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1UpTravel - Weather Forecast & Weather Reports of Cities Country-wise. - Weather Forecast for Cities of Brazil

Weather Forecast & Reports for Cities of Brazil

 Conceicao Do Araguaia, Brazil
 Afonsos Aeroporto, Brazil
 Anapolis Braz-Afb, Brazil
 Aracaju Aeroporto, Brazil
 Alta Floresta Aeroporto, Brazil
 Benjamin Constant, Brazil
 Belem Aeroporto, Brazil
 Bage Aeroporto, Brazil
 Belo Horizonte Aeroporto, Brazil
 Curitiba, Brazil
 Barbacena, Brazil
 Brasilia Aeroporto, Brazil
 Bauru, Brazil
 Boa Vista Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Barra Do Garcas, Brazil
 Cachimbo, Brazil
 Belo Horizonte, Brazil
 Campo Grande Aeroporto, Brazil
 Maranhao / Carolina Airport, Brazil
 Carajas / Maraba, Brazil
 Porto Alegre, Brazil
 Campos, Brazil
 Corumba, Brazil
 Curitiba Aeroporto, Brazil
 Caravelas Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Cuiaba Aeroporto, Brazil
 Cruzeiro Do Sul, Brazil
 Presidente Prudente, Brazil
 Eduardo Gomes International, Brazil
 Jacareacanga, Brazil
 S. P. Aldeia Aerodrome, Brazil
 Foz Do Iguacu Aeroporto, Brazil
 Florianopolis Aeroporto, Brazil
 Fernando De Noronha, Brazil
 Fortaleza Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Gama, Brazil
 Galeao, Brazil
 Goiania Aeroporto, Brazil
 Guarulhos Civ / Mil, Brazil
 Guaratingueta, Brazil
 Altamira, Brazil
 Itaituba, Brazil
 Ilheus Aeroporto, Brazil
 Imperatriz, Brazil
 Juiz De Fora, Brazil
 Joao Pessoa, Brazil
 Rio / Jacarepagua, Brazil
 Campina Grande, Brazil
 Campinas Aeroporto, Brazil
 Londrina Aeroporto, Brazil
 Bom Jesus Da Lapa, Brazil
 Maraba, Brazil
 Macae, Brazil
 Maringa, Brazil
 Montes Claros, Brazil
 Manaus Aeroporto, Brazil
 Maceio Aeroporto, Brazil
 Macapa, Brazil
 Mocoro / Rosado, Brazil
 Marte Civ / Mil, Brazil
 Manicore, Brazil
 Natal Aeroporto, Brazil
 Oiapoque, Brazil
 Porto Alegre Aero-Porto, Brazil
 Parnaiba Aeroporto, Brazil
 Pocos De Caldas, Brazil
 Passo Fundo, Brazil
 Paranagua, Brazil
 Pelotas, Brazil
 Petrolina Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Porto Nacional Aeroporto, Brazil
 Ponta Pora Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Porto Velho Aeroporto, Brazil
 Vitoria Da Conquista, Brazil
 Rio Branco, Brazil
 Recife Aeroporto, Brazil
 Rio De Janeiro Aeroporto, Brazil
 Leite Lopes / Ribeir, Brazil
 Resende, Brazil
 Sao Carlos, Brazil
 Santa Cruz Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Sao Jose Dos Campo, Brazil
 Sao Luiz Aeroporto, Brazil
 Santa Maria Aero-Porto, Brazil
 Santarem-Aeroporto, Brazil
 Sao Paulo Aeropor-To, Brazil
 Santos Aeroporto, Brazil
 Salvador Aeroporto, Brazil
 Teresina Aeroporto, Brazil
 Tefe, Brazil
 Tarauaca, Brazil
 Tabatinga, Brazil
 Tucurui, Brazil
 Sao Gabriel Da Cachoeira, Brazil
 Paulo Afonso, Brazil
 Uruguaiana Aeroporto, Brazil
 Uberlandia, Brazil
 Uberaba, Brazil
 Vilhena Aeroporto, Brazil
 Vitoria Aeroporto, Brazil
 Xavantina, Brazil
 Iauarete, Brazil
 Pirassununga, Brazil

Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S, 55 00 W

Map references: South America

Area:
total: 8,511,965 sq km
land: 8,456,510 sq km
water: 55,455 sq km
note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries:
total: 14,691 km
border countries: Argentina 1,224 km, Bolivia 3,400 km, Colombia 1,643 km, French Guiana 673 km, Guyana 1,119 km, Paraguay 1,290 km, Peru 1,560 km, Suriname 597 km, Uruguay 985 km, Venezuela 2,200 km

Coastline: 7,491 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south

Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m

Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber

Land use:
arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 22%
forests and woodland: 58%
other: 14% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 28,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south

Environment - current issues: deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers the existence of a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities
note: President CARDOSO in September 1999 signed into force an environmental crime bill which for the first time defines pollution and deforestation as crimes punishable by stiff fines and jail sentences

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador


Geography

Brazil covers almost half of the South American continent. It is bordered to the north, west and south by all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador, to the east is the Atlantic.

The country is relatively flat with over 60% of the country consisting of plateau. Its largest city is Sao Paulo, and its capital is Brasilia.


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.


Background
Brazil is the largest country in South America in terms of both area and population. It occupies almost half the area of the continent and has more people than all the other South American countries combined.

Brazil ranks fifth in both area and population among the countries of the world.

Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of the interior.

Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970s. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

Brazil

Country

Official Name: Federative Republic of Brazil (República Fede-rativa do Brasil).

Short Name: Brazil (Brasil).

Term for Citizen(s): Brazilian(s).

Capital: Brasília.

Independence: September 7, 1822 (from Portugal).

Geography

Size and Location: Standard figure is 8,511,996 square kilometers (including oceanic islands of Arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo). According to revised figure of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística--IBGE), which takes into account new measurements, total area is 8,547,403.5 square kilometers. Brazil occupies about 47 percent of continental area. Country situated between 05°16'20" north latitude and 33°44'32" south latitude, and between 34°47'30" east longitude and 73°59'32" west longitude. Its boundaries extend 23,086 kilometers, of which 7,367 kilometers on Atlantic Ocean. To north, west, and south, Brazil shares boundaries with all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador.

Standard Time: With an east-to-west territorial dimension of 4,319 kilometers, Brazil has four time zones. In most of country, time is three hours earlier than Greenwich time. Between summer months of October and February, country adopts daylight savings time, setting clock forward by one hour, in Southeast (Sudeste), Center-West (Centro-Oeste), and South (Sul) regions, and in states of Bahia in Northeast (Nordeste) and Tocantins in North (Norte).

Maritime Claims: Exclusive economic zone 322 kilometers (200 nautical miles).

Boundary Disputes: A short section of boundary with Paraguay, just west of Salto das Sete Quedas (Guairá Falls) on Paraná; and two short sections of boundary with Uruguay--Arroio Invernada area of Cuareim and islands at confluence of Quaraí and Uruguai.

Topography and Climate: Consisting of dense forest, semiarid scrub land, rugged hills and mountains, rolling plains, and long coastal strip, Brazil's landmass dominated by Amazon Basin and Central Highlands. Principal mountain ranges (Serra do Mar) parallel Atlantic coast. Climate varies from mostly tropical in North, where it is seldom cold, to more temperate in South, where it snows in some places. Also wide range of subtropical variations. World's largest rain forest located in Amazon Basin. Higher annual measurements (26°C to 28°C) occur in Northeast's interior and mid- and lower Amazon River. Lowest values (under 18°C) occur in hilly areas of Southeast and largest part of South. Highest absolute values, over 40°C, are recorded in Northeast's low interior lands; in Southeast's depressions, valleys, and lowlands; in Center-West's Pantanal (Great Wetlands) and lower areas; and in South's central depressions and Uruguai Valley. Lowest absolute temperatures often show negative values in most of South, where frosts and snow usual. Rainy areas correspond to Pará's coastal lands and western Amazonas, where annual rainfall greater than 3,000 millimeters. In Southeast on Serra do Mar (São Paulo State), recorded annual rainfall exceeds 3,500 millimeters. Drought areas located in interior Northeast, where annual rainfall under 500 millimeters. Maximum precipitation occurs during summer-autumn in most parts of country, except for Roraima and north Amazonas, where rainy season occurs during winter because these two states are located in Northern Hemisphere.

