, the tropical climate of the amazons and the regions of the eastern coast. In general, it can be said that it is predominantly tropical. It is a humid country, of changing weather, especially south. The rainy season depends on the region: from January to April in the north; from April to July in the northeast; and from November to March in the Rio and São Paulo regions.

Biodiversity

The golden lion tamarine is an endemic species of Brazil

It is estimated that two million species of microorganisms, plants and animals are found in Brazil, which correspond to between 10 and 30% of all living beings on Earth, although many of them have not yet been described by The science. Brazil is located within the neotropical biogeographic region, although only 16% of the territory is protected in more than 1600 areas distributed throughout the country.

Flora

The Amazon, Brazil's largest forest wealth.

The Amazon represents one of the most important phytogeographical domains in the world, but the landscape of Brazil is suffering serious devastation, decreasing its territorial extension and its biodiversity.

The Amazon, for a long time, has suffered from fires, effective for agricultural practices, despite the fact that its soil should not be suitable for such activities. With the fires, the rains, which are constant in the region, end up intensely damaging the soil (previously protected by the trees), which consequently suffers a decrease in its nutrients, losing humus, important for the fertility of the vegetation. Intense deforestation is also carried out in the region for mining and timber extraction.

The Atlantic Forest, unsuitable for agriculture and cattle raising, also suffers attacks, mainly hunting and predatory fishing, as well as industrial pollution.

Map of vegetation in Brazil

In the Amazon, the type of vegetation is determined by the flood regime. The mainland forest, more than 90% of the forest area, is located in areas that are not normally covered by water. It is represented by large trees, up to 60 m high, and dense vegetation. The igapó forest, on the other hand, is found in areas that are always flooded, where the trees are shorter and have dense branches. Between these areas is the várzea forest, where flooding occurs seasonally.

Central Brazil is covered by savannahs, which form the cerrado biome. It is characterized by the great variety of landscapes, from herbaceous formations to groves, depending on the area over which it extends, or the poverty in soil nutrients. The cerrado arboreal is formed by low, spaced and tortuous trees, with deep roots for the capture of water, even if there is no shortage. Slash and burn is done on a small scale to control the ecological balance of the biome, by allowing control of grasses and tree sprouting.

In the northeast of Brazil, where it rains less, is the caatinga, whose name comes from the Tupi and means white forest, a region of scattered, deciduous trees that live during a short period of rain and suffer a long period of drought, a kind of semi-arid chaparral. Despite the environmental conditions, the variety of species in the sertão or sertão is very large, with a predominance of deciduous or seasonal humid forest (mata seca), and a transition zone between the Amazon jungle and the caatinga, which gives rise to a type of ecoregion called agreste and another known as mata dos Cocais, in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Pará and the north of Tocantins, formed by an abundance of palm trees, especially the babassu palm and carnaúba in drier areas.

Pino del Paraná, near Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.

Along the coastline, moisture from the ocean allows the formation of the Atlantic Forest, a dense forest of tall trees, from Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul. The marked relief on which the forest grows It allows a great diversity of vegetation adapted to the altitude. In any case, only 8% of the original vegetation survives, in the Serra do Mar and Serra Mantiqueira, due to deforestation that occurred during colonization. In transition between the marine and terrestrial environments is a mangrove zone that extends along the entire Brazilian coast, between the north of Amapá and Santa Catarina.

In the southern highlands, the araucaria forest dominates the landscape, conifers adapted to a humid and cool climate, dominated by different types of araucaria, such as the Paraná pine, which vary according to altitude. Finally, large extensions of herbaceous vegetation appear, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, where they form the pampas, an area of pastures that cover the hills and coastal areas of the extreme south. Inland, the Pantanal floodplain, where there is a large mosaic of typical cerrado vegetation, forests and hygrophilous vegetation.

Yerba mate, in southern Brazil.

Plant resources

The flora of Brazil is one of the most varied in the world. Plants of commercial value are found in all regions. In the Amazon jungle, the seringueira or rubber tree, the Brazil nut or coquito, mahogany, guarana, rosewood and other species stand out. The babassu is found in the transition zone towards the sertón, where the carnaúba, Schinopsis brasiliensis, the aroeira, the cactus Pilosocereus polygonus, the umbu and others stand out. In the Atlantic forest, the Brazilian jacaranda, cedar and Aspidosperma spruceanum stand out. In the south of the country there are the Paraná pine, imbula, Tabebuia chrysotricha and yerba mate.

Wildlife

Guacamayo de Lear, endemic species of Brazil.

