10 amazing facts about

Brazil, home to a hidden

mountain and a ghost
town in the jungle

1. Brazil is the world’s fifth largest

country by both population
(approximately 210 million) and
geographical area (3,287,597 square miles). It
borders every other South American nation,
barring Ecuador and Chile, and makes up
47 per cent of the continent.

2. The Amazon River is the world’s largest by volume of water

discharged. Around 209,000 cubic metres per second flow into the Atlantic
Ocean – more than the next seven largest rivers combined and enough to
fill Lake Baikal – the world’s deepest lake – in less than four years. During
the wet season the river is up to 30 miles wide

3. The most popular surname in Brazil is Silva.

4. Manaus is located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, but is

home to more than 2.5 million people.

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 5. The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro weighs
635 tonnes, is 38 metres high including its pedestal and was named one of
the “New Seven Wonders of the
World” in 2007. It was damaged by a
lightning strike in 2014.
6. Brazil has more than 4,000
airports – more than any other country
other than the US (which has a
remarkable 13,513).

7. Brazil is one of the world’s most

biodiverse countries, with a total of four
million plant and animal species, according to
estimates. It has more species of monkey than
any other nation.

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9. Some 1.5 million-2.5 million
Brazilians are of Japanese descent. Many immigrants brought with them
seedlings of cherry trees and cherry blossoms can be viewed outside homes
in Sao Paulo, and in public parks in Curitiba.
10. Brazil has been the world’s largest exporter of coffee for more
than 150 years. It supplied around 80 per cent of the world’s coffee in the
1920s; that figure has fallen to around a third
11. Brazil’s highest mountain is the
Pico da Neblina (Mist Peak), on the border
with Venezuela, at 2,994 metres (9,823 feet)
above sea level. Due to it being almost
permanently shrouded in cloud, it was not
discovered until the 1950s, and was first
ascended in 1965 (12 years after Everest)

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