Brazil

C

Coastline

The nature of the Brazilian coastline varies considerably. In the North the mouth of the Amazon is the dominant feature, with major river channels, lowlands subject to seasonal flooding, swamps of mangrove trees, and numerous islands, of which Marajó is the largest. The coast of the Northeast is smoother, with substantial areas of beaches and dunes along the northern strip, and more varied forms—dunes, mangroves, lagoons, and hills—south of Cape São Roque. Major features of this area are the mouth of the São Francisco River and Todos os Santos Bay.

The Southeastern coast is also varied, with lagoons, marshlands, sand spits, and sandy beaches. Particularly in the states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, and in much of the South, the mountains are very close to the coast, leaving a coastal plain that is narrow or nonexistent. Only in Rio Grande do Sul does the plain widen again. The major natural harbors are those of Salvador, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranaguá, and Rio Grande. Portuguese settlers established their first communities along the coast, and most Brazilians still live within about 300 km (about 200 mi) of the coast.

D

Climate

The climatic pattern is largely shaped by Brazil’s tropical location and by topographic features. Most of Brazil has high annual average temperatures, above 22°C (72°F). Only in the South and in the highest elevations does the average fall below this. In the higher elevations, the seasonal variation in temperature is more marked.

A tropical wet climate characterizes much of northern Brazil, with abundant rainfall and little or no dry season. Temperatures average 25°C (77°F), with more significant temperature variations between night and day than between seasons. Rainfall averages about 2,200 mm (about 90 in) a year. Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate. Eighty percent of the rain falls in summer (October through March), and there are more seasonal variations in temperature. Here rainfall averages about 1,600 mm (about 60 in) a year. In the interior Northeast, seasonal rainfall is even more extreme. The semiarid region receives less than 800 mm (30 in) of rain, which falls in a period of two or three months. In addition to its scarcity and seasonal nature, the rain occasionally fails completely, causing serious drought conditions.

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In the Southeast the tropical climate is modified by elevation, with a winter average temperature below 18°C (64°F) and an average rainfall of about 1,400 mm (about 55 in) concentrated in summer. The South has subtropical conditions, with average temperatures below 20°C (68°F) and cool winters. Rainfall averages about 1,500 mm (about 60 in), with no differences between seasons. The region is also subject to frost, which occurs on average ten days a year and may damage crops. There are occasional snowfalls in the higher areas.

E

Plant and Animal Life

The plant life of Brazil depends on climate, elevation, and soil conditions. A broad distinction can be made between the forests and grasslands, but considerable variety exists within these areas. The Amazon rain forest is the largest tropical rain forest in the world. It has luxuriant vegetation, with tall trees and several lower layers of vegetation that include woody vines and unusual varieties of plants that do not root in the soil, but grow by attaching themselves to other plants. The east coast and the uplands in the Southeast also had a tropical forest cover, although less dense and diverse than the Amazon region; however, much of this has been cleared since 1500. In the South, the Araucária pine forest grows under subtropical conditions.

In central Brazil the rain forest gradually gives way in the south to the cerrado, an area of more open vegetation that trends from woodland to a mix of trees, shrubs and grass, and open grassland. In the semiarid Northeast vegetation is adapted to the low rainfall. It consists of low scrub, called caatinga. The trees lose their leaves in the dry season, and cacti and other plants that can survive very dry conditions are common.

The South contains open grassland known as the campos. Other small grassland areas occur in the northern Amazon region and in the mountains. The Pantanal near the border of Bolivia and Paraguay has distinct vegetation of trees, shrubs, and grasses that have adapted to the conditions of seasonal flooding. Along the coast several vegetation types exist, including salt marshes, mangrove swamps, and sand dunes.

The rich wildlife of Brazil reflects the variety of natural habitats. Of an estimated 750 species of mammals in South America, 417 are found in Brazil. Larger mammals include pumas, jaguars, ocelots, rare bush dogs, and foxes. Peccaries, tapirs, anteaters, sloths, opossums, and armadillos are abundant. Deer are plentiful in the south, and monkeys of many species abound in the rain forests. The country has one of the world’s most diverse populations of birds and amphibians, with 1,500 species of birds and 581 species of amphibians. There is a great variety of reptiles, including lizards, snakes, turtles, and caimans. There are estimated to be more than 1,500 species of freshwater fish in Brazil, of which more than 1,000 are found in the Amazon Basin. The number of invertebrates is enormous, calculated at more than 100,000 species, of which 70,000 are insects. However, Brazil’s wildlife remains largely unknown, and new species are found on nearly a daily basis. Scientists estimate that the total number of plant and animal species in Brazil could approach 2 million.

