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Guyana vs. Brazil

Geography

GuyanaBrazil
LocationNorthern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Suriname and VenezuelaEastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Geographic coordinates5 00 N, 59 00 W10 00 S, 55 00 W
Map referencesSouth AmericaSouth America
Areatotal: 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 - comparativeslightly smaller than Idaho; almost twice the size of Tennesseeslightly smaller than the US
Land boundariestotal: 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
Coastline459 km7,491 km
Maritime claimsterritorial 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
Climatetropical; hot, humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; two rainy seasons (May to August, November to January)mostly tropical, but temperate in south
Terrainmostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in southmostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt
Elevation extremeshighest 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 resourcesbauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fishalumina, bauxite, beryllium, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, niobium, phosphates, platinum, tantalum, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber
Land useagricultural 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 land1,430 sq km (2012)54,000 sq km (2012)
Natural hazardsflash flood threat during rainy seasonsrecurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south
Environment - current issueswater pollution from sewage and agricultural and industrial chemicals; deforestationdeforestation 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 agreementsparty 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 - notethe 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 continentnote 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 resources271 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)8.647 trillion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Population distributionpopulation 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 populatedthe 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