Guyana vs. Brazil
Geography
| Guyana | Brazil | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Suriname and Venezuela | Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean |
| Geographic coordinates | 5 00 N, 59 00 W | 10 00 S, 55 00 W |
| Map references | South America | South America |
| Area | total: 214,969 sq km land: 196,849 sq km water: 18,120 sq km | total: 8,515,770 sq km land: 8,358,140 sq km water: 157,630 sq km note: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas Martin Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Idaho; almost twice the size of Tennessee | slightly smaller than the US |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,933 km border countries (3): Brazil 1308 km, Suriname 836 km, Venezuela 789 km | total: 16,145 km border countries (10): Argentina 1263 km, Bolivia 3403 km, Colombia 1790 km, French Guiana 649 km, Guyana 1308 km, Paraguay 1371 km, Peru 2659 km, Suriname 515 km, Uruguay 1050 km, Venezuela 2137 km |
| Coastline | 459 km | 7,491 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin |
| Climate | tropical; hot, humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; two rainy seasons (May to August, November to January) | mostly tropical, but temperate in south |
| Terrain | mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south | mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Laberintos del Norte on Mount Roraima 2,775 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 207 m | highest point: Pico da Neblina 2,994 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 320 m |
| Natural resources | bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish | alumina, bauxite, beryllium, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, niobium, phosphates, platinum, tantalum, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber |
| Land use | agricultural land: 8.4% (2018 est.) arable land: 2.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 6.2% (2018 est.) forest: 77.4% (2018 est.) other: 14.2% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 32.9% (2018 est.) arable land: 8.6% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 23.5% (2018 est.) forest: 61.9% (2018 est.) other: 5.2% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 1,430 sq km (2012) | 54,000 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | flash flood threat during rainy seasons | recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south |
| Environment - current issues | water pollution from sewage and agricultural and industrial chemicals; deforestation | deforestation in Amazon Basin destroys the habitat and endangers a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area; illegal wildlife trade; illegal poaching; air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and several other large cities; land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities; wetland degradation; severe oil spills |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Protocol |
| Geography - note | the third-smallest country in South America after Suriname and Uruguay; substantial portions of its western and eastern territories are claimed by Venezuela and Suriname respectively; contains some of the largest unspoiled rainforests on the continent | note 1: largest country in South America and in the Southern Hemisphere; shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador; most of the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, extends through the west central part of the country; shares Iguazu Falls, the world's largest waterfalls system, with Argentina note 2: cassava (manioc) the sixth most important food crop in the world - after maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, and soybeans - seems to have originated in the west-central part of Brazil; pineapples are probably indigenous to the southern Brazil-Paraguay region |
| Total renewable water resources | 271 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 8.647 trillion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | population is heavily concentrated in the northeast in and around Georgetown, with noteable concentrations along the Berbice River to the east; the remainder of the country is sparsely populated | the vast majority of people live along, or relatively near, the Atlantic coast in the east; the population core is in the southeast, anchored by the cities of Sao Paolo, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro |
Source: CIA Factbook
