bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S, 55 00 W

Map references: South America

Area:
total: 8,511,965 sq km
land : 8,456,510 sq km
water: 55,455 sq km
note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas,
Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao
Paulo

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries:
total: 14,691 km
border countries: Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643
km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru
1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf : 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south

Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills,
mountains, and narrow coastal belt

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m

Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel,
phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber

Land use:
arable land : 5%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 22%
forests and woodland: 58%
other : 14% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 28,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and
occasional frost in 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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

Geography - note: largest country in South America; shares common
boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador

@Brazil:People

Population: 164,511,366 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 30% (male 25,018,597; female 24,164,894)
15-64 years: 65% (male 53,217,683; female 54,215,461)
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