Brazil's wide variety of natural habitats encompass some of the highest species diversity in the world. In 2008, one of every eleven known species on Earth was registered in Brazil, which in that year had 522 species of mammals, in addition to one of every six species of birds, with a total of 1,622 registered in the country; one out of every 15 reptile species, with 468 registered species, and one out of every 8 amphibian species, with 516 species. On the other hand, 68 endemic species of mammals, 191 endemic species of birds, 172 of reptiles and 294 of amphibians were known at that time. On the other hand, in 2014 there were 1,173 threatened with extinction due to the reduction of habitats. In 2017, deforestation in the Amazon increased by 14%, some 7900 km² in a year.

Coastline

Trinidad and Martin Vaz Islands

The coastline of Brazil is bathed exclusively by the Atlantic Ocean, a section of the South American coastline that is generally not very indented that goes from Cape Orange, in the north, to Chuy Creek, in the south, a length of 7,491 km —which increases to 9,198 km if coastal outgoings and incomings are considered— which makes it the 15th longest national coastline in the world.

Of the 26 Brazilian states, nine are landlocked, as is the Federal District. Most of the 17 coastal states have their capitals located near the coast, except Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul), Curitiba (Paraná), São Paulo (São Paulo), Teresina (Piauí), Belém (Pará) and Macapá (Amapa). Porto Alegre, Belém and Macapá are located near large navigable rivers, therefore accessible from the coast.

The coastal zone has a variable width, from 300 km in the north equatorial region, decreasing to 170 km in Ceará, 50 km in Cabo de São Roque, 30 km in Bahia and continues to the south with a average of 100 to 170 km to the Chuy bar. The depths are small, approximately 20 meters and correspond to the relief of the continental shelf. Along the coast rectilinear coastlines alternate with bays, beaches, dunes, mangroves and sandbanks, with steep and rugged areas, with reefs and cliffs and other minor formations. Brazilian beaches (2,095 in total) are world famous and receive a large number of tourists.

Most of the islands of Brazil are islands very close to the coast, from which they are separated by narrow passages and channels. Many are usually at the mouths of rivers, formed by large sedimentary contributions, the great archipelago of Marajó being remarkable, at the mouth of the Amazon. There are hardly any islands separated from the coast, in any case groups of small islands, such as the Rocas Atoll and Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (260 km and 360 km respectively from Natal) and Trinidad and Martín Vaz (1,150 km from Vitória).

A famous expression in Brazil is "do Oiapoque ao Chuí", which means from the extreme south to the extreme north of the country. However, currently the true northernmost point of the country is Mount Caburaí, in the interior, in the state of Roraima, while the southernmost point is in Santa Vitória do Palmar.

Ocean Islands

Most of the Brazilian islands are coastal, located along the coast or resting on the coastal platform, but there are also distant oceanic islands and resting on the Atlantic ridge. Of these, five belong to Brazil.

• Fernando de Noronha Islands
• Trinidad and Martín Vaz
• Archipelago of Saint Peter and Paul
• Atoll of the Rocks
• Abrolhos Archipelago

Hydrography

Watersheds.

According to government agencies, there are thirteen large hydrographic basins in Brazil, seven of which are named after their main rivers. Amazonas (the largest in the world), Paraná, Tocantins, São Francisco, Paranaíba, Paraguay and Uruguay; the rest are groups of several rivers, not having one as the main tributary, for this reason they are called grouped basins.

The seven main basins of Brazil, according to the 1992 statistical yearbook are:

Itaipu hydroelectric plant and dam, the largest in the world.

Cañón del río São Francisco in Canindé de São Francisco, where it separates the states of Alagoas and Sergipe.

• Amazon Basin

• Tocantins-Araguaia Basin. The Tocantins River, the main river of the basin, is born in the center of Goiás and flows south of the mouth of the Amazon, in Pará. In its course, it receives the river Araguaia, which is divided into two arms giving rise to the river Javaés; between them they form the island of Bananal, in Tocantins that, with their 20 000 km2 is the largest river island in the world. It is navigable in many areas and is the third basin in electric potential. Here is the Tucuruí dam, which produces 8.125 MW. Other tributaries are Itacaiúnas and Crixá-Açu.