Despite its abundance, Brazil’s animal and plant life are threatened by human activity. Removal of the vegetation cover has been a continual process since the Europeans arrived; people have cut and burned the land to clear it for farming and settlement. Concern about this process intensified as people, settlements, and industry moved into the Amazon rain forest in the 1970s. Clearing land for agriculture and felling trees for timber have reduced the habitats of wildlife. Some species are also threatened with extinction by sport and subsistence hunting and by industrial and agricultural pollution. At the beginning of the 21st century, hundreds of species were considered at risk, including the jaguar, several species of monkey, and Pantanal deer. Numerous birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are also threatened.

F

Natural Resources

In 2005, 56.1 percent of Brazil was covered in forests, including a large area of tropical rain forests. These rain forests yield not only timber, but also a range of products such as rubber, palm oil, charcoal, and Brazil nuts.

The country also produces many different types of crops and livestock although fertile soil is limited. Despite its importance as an agricultural producer, just 8 (2003) percent of Brazil’s total land area actually produces crops; the remainder is either grassland, woodland, or uncultivated fields.

Mineral resources are particularly important for export and as raw material for industrial use. The most important, in terms of value of output, are iron ore and gold. Copper, zinc, bauxite, manganese, and tin are also significant. Limestone, sea salt, diamonds, and phosphates are leading nonmetallic minerals.

G

Environmental Issues

Concern for the environment in Brazil has grown in response to global interest in environmental issues. The clearing of rain forests in the Amazon Basin to make room for agriculture and new settlements has drawn national and international attention over possible damage to the rain forest. Environmentalists are concerned that the extensive loss of rain forest vegetation, which produces large amounts of oxygen, could have a wider impact on the global environment. During the 1990s, forests in Brazil disappeared at a rate of 0.4 percent per year.

In many areas of the country, the natural environment is threatened by development. Highway construction has opened up previously remote areas for agriculture and settlement; dams have flooded valleys and inundated wildlife habitats; and mines have scarred and polluted the landscape. Rapid growth of urban areas has also contributed to pollution. There have been some efforts to deal with the problems of urban pollution, including cleaning up Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, the Tietê River in São Paulo, and the heavily polluted industrial town of Cubatão, near São Paulo.

Brazil has many different types of environmental conservation units throughout the country, including national and state parks, reserves, forests, and natural monuments. The first national parks were created in 1937 in an effort to provide environmental protection. The largest national park in Brazil is Jaú in the state of Amazonas, with 2.3 million hectares (5.6 million acres). In 1973 a government department for the environment was established. There is now a wide range of protected areas in addition to the national parks; they include forest parks, ecological parks, natural monuments, biological reserves, and areas of ecological protection. Many state governments have designated protected areas, and land set aside for indigenous peoples also serves as nature reserves.

In 2006 the governor of the state of Pará designated an undeveloped area the size of England as a protected area. Under the governor’s decree the area, located in the Amazon rain forest and totaling 150,000 sq km (58,000 sq mi), was protected from unsustainable logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. Nearly a third of the area—about 57,600 sq km (22,200 sq mi)—was placed off limits to any development and even excludes the general public, being accessible only to indigenous people and scientific researchers. The remaining area was designated only for sustainable development, permitting limited logging under strict management and allowing local communities to harvest some natural resources. The area links to existing nature reserves in French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname, forming a vast corridor known as the Guiana Shield that contains about 25 percent of Earth’s tropical rain forests and harbors many endangered species.

Designating sites as protected does not necessarily mean that they can be securely preserved, however. The government often lacks the resources or the will to stop ranchers and farmers who move into these protected areas. The country also faces conflicts in reconciling economic development and environmental conservation, and in allocating scarce investment funds to preserving the environment. The decision to create a vast reserve in Pará, however, was thought to have broken the power of large ranchers, some of whom owned plots of land the size of small countries.

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