GEO Brasil - UNEP

territorial dynamics
and the environment
the state of the
environment
the state of environment in Brazil
1
The Geopolitical Context of
Brazilian Territorial
Configuration
With an area of around 8,500,000 km 2 , Brazil
covers almost half of South America To the
north, it borders Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname,
French Guyana and the Atlantic Ocean To the
south, it borders Uruguay To the west, it borders
Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru The
Atlantic Ocean bathes the east coast There are
several volcanic islands, among which are
Fernando de Noronha, Abrolhos and Trindade
The country borders all nations of South
America, with the exception of Chile and Ecuador
The position of the Brazilian territory, to the west of the Atlantic Ocean,
and its topographic variations imprint different qualities on atmospheric
macrosystems, be they continental or oceanic This creates a wide
variety of climatic areas that range from equatorial to subtropical areas,
with degrees of types and subtypes These areas are produced by
geoecologic variability in the country
Throughout history, these characteristics divided into sections the
several forms in which society occupied and used the spaces shaped
by tropical and subtropical nature in the country into sections Generally
speaking, this made up five large geographic regions: the North, the
Northeast, the Southeast, the South and the MidWest
2 Territory and Water
The Brazilian territory is singularly located on
both external and internal level The former is
related to the fact that the world sees the country
as a “traditional” natural resource reserve and as
the holder of biodiversity in the largest tropical
forest on the planet This includes having control
over its genetic bank, whose potential is still
unknown This element is internally linked to the
technical, economic and political incorporation
of the territory, demanded by the productive
expansion of the national space
Considering both its latitude (between the
5 0 16’20 ” N and 33 0 45’03 ” S parallels) and its
longitude (between the 34 0 47’30 ” and 73 0 59’32 ” W
meridians), the vast Brazilian territory holds an
extraordinary mosaic of ecosystems This
mosaic is produced not only by great climatic
diversity but also by a great topographic
diversity
Brazil is the fifth largest country in terms of territorial extension on the
planet It physically shares its largest water basins (Map 1 Water Basins)
- the Amazon Basin and the Prata Basin - with the other South American
countries In addition to economic leadership in the continent, this
gives the country a natural platform to lead the process of regional
economic integration and to strengthen itself in the face of hegemonic
blocks, whether they are linked to the United States, Europe or Asia
The Amazon River is predominantly a plain river in the national territory
Its headwater streams are located in the Peruvian region of the Andes
This makes its use and, more importantly, the management of its use a
process shared by the countries that make up the South American
Amazon It should be noted that the Amazon River makes up the world’s
largest water basin, with an area of 5,846,100 km 2 About 3,836,520 km 2
are located within the Brazilian territory
It may be affirmed that one of the central matters to be faced by the
Brazilian society and State will be related to the planned and shared use
of the large water basins and significant water resources located in the
East of South America, where the perimeters of the Brazilian territory
25