Joint
Brazil-China-Mexico Session
The Challenges of Social -Environmental governance
November 21-27, 2003
Brasilia and Pirenopolis - Brazil
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BRAZIL
Introduction
Brazil
shares a border with almost every other country in South America--only
Chile and Ecuador are untouched--and covers almost half the
continent. It is the fifth largest country in the world, behind
Russia, Canada, China, and the U.S.A., with an area of eight
and a half million square kilometers.
Despite
its vast expanse of territory, Brazil's population is concentrated
in the major cities of its coast. The urban sprawls of Rio
de Janeiro and Sao Paulo dominate the southern coast. Further
north, towns such as Salvador and Jo�o Pessoa retain the colonial
atmosphere of the early Portuguese settlers. The great interior,
much of which is covered by the rainforest basin of the Amazon,
remains sparsely settled.
Almost
half of Brazil's territory is covered by the basin of the
Amazon River and its tributaries, a region that is one of
the world's largest rainforest ecologies. Unfortunately, a
substantial proportion of this area has suffered the effects
of modernization in recent years. From the Amazon's mouth
on the Pacific to Manaus, the region's bustling main city,
the river is heavily traveled, and wildlife is scarce. Away
from the cities and the main course of the Amazon, however,
smaller tributaries lead past unspoiled habitat and traditional
villages.
South
of the Amazon region, the country's interior is dominated
by the Brazilian Shield, an expansive bedrock flat that is
slowly falling victim to the elements. The Mato Grosso, a
smooth, grassy plain in Brazil's center, slowly gives way
to the Planalto, a low-rise plateau that extends across the
central and western regions. In the far west, along the border
with Paraguay and Bolivia, is the Pantanal, one of the most
extensive swamplands in the world.
Brazil's
winter lasts 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.
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