• Silver Basin. It is made up of three subbasins: those of the rivers Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay. Paraná sedimentary basin forms a vast geological region of almost 1 500 000 km2 south of Brazil that contains almost entirely the Paraná River basin.
  • Cuenca del Paraná: it is the most extensive, with more than 10% of the national territory; it has the greatest hydroelectric potential of Brazil, with plants in Itaipu (14,000 MW), Jupiá (1.550 MW) and Ilha Solteira (3.444 MW) in the Paraná River; Furnas, in the Rio Grande, and Capivara, in the Paranapanema River. Other tributaries are the Paranaíba River, the Tieté River and the Iguazú River.
  • Cuenca del río Paraguay: comprises a single large river, the Paraguay River, which has more than 2000 km in length, of which 1400 km are in Brazil; it is a river of plain, quite navigable, with the main ports in Porto Geral and Porto Murtinho. Among its tributaries, the Miranda River, and the Cuiabá River, with its tributary the São Lourenço River.
  • Cuenca del río Uruguay: it is formed by the Canoas and Pelotas rivers, which when joining form the Uruguay River. Another tributaries are the Chapecó along with the Chapecozinho, Passo Fundo, do Peixe and da Várzea.

Rio Pajeú, on its journey through the Talhada serra.

• Northern Atlantic Basins. They are formed by the rivers of the northeast sertão, most of which are of temporary channel and dry certain times of the year. It could be divided into three sub-basins:
  • Western Northeast Atlantic Basin, (274 300 km2), in Maranhao and a small part of the Para, with the rivers Gurupi, Turiaçu, Pericumã, Itapecuru and Mearim (with their tributaries, the Pindaré and the Grajaú);
  • Basin of the Parnaíba River344 112 km2), which is about 1400 km long and serves as a natural limit between the states of Piauí and Maranhão. Among its tributaries are the rivers Das Balsas, Gurgueia and Uruçuí-Preto.
  • Eastern North-East Atlantic Basin286 800 km2), in Ceará, with a dozen small coastal basins. The Acaraú, Jaguaribe, Salgado, Piranhas-Açu, Potenji, Capibaribe, Banabuiú and Cariús rivers stand out.

• São Francisco Basin. In addition to being navigable over 2000 km, the São Francisco River also has a great hydroelectric potential.The hydroelectric power plants of Três Marias (396 MW), Paulo Afonso (4,280 MW) and Sobradinho (1,050 MW). The São Francisco, along with its tributaries, the Pajeú, the Das Velhas, the Abaeté and the Carinhanha, among others, has played an important role in the population of the northeastern sertão, important for the transfer of the leather of the region, in addition to for agriculture on its margins and the irrigated in distant regions.

• Eastern Atlantic Basins. It is formed by the rivers that descend from the Atlantic mountains towards the ocean, between Sergipe, in Bahia, the northeast of Minas Gerais and the north of the Holy Spirit. The Pardo, Contas, Paraguazú, São Mateus, Jequitinhonha and Mucuri rivers stand out.

• Southeast and South Atlantic Basin. Formed by the rivers that run west-east, from the mountains and plateaus to the ocean. The rivers Ribeira de Iguape, Doce and Paraíba do Sul, and the rivers Rio Itajaí-Açu, Yacuí and Camaquã are in the south-east basin.

Its main use is for the generation of electricity and for the transport of loads and people. The hydrographic potential is also used for artificial irrigation, tourist navigation, fishing and sand extraction.

Natural resources

Brazil is rich in mining, such as diamonds, gold, iron, magnesium, nickel, phosphorus, silver, uranium. It produces 80% of the oil it consumes.

Political division

Brazil is divided into states and territories. The states have independent and sovereign administration, subject to the Brazilian constitution, and the Brazilian code of laws as well as their own state constitution.

Brazil is currently divided into 26 states and one Federal District, grouped into five regions (population according to the 2000 census):

States of Brazil.

States have autonomy, but not sovereignty. Only the Federative Republic of Brazil has sovereignty.

Protected areas of Brazil

According to the IUCN, there are 2,299 protected areas in Brazil, 2,509,321 km², 29.42% of the territory, and 977,793 km² of marine areas, 26.62% of the 3,672,584 km² belonging to the country. Of these, 7 are world heritage sites, 6 are Unesco biosphere reserves and 25 are Ramsar sites. In addition, there are 55 natural refuges, 345 parks, 93 ecological stations, 88 extractive reserves, 96 forests, 426 private heritage reserves, 708 indigenous areas, 42 areas of relevant ecological interest, 41 natural monuments, 19 indigenous reserves, 37 sustainable development reserves., 55 biological reserves and 255 environmental protection areas.

Ramsar Sites

Brazilian Ramsar Sites

The 25 Ramsar sites in Brazil cover a total of 24,646,410 ha.

Anavilhanas National Park

jacarandá de Brasil o palisandro de Río.

