General Information About Brazil

Visas
Climate & Seasons
Language
Currency
Religion
Geography
U.S Consulates

Visas

You may, depending on your country of citizenship, need to apply for a visa before entering Brazil. A tourist visa is good for 90 consecutive days, and may be renew once per visit. Visas for those doing business in Brasil are available for a longer stay.

Climate & Seasons

Climate: Mainly tropical and sub-tropical: particulary humid in Amazon region and along the coast. Temperature on the southern coast and on the higher lands.
Temperatures in Rio de Janeiro: 14-30 degrees C – Winter, 20-39 degrees C – Summer

Seasons in Brazil are the reverse of those in Europe and the United States:
Spring = September 22 to December 21
Summer = December 22 to March 21
Autumn = March 22 to June 21
Winter = June 22 to September 21

Language

The official language is Portuguese.

Currency

The Brazilian currency is the Real.

Religion

Most of Brazil’s population is Catholic, but Protestant, Jewish, Evangelic, African religions are widely present

Geography

Brazil occupies nearly half of the total area of South America. It has borders with all the South American countries except for Chile and Ecuador. Its land mass totals approximately 3,300,000 square miles, more than the continental United States and slightly less than all the European countries together. 40% of the Brazilian land is occupied by the Amazon Rain Forest.

Brazil covers almost half of the South American continent and it is bordered to the north, west and south by all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador; to the east is the Atlantic. Brazil is topographically relatively flat, and at no point do the highlands exceed 3000m (10,000ft). Over 60% of the country is a plateau; the remainder consists of plains. The River Plate Basin (the confluence of the Parana and Uruguay Rivers, both of which have their sources in Brazil) in the far south is more varied, higher and less heavily forested. North of the Amazon are the Guiana Highlands, partly forested, partly stony desert. The Brazilian Highlands of the interior, between the Amazon and the rivers of the south, form a vast tableland, the Mato Grosso, from which rise mountains in the southwest, that form a steep protective barrier from the coast called the Great Escarpment, breached by deeply cut river beds. The population is concentrated in the southeastern states of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Parana. Sao Paulo has a population of over 10 million, while over 5 million people live in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is composed of 26 states and 1 Federal District.

The capital is Brasilia.

There are five regions:

• North: (States of Amazonas, Para, Roraima, Acre, Amapa, Tocantins and Rondonia).
• Northeast: (States of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceara, Piaui and Maranhao)
• Central West: (States of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Goias)
• Southeast: (States of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Sao Paulo)
• South: (States of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul)

U. S Consulates

The US embassy is located in:

• Brasilia SES, Av das Nacoes lote3, Phone (61) 321-2172
• Rio de Janeiro Av. Pres. Wilson,147 Centro, Phone (21) 292-7117
• Sao Paulo Rua Pe. Joao Manoel,933 Jardim America, Phone (11) 881-6511