Brazil covers almost the half the continent and it is the fifth biggest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, China, and the USA. Brazil is bordered to the north, the west and on the south for all the South American countries except Chile and Ecuador; eastwards it is the Atlantic Ocean. Officially Brazil is known as the Republic Federativa do Brazil and it is also one of the most populous countries in Latin America.
Brazil consists approximately of 8, 514,876.599 square kilometres and its territory is between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean. The population of Brazil is concentrated in the most important cities of its coast as they are Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Towns such as Salvador and João Pessoa preserve the colonial atmosphere of the early Portuguese colonists.
Brazil has been a Colony, an Empire and a Republic and has been under the Military rule. It is today a democratic nation. Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. It is a presidential representative democratic republic according to the constitution of 1988. Brazil’s natural resources include bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydro power and timber.
About 54% are mainly of European origin, descendants of immigrants from Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and Eastern Europe. More than 45% are black or of mixed race, a legacy of the African slave trade. Less than 1% is from indigenous groups, mostly Indians in the Amazon region; smaller numbers of Japanese, other Asians, and Arabs live in the larger Brazilian cities.
Almost the half of the territory of Brazil is covered by the Rio Amazon and its coarse ecological region or tropical jungle bigger of the world. The principal characteristic of this region resides in that most of its population is clearly agricultural.
The richest regions in Brazil are the Southeast areas. These areas are also more populated than any in Brazil. This area has more inhabitants than any country in South America. It is home to one of the largest megalopolis in the entire world. Sao Paolo is the business center of this area. Rio de Janeiro is famous for its beaches and the Espirito Santo coast.
Brazil's winter is from June to August, with temperatures between 13 and 18C, but it only gets really cold south of Rio. Summer is from December to February, a period frequently bringing stifling humidity to the far south.
Brief rain showers are common, given Brazil's tropical climate, but the dry interior has only a few months of heavy rainfall a year. Of course, the Amazon Basin is the wettest area, with damp, moist temperatures averaging 27 C.