GEOGRAPHY
Official
Name:
Federative Republic of Brazil
Area: 8,511,965 sq. km. (3,290,000 sq. mi.); slightly smaller
than the U.S.
Cities: Capital--Brasilia (pop. 2.0 million). Other cities--Sao
Paulo (10.4 million), Rio de Janeiro (5.8 million), Belo Horizonte
(2.2 million), Salvador (2.4 million), Fortaleza (2.1 million),
Recife (1.4 million), Porto Alegre (1.4 million), Curitiba (1.6
million).
Terrain: Dense forests in northern regions including Amazon
Basin; semiarid along norrtheast coast; mountains, hills, and
rolling plains in the southwest, including Mato Grosso; and coastal
lowland.
Climate: Mostly tropical or semitropical with temperate
zone in the south.
Environment - current issues: deforestation in
Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence
of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area;
air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several
other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused
by improper mining activities
note: President CARDOSO in September 1999 signed into force an
environmental crime bill which for the first time defines pollution
and deforestation as crimes punishable by stiff fines and jail
sentences
Environment - international agreements: party
to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: largest country in South America;
shares common boundaries with every South American country except
Chile and Ecuador