Macho of Hormiguerito del Paraná, endemic of the swamps and wetlands of the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina.

Guacamayo jacinto, up to 1 m high

• Cabo Orange National Park, 66 km2, 03°39'N 51°11'W, flooded grasslands and mangroves. Threatened species such as the black sakí monkey, the picon or piquigruous seedling bird, the terecay turtle and the black cayman, among others. Threatened by the presence of shrimp Macrobrachium rosembergii and forest fires.

Varzéa del Río Negro, in Anavilhanas

• Viruá National Park, 2164 km2, 01°17'N 61°09'W. In the Viruá Igarapé river, tributary of the lower part of the river Branco, in the middle basin of the Río Negro. Miscellaneous ecosystems, soils unfertile, sandy, often flooded, economic value but rich biodiversity. Near Roraima. It has open and closed forests and an ecoregion called campinarana, with vegetation adapted to very poor soils, savanna, matorals and forest with endemic species, usually in the transition zone between the Guayanese shield and the Amazon basin.

• Rio Negro, 120 016 km2, 01°44'S 64°05'W. The Ramsar site covers 12 million hectares. Wetlands, igapo forests (inundated by black waters of the river), savannahs, jungles, archipelagos and about 20 conservation units. Species like the gloomy bird, plants like the coquito of Brazil, giant otter and monkeys like the bald tamarine and the common spider monkey. The sustainable development reserve (RDS) occupies 1,032km2}.
• Mamirauá, 11 240 km2, 02°18'S 66°02'W. State of the Amazon, forest of várzea in flood plain, with various lakes and channels of union in times of growing. Numerous endemic species, forestry and fishing industry, hunting and burning agriculture.

Female of gloomy tingling, in the Amazon.

• Anavilhanas National Park, 3505 km2, 02°28'S 60°49'W. State of Amazonas, Lower Basin of the Black River, In the Anavilhanas Islands, in addition to the numerous endemic birds, are the tiger cat and the Amazon Manate, which weighs between 300 and 500 kg and measures up to 2.8 m. It is also reserved for the Biosphere of Unesco and the heritage of mankind.

• Parcel Manoel Luís State Marine Park with the Bajíos del Mestre Alvaro and Tarol, 346 km2, 00°30'N 44°45'W, three coral banks north of the state of Maranhão, 45 nautical miles from the coast. Known as the triangle of Brazilian Bermuda by the shipwrecks.

• Amazon estuary and its mangroves, 38 502 km2, 01°09'S 46°48'W, in the Marajó Archipelago, the largest on the planet at the mouth of the Amazon River. It comprises 23 conservation units, with one of the largest mangrove areas in the world, 8900 km2 Over 700 km, 70% of Brazilian mangroves. Connects with the Maranhenses Reentraces, the Baixada Maranhense Cape Orange and the Parcel Manoel Luís State Marine Park.

• Environmental Protection Area Reentraces Maranhenses, 26 810 km2, 01°41'S 45°04'W, in Maranhão. A complex system of estuaries, islands, bays, caves and an irregular coast populated of mangroves. manatees, fish, molluscs and migratory birds.

• Environmental Protection Area Baixada Maranhense, 17 750 km2, 03°00'S 44°57'W, Maranhão. Inundible north-east coastal zone with gallery forests, fields, pantanous mangroves, lake basins and estuaries where salt water enters. Four main rivers and numerous canals, floods from the fields from December to June in the rainy season, leaving the islands known as bears. Livestock farming with rice, corn, beans...

• Atoll de las Rocas biological reserve, 352 km2, 03°51'S 33°47'W. The land area only has 0.36 km2The only coral atoll in the South Atlantic. 267 km northeast of Natal. Important for green turtles, carey and boba. Six endemic species of mollusks, five of sponges and 15 of coral. Feeding place for lemon shark and five endemic species of fish.

• Fernando de Noronha Islands, 03°52'S 32°24'W. The islands have 26 km2but the protection of the archipelago covers 109 km2 with a marine area, in Pernambuco, with a considerable number of endemic species, especially corals. Large concentrations of rotating dolphin and tropical stained dolphin, plus an area of yubartas breeding. World Heritage of Unesco.

• Bananal Island, 5623 km2, 10°31'S 50°12'W, Tocantins, in the center of the country, between the Araguaia River and the Tocantins River, with seasonal lagoons, wetlands and islands. Transition zone between rainforest and savannah with gallery forests. Abound in aquatic birds.

