Brazil 🇧🇷
Brazil is a country in South America with a population of 215,313,498. Its capital is BrasÃlia. The official currency is BRL, and the main languages are Portuguese.
Quick facts
- Capital: BrasÃlia
- Continent: South America
- Population: 215,313,498
- Area: 8,515,767 km²
- Density: 25.3 people per km²
- Currency: BRL
- Languages: Portuguese
- ISO code: BR
Where Brazil sits
Brazil 🇧🇷 is one of 12 countries in South America, with its capital at BrasÃlia. It covers 8,515,767 square kilometres — 5th in the world — and is home to about 215,313,498 people, 7th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela and Chile. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Brazil compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Brazil sits closest to Nigeria and Pakistan. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Australia and China.
At 25.3 people per square kilometre it is about 2.3 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
Portuguese is an official language in 9 countries here, among them Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, and 4 others. The BRL is used by Brazil and no one else.
To see Brazil next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Brazil
BrasÃlia is a planned capital, founded on 21 April 1960 to replace Rio de Janeiro. São Paulo and Rio are bigger, but the capital is the city named after the country: Brazil, BrasÃlia. For the flag, a yellow diamond on green, with a starry blue globe in the middle.
The flag of Brazil: green, yellow, blue and white
🇧🇷 The flag is a green flag with a large yellow diamond holding a blue globe of 27 white stars, crossed by a white band with the motto 'ORDEM E PROGRESSO' (Order and Progress). Green stands for the forests and yellow for mineral wealth. The stars show the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889, when the republic was declared, with one star for each state and the Federal District.
Region and neighbours
Brazil is the largest country in South America, covering roughly half of the continent, with a long Atlantic coast on the east and most of the Amazon basin. It shares land borders with 9 countries: Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. It also borders French Guiana, an overseas region of France.
- Uruguay 🇺🇾 — capital Montevideo
- Argentina 🇦🇷 — capital Buenos Aires
- Paraguay 🇵🇾 — capital Asunción
- Bolivia 🇧🇴 — capital Sucre
- Peru 🇵🇪 — capital Lima
- Colombia 🇨🇴 — capital Bogotá
- Venezuela 🇻🇪 — capital Caracas
- Guyana 🇬🇾 — capital Georgetown
- Suriname 🇸🇷 — capital Paramaribo
Three facts about Brazil
- Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas.
- About 60% of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil.
- Brazil's men's football team has won the World Cup a record five times.
Sources: Wikipedia: Brazil, Wikipedia: Flag of Brazil, Wikipedia: BrasÃlia, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Brazil
- South American capitals quiz — match Brazil to BrasÃlia
- South American flags quiz — spot the Brazil flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Brazil
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Brazil those are:
- South America map quiz — place it on a blank map
- South America flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- South America capitals quiz — match it to BrasÃlia
- Brazil capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Brazil
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Brazil
- Capital of Brazil: BrasÃlia — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 12 countries of South America
Nearby countries
- Argentina 🇦🇷 — capital Buenos Aires
- Bolivia 🇧🇴 — capital Sucre
- Chile 🇨🇱 — capital Santiago
- Colombia 🇨🇴 — capital Bogotá
- Ecuador 🇪🇨 — capital Quito
- Guyana 🇬🇾 — capital Georgetown
- Paraguay 🇵🇾 — capital Asunción
- Peru 🇵🇪 — capital Lima
- Suriname 🇸🇷 — capital Paramaribo
- Uruguay 🇺🇾 — capital Montevideo
- Venezuela 🇻🇪 — capital Caracas
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Brazil flag?
The flag of Brazil is a green flag with a large yellow diamond holding a blue globe of 27 white stars, crossed by a white band with the motto 'ORDEM E PROGRESSO' (Order and Progress). Green stands for the forests and yellow for mineral wealth. The stars show the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889, when the republic was declared, with one star for each state and the Federal District.
Which countries border Brazil?
Brazil shares land borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. It also borders French Guiana, an overseas region of France.
How can I remember the capital of Brazil?
BrasÃlia is a planned capital, founded on 21 April 1960 to replace Rio de Janeiro. São Paulo and Rio are bigger, but the capital is the city named after the country: Brazil, BrasÃlia. For the flag, a yellow diamond on green, with a starry blue globe in the middle.