To the traveler, the Brazilian territory offers immense geographic diversity. Plains, uplands, highland plateau, and mountain ridges unfold from the south to the north, from the east to the west, forming a landscape bathed by lakes, lagoons and rivers which discharge into the Atlantic Ocean.
Brazil widens into the Mato Grosso Pantanal, where the Paraguai River, the Rio Cuiabá, the Rio Negro and the Rio Miranda create millions of small lagoons, ensuring the proliferation of a bewildering variety of colorful birds and vegetation. The traveler's route inland lead to a large amphitheater formed by the margins of the Roncador and Formosa Ridges, in the State of Mato Grosso, in the Central West Region, which is traversed by the exuberant Xingu and Araguaia Rivers which cascade from altitudes ranging from altitudes ranging from 200 to 250 meters, forming the falls of Von Martius and Das Pedras (the Rocks). The scenic route of the Central Uplands (Planalto Central) in the State of Goiás is characterized by escarpments and valleys among which the Chapada dos Veadeiros stands out for its breathtaking beauty.
The trail ends in Minas Gerais, state with the largest number of caves of Brazil, 437 in all, followed by São Paulo, with 242, where the traveler can marvel at the caves of the Espinhaço Ridges and the crystalline geological formations of Maciços, consisting of the Mantiqueira Mountain Ridges, the Serra do Mar, the Espinhaço Ridges and the Chapada Diamantina Highlands, the great divide of the waters running eastward to the coast and westward into the interior of Brazil.
Brazil's name is derived from the ember-red color of a wood, rare today, named pau-brasil. Discovered in 1500, Brazil had its birthplace in the State of Bahia. Its baptism occurred at a place called Porto Seguro by the Portuguese Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral. The first sailors to set foot on Brazil were dazzled by the exuberant nature and the beauty of the Indians, the original native people of the country. Brazil was initially occupied along the coast and expanded westward during the 17th century. During the 18th century, with the discovery of gold, the already continental territory was consolidated in Minas Gerais. In 1763, Rio de Janeiro was transformed into the capital of the country. At the end of the 19th century, in 1889, the former Empire was transformed into a Federative Republic. In 1961, the capital was transferred to Brasilia, in the heart of the Central Plateau. It is the geographic center, where today, in the tropics; the amalgamation takes place for what will be, in the future, an original civilization.
Brazil widens into the Mato Grosso Pantanal, where the Paraguai River, the Rio Cuiabá, the Rio Negro and the Rio Miranda create millions of small lagoons, ensuring the proliferation of a bewildering variety of colorful birds and vegetation. The traveler's route inland lead to a large amphitheater formed by the margins of the Roncador and Formosa Ridges, in the State of Mato Grosso, in the Central West Region, which is traversed by the exuberant Xingu and Araguaia Rivers which cascade from altitudes ranging from altitudes ranging from 200 to 250 meters, forming the falls of Von Martius and Das Pedras (the Rocks). The scenic route of the Central Uplands (Planalto Central) in the State of Goiás is characterized by escarpments and valleys among which the Chapada dos Veadeiros stands out for its breathtaking beauty.
The trail ends in Minas Gerais, state with the largest number of caves of Brazil, 437 in all, followed by São Paulo, with 242, where the traveler can marvel at the caves of the Espinhaço Ridges and the crystalline geological formations of Maciços, consisting of the Mantiqueira Mountain Ridges, the Serra do Mar, the Espinhaço Ridges and the Chapada Diamantina Highlands, the great divide of the waters running eastward to the coast and westward into the interior of Brazil.
Brazil's name is derived from the ember-red color of a wood, rare today, named pau-brasil. Discovered in 1500, Brazil had its birthplace in the State of Bahia. Its baptism occurred at a place called Porto Seguro by the Portuguese Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral. The first sailors to set foot on Brazil were dazzled by the exuberant nature and the beauty of the Indians, the original native people of the country. Brazil was initially occupied along the coast and expanded westward during the 17th century. During the 18th century, with the discovery of gold, the already continental territory was consolidated in Minas Gerais. In 1763, Rio de Janeiro was transformed into the capital of the country. At the end of the 19th century, in 1889, the former Empire was transformed into a Federative Republic. In 1961, the capital was transferred to Brasilia, in the heart of the Central Plateau. It is the geographic center, where today, in the tropics; the amalgamation takes place for what will be, in the future, an original civilization.
In the northern Region, in the State of Amazonas, rises the Neblina Mountain with its peak at an elevation of 3,041 meters, the highest point of Brazil, in the midst of the jungle, home of the Yanomamis, an ancestral group of approximately 21,000 Indians.
