Geography of Brazil
photo credit: thejourney1972
Brazil is located on the eastern side of South America; and with an area of 8, 511,965 square kilometres it occupies almost half of this large continent. Brazil has borders with all of the twelve countries in South America, except for Chile and Ecuador.
It has an extensive coast line of 7367 kilometres bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Being such a large country, Brazil spans over four time zones, with a time difference of two hours from the east and the west sides of the country.
Brazil also includes the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, which is located 350 kilometres north east of its horn, as well as several other small islands and atolls in the Atlantic.
Brazil is crossed by the equator as well as the Tropic of Capricorn, and thus is home to a great diversity of flora and fauna. Brazil is divided into five major regions, and each of these has its own distinct ecosystem. These are the North (Norte), Northeast (Nordeste), Southeast (Sudeste), South (Sul) and Centre-West (Centro-Oeste).
Brazil has a great range of topography, which includes the coastline, mountains, highlands, scrub lands, savannas and rainforest’s. The Amazon rain forest covers most of northern Brazil, whereas hills and small mountains cover the south.