Fact file

By far the largest country in South America, Brazil covers nearly half the continent and is only slightly smaller than the US, with an area of just over 8.5 million square kilometres. It shares a frontier with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.
Brazil has around 200 million inhabitants, making it the fifth most populous country in the world.
Almost ninety percent of Brazil’s electricity is generated from hydropower, about six percent from fossil fuels and six percent from nuclear power. Brazil is becoming an important oil exporter, with new reserves recently discovered offshore from Rio.
Brazilian exports consist mainly of manufactured products (including automobiles, machinery and footwear), minerals and foodstuffs as varied as coffee, beef and orange juice. But only thirteen percent of GDP comes from exports: Brazil‘s growing domestic economy is the powerhouse of its development.

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Brazil features

The latest articles, galleries, quizzes and videos.

Amazing new aerial images show uncontacted tribe in Brazil

Incredible aerial images of one of the Amazon rainforest's uncontacted tribes have been released by Survival International. The pictures, taken by photographer …

18 Nov 2016 • Lottie Gross Article

A sex-themed amusement park is set to open in Brazil

Forget about virtual-reality roller coasters, the future of theme parks just got a whole lot raunchier. Developers in Brazil are planning to build an adults…

13 May 2016 • Eleanor Aldridge Article

15 things everyone learns backpacking South America

South America has become a favoured destination for the intrepid backpacker, and while it’s impressive in the astounding diversity of its nations, there are a…

02 Mar 2016 • Steph Dyson Article

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