The North is characterized by extensive low plains, less than 200 meters in elevation, bathed by the world's largest river, by volume of water, - the Amazonas, which discharges 175 million litters of water per second, into the Atlantic, representing 20% of the volume of all the rivers of this planet - and its tributaries forming a network of indescribable beauty.
Occupied by the world's largest humid tropical forest and extending over 3.3 million square kilometers of Brazilian territory, the boundaries of the Amazon Region extend from the frontier with Colombia in the west to the State of Maranhão, in the East, where the Northern Region divides with Brazil's Northeast. Brazil's northern coastline extends as strings of sand, dunes and coastal tablelands as far as the State of Rio Grande do Norte, and among which the delta of the Parnaiba River, in the State of Piaui, stands apart for its beauty.
The North is characterized by extensive low plains, less than 200 meters in elevation, bathed by the world's largest river, by volume of water, - the Amazonas, which discharges 175 million litters of water per second, into the Atlantic, representing 20% of the volume of all the rivers of this planet - and its tributaries forming a network of indescribable beauty.
Occupied by the world's largest humid tropical forest and extending over 3.3 million square kilometers of Brazilian territory, the boundaries of the Amazon Region extend from the frontier with Colombia in the west to the State of Maranhão, in the East, where the Northern Region divides with Brazil's Northeast. Brazil's northern coastline extends as strings of sand, dunes and coastal tablelands as far as the State of Rio Grande do Norte, and among which the delta of the Parnaiba River, in the State of Piaui, stands apart for its beauty.
The eastern coastline extends from Rio Grande do Norte to the boundaries dividing the states of Bahia and Espirito Santo. It is characterized by lagoons, extensive sandbanks, dunes, coastal marshes and low hills. Prominent features include the delta of the San Francisco River and the Bahia de Todos os Santos, on the coast of Bahia.
In the State of Espirito Santo, travelling southward, the Southeast Region begins, a panorama of lowlands, extensive sandbanks and lagoons, and extending southward to the Banks of Marambaia, on the coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro. There, the landscape changes and is dominated by the escarpments and ridges of the coastal mountain range and the Atlantic Forest, the second largest tropical forest of the country. Reaching the littoral of the State of São Paulo, the scenery turns into beaches and lowlands as far as the Ribeira do Iguapé.
Further to the South, in the State of Paraná, the coastline becomes dissected with promontories, points and numerous small islands, having the Serra do Mar coastal mountain range as the western horizon, which recedes inland and becomes fragmented into lower hills along the coast of the State of Santa Catarina. In the direction of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, the coastline becomes wider, nearly flat and rectilinear, with an extensive sandbank which forms a natural barrier for the coastal lagoon at the city of Patos e Mirim.
The extreme Southern Region of Brazil, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, a vast plain of low elevation: the Pampa, which, from the south-east of the State of Santa Catarina to the central north of São Paulo gives way to a Paleozoic mountain landscape nearly 300 kilometers in width.
Between the States of Santa Catarina and São Paulo, the country descends in the direction of Paraguay. It is a natural spectacle of deep gorges, of which the waterfalls of the Foz do Iguaçu stand out among the most spectacular and beautiful in the world.
In the State of Espirito Santo, travelling southward, the Southeast Region begins, a panorama of lowlands, extensive sandbanks and lagoons, and extending southward to the Banks of Marambaia, on the coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro. There, the landscape changes and is dominated by the escarpments and ridges of the coastal mountain range and the Atlantic Forest, the second largest tropical forest of the country. Reaching the littoral of the State of São Paulo, the scenery turns into beaches and lowlands as far as the Ribeira do Iguapé.
Further to the South, in the State of Paraná, the coastline becomes dissected with promontories, points and numerous small islands, having the Serra do Mar coastal mountain range as the western horizon, which recedes inland and becomes fragmented into lower hills along the coast of the State of Santa Catarina. In the direction of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, the coastline becomes wider, nearly flat and rectilinear, with an extensive sandbank which forms a natural barrier for the coastal lagoon at the city of Patos e Mirim.
The extreme Southern Region of Brazil, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, a vast plain of low elevation: the Pampa, which, from the south-east of the State of Santa Catarina to the central north of São Paulo gives way to a Paleozoic mountain landscape nearly 300 kilometers in width.
Between the States of Santa Catarina and São Paulo, the country descends in the direction of Paraguay. It is a natural spectacle of deep gorges, of which the waterfalls of the Foz do Iguaçu stand out among the most spectacular and beautiful in the world.