Principal Rivers: Vast, dense drainage system consisting of eight hydrographic basins. Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia basins account for 56 percent of total drainage area. World's greatest fluvial island, Bananal, located in Center-West Region on Araguaia. With ten of world's twenty greatest rivers, Amazon (Amazonas) is world's largest in volume of water and one of world's longest (6,762 kilometers, of which 3,615 kilometers are in Brazil), discharging 15.5 percent of all fresh water flowing into oceans from rivers. Union of Paraná and Iguaçu in South, at border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, forms Iguaçu Falls at Foz do Iguaçu.

Data as of April 1997


Brazil

The Society and Its Environment

THE FIFTH LARGEST country in the world, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and has territory slightly larger than that of the continental United States. Its population, estimated officially at nearly 160 million in mid-1997, is the largest in Latin America and constitutes about half of the population in South America. With 80 percent of its population living in cities and towns, Brazil is one of the most urbanized and industrialized countries in Latin America. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are among the ten largest cities in the world. São Paulo, with its 18 million people, is the world's third largest city, after Mexico City and Tokyo. Yet, parts of Brazil's Amazon region, which has some of the world's most extensive wilderness areas, are sparsely inhabited by indigenous peoples still in the process of coming into contact with the modern world.

More than for its superlatives, however, Brazil stands out for its regional and social disparities. Brazil is noted for having one of the most unequal income distributions of any country. In the rural Northeast (Nordeste), there is poverty similar to that found in some African and Asian countries. Although increased urbanization has accompanied economic development, it also has created serious social problems in the cities. Even the wealthiest cities contain numerous shantytowns called favelas.

While in many ways this diversity or heterogeneity makes it similar to other developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere, Brazil is also unique. One of the fascinating elements of this uniqueness is that it is different things at once, presenting different faces or identities of a single coherent whole. Both local and foreign perceptions of Brazil tend to exaggerate particular features, lack a balanced view, and fail to grasp how the parts of the whole fit together. During the twentieth century, for example, Brazil came to be known to the rest of the world and to many of its own inhabitants in picturesque motifs that could best be fit together coherently in terms of a "land of contrasts." The country was considered a tropical paradise famed for its exports (coffee), music (such as Carmen Miranda, samba, and bossa nova), and soccer (thanks to Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé)), as well as the nearly mythical Amazon rain forest. Rio de Janeiro was associated with Sugarloaf (Pão de Açucar), Copacabana, income tax fugitives, and even the mastermind of Britain's "Great Train Robbery" of 1963. On a more serious level, Brazil often was disparaged for its inability to solve basic political and economic problems, such as consolidating democratic institutions, controlling runaway inflation, and servicing the foreign debt. However, the nation is noted for being an emerging industrial power and for constructing giant public works, such as the new capital city of Brasília, the Trans-Amazonian Highway, and the world's largest hydroelectric dam (Itaipu). Brazil also stands out for its leadership role in Latin America and the developing world.

Most Brazilians saw the military regime (1964-85) as a repressive dictatorship, although others regarded it as having saved the country from communism. Brazilian society was viewed as conservative and male chauvinistic, yet simultaneously freewheeling or even licentious, as revealed in its Carnaval (Carnival) festivities. In the 1980s, much of the world saw the Amazon, the world's greatest store of biodiversity, and its native peoples as falling victim to unparalleled destruction. In the early 1990s, the news of massacres of Yanomami Indians, street children, and favela dwellers who inhabit Rio de Janeiro's hillsides sundered Brazil's image of cordiality. Although there were other reasons for pessimism and a continuing identity crisis (Brazil became the first democracy to impeach its president, in December 1992), there were reasons for pride as well (inflation was brought under control in 1994). Was Brazil a "serious country" destined to be a great power, or was it always to remain a land of the future?

One can find ample evidence for countervailing trends: unity and diversity, modernity and tradition, progressive government policies and deeply rooted inequality, tight control by elites and broadening popular participation, principles and pragmatism. There are no simple answers. This chapter examines Brazil's social and environmental complexity and its characteristic paradoxes and nuances of meaning, beginning with the physical setting and moving into the more mercurial social issues, with special attention to how society relates to nature.