• Guaporé Biological Reserve, 6000 km212°31'S 62°47'W, west of Brazil, near the border with Bolivia, in the state of Rondonia. Temporarily flooded grasslands and jungles, threatened species such as black spider monkey and giant otter. Managed by the Chico Mendes Institute of Conservação da Biodiversidade.

• Reserve Particular do Patrimonio Natural SESC Pantanal, 879 km216°39'S 56°15'W, in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. In an area known as the Poconé pantanal. Permanent and seasonal rivers, flood plains and forests, lakes, wetlands, scrubs... Species in danger such as guacamayo jacinto, the giant otter and the deer of the swamps, as well as jabirú and about 20 000 neotropical cormorants.

• Pantanal Matogrossense, 1350 km2, 17°39'S 57°25'W, Mato Grosso, part of the largest permanent wetland in the Western Hemisphere, near the Bolivian border. Flooded savannahs, xerophile matoral islands and deciduous wet forest.

• Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) “Fazenda Río Negro”, 70 km2, 19°33'S 56°13'W, Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Pantanal of Nhecolândia, one of the Pantanal subregions, western Brazil region with Bolivia and Paraguay. Also Reserve of the Unesco Biosphere. Numerous lakes, many saline. Intermittent rivers, 400 plant species, 350 birds and 70 mammals. Among the endangered species, the giant otter, the deer of the swamps and the jacinto macaw. Numerous migratory birds. In danger of the fires caused in the neighboring ranches.

• Lund Warming, 238,6 km2, 19°30'S 42°00'W, south-west center of Minas Gerais, at the intersection between the closed and the Atlantic slaughter; seasonal lakes with hundreds of caves, shelters and sites of archaeological and paleontological importance, with fossils, artefacts and the first human settlements. Vulnerable species such as masked titi, mining activity.

• Rio Doce State Park, 360 km2, 19°41'S 42°33'W, Minas Gerais, fragment of the Atlantic Forest. Permanent and seasonal rivers and 42 natural lakes. It contains 10 different ecosystems, 325 bird species and 77 mammals. Among the trees, jacarandá of Brazil. There is the jaguar, the largest harpy eagle, the piquirrel paver and the northern muriqui spider monkey. It is located within the Biosphere Reserve of the Atlantic Forest of Unesco.

• Abrolhos National Marine Park, 913 km2, 17°49'S 38°49'W, state of Bahia, reserve the biosphere of Unesco. Coral reefs, mangroves, beaches and sand banks. Tortugas and yubartas. Archaeological site due to the numerous shipwrecks.

• Ilha Grande National Park, 760 km2, Paraná River, between the states of Paraná and Mato Grosso del Sur, near the border with Paraguay. 180 islands, sand banks, lagoons and freshwater marshes, riparian forests and flooded plains. The symbol of the park is the deer of the swamps, the north-coloured caraja monkey and the four-eyed grey zarigüeya.

• Cananéia-Iguape-Peruíbe, 2023 km2, 24°41'S 47°36'W, environmental protection area, Ribeira de Iguapé River, between the states of São Paulo and Paraná. Humedal of the Atlantic Forest, part of the Southeast Atlantic Forest Reserve. Mangroves, estuaries, rivers, canals, sea and coastal islands, forests and dunes. Species like Schlegel's petrel, the canned beak tucán and the black-faced lion titty.

• Guaraqueçaba ecological station, 43.7 km2, 25°17'S 48°22'W, coast of the state of Paraná, part of the Southeast Atlantic Forest Reserve, heritage of humanity. Endemic species such as the green turtle and the silver dolphin.

• Guaratuba, 383 km2, 25°51'S 48°42'W, south coast of Paraná, mangroves, temporarily flooded forests, marshes, caixeta forests, whose wood is used to make pencils, in danger of extinction. Almost half of the world's population of the Paraná Hormiguerito del Paraná. Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

• Lagoa do Peixe, 344 km2, in Rio Grande do Sul, national park, east of Laguna de los Patos, Humedales, dunes, salt lagoons and swamps with important migratory birds. Rice is grown in the area.

• Taim ecological station, 109 km2, 32°45'S 52°36'W, in Rio Grande do Sul, preserves an ecosystem consisting of lagoons and wetlands, dunes and a wide variety of plants and animals from the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, north of Lake Mangueira and east of Lake Merin. There are migratory birds that go from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, such as the albatross of fine peak, and rodents like the tuco-tuco of Flamarion.

External links

Conservation Units in Brazil

External links

• Brazil from 1565
• Brazil: of the noble class, of love, and of letters... since 1640