Data as of April 1997


Brazil

Size and Location

With its expansive territory, Brazil occupies most of the eastern part of the South American continent and its geographic heartland, as well as various islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The only countries in the world that are larger are Russia, Canada, China, and the United States (including Alaska). The national territory extends 4,395 kilometers from north to south (5°16'20" N to 33°44'32" S latitude) and 4,319 kilometers from east to west (34°47'30" E to 73°59'32" W longitude). It spans four time zones, the westernmost of which, in Acre State, is the same as Eastern Standard Time in the United States. The time zone of the capital (Brasília) and of the most populated part of Brazil along the east coast is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, except when it is on its own daylight savings time, from October to February. The Atlantic islands are in the easternmost time zone.

Brazil possesses the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, located 350 kilometers northeast of its "horn," and several small islands and atolls in the Atlantic--Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Trindade, and Martim Vaz. In the early 1970s, Brazil claimed a territorial sea extending 362 kilometers from the country's shores, including those of the islands.

On Brazil's east coast, the Atlantic coastline extends 7,367 kilometers. In the west, in clockwise order from the south, Brazil has 15,719 kilometers of borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana . The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador. A few short sections are in question, but there are no major boundary controversies with any of the neighboring countries.

Geology, Geomorphology, and Drainage

In contrast to the Andes, which rose to elevations of nearly 7,000 meters in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the Amazon's direction of flow from westward to eastward, Brazil's geological formation is very old. Precambrian crystalline shields cover 36 percent of the territory, especially its central area. The principal mountain ranges average elevations just under 2,000 meters. The Serra do Mar Range hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the country . The highest mountains are in the Tumucumaque, Pacaraima, and Imeri ranges, among others, which traverse the northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela.

In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5 percent of the country is above 1,200 meters), Brazil's Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central). The plateau's uneven terrain has an average elevation of 1,000 meters. The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins, the largest of which is drained by the Amazon and its tributaries. Of the total territory, 41 percent averages less than 200 meters in elevation. The coastal zone is noted for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches interspersed with mangroves, lagoons, and dunes, as well as numerous coral reefs.

Brazil has one of the world's most extensive river systems, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Two of these basins--the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia--account for more than half the total drainage area. The largest river system in Brazil is the Amazon, which originates in the Andes and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7 percent of the country, principally the north and west. The main Amazon river system is the Amazonas-Solimões-Ucayali axis (the 6,762 kilometer-long Ucayali is a Peruvian tributary), flowing from west to east. Through the Amazon Basin flows one-fifth of the world's fresh water. A total of 3,615 kilometers of the Amazon are in Brazilian territory. Over this distance, the waters decline only about 100 meters. The major tributaries on the southern side are, from west to east, the Javari, Juruá, Purus (all three of which flow into the western section of the Amazon called the Solimões), Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins. On the northern side, the largest tributaries are the Branco, Japurá, Jari, and Negro. The above-mentioned tributaries carry more water than the Mississippi (its discharge is less than one-tenth that of the Amazon). The Amazon and some of its tributaries, called "white" rivers, bear rich sediments and hydrobiological elements. The black-white and clear rivers--such as the Negro, Tapajós, and Xingu--have clear (greenish) or dark water with few nutrients and little sediment.

The major river system in the Northeast is the São Francisco, which flows 1,609 kilometers northeast from the south-central region. Its basin covers 7.6 percent of the national territory. Only 277 kilometers of the lower river are navigable for oceangoing ships. The Paraná system covers 14.5 percent of the country. The Paraná flows south into the Río de la Plata Basin, reaching the Atlantic between Argentina and Uruguay. The headwaters of the Paraguai, the Paraná's major eastern tributary, constitute the Pantanal, the largest contiguous wetlands in the world, covering as much as 230,000 square kilometers.

Below their descent from the highlands, many of the tributaries of the Amazon are navigable. Upstream, they generally have rapids or waterfalls, and boats and barges also must face sandbars, trees, and other obstacles. Nevertheless, the Amazon is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as 3,885 kilometers upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru. The Amazon river system was the principal means of access until new roads became more important in the 1970s. The São Francisco was also used for transportation in the past. Dams and locks in the Paraná system have made it an important artery for interstate and international trade in the 1990s.

The various river systems descending from the shields have endowed Brazil with vast hydroelectric potential, estimated at 129,046 megawatts (MW), of which 30,065 MW were in operation or under construction in 1991. The largest hydroelectric projects are Itaipu, in Paraná, with 12,600 MW; Tucuruí, in Pará, with 7,746 MW; and Paulo Afonso, in Bahia, with 3,986 MW.

Data as of April 1997



 





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