Uruguay vs. Brazil
Geography
| Uruguay | Brazil | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil | Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean |
| Geographic coordinates | 33 00 S, 56 00 W | 10 00 S, 55 00 W |
| Map references | South America | South America |
| Area | total: 176,215 sq km land: 175,015 sq km water: 1,200 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 | about the size of Virginia and West Virginia combined; slightly smaller than the state of Washington | slightly smaller than the US |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,591 km border countries (2): Argentina 541 km, Brazil 1050 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 | 660 km | 7,491 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or the edge of 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 | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown | mostly tropical, but temperate in south |
| Terrain | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland | mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 109 m | highest point: Pico da Neblina 2,994 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 320 m |
| Natural resources | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, 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: 87.2% (2018 est.) arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 76.9% (2018 est.) forest: 10.2% (2018 est.) other: 2.6% (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 | 2,380 sq km (2012) | 54,000 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent wind that blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts | recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south |
| Environment - current issues | water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; heavy metal pollution; inadequate solid/hazardous waste disposal; 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: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, 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 Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation | 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 | second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep raising | 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 | 172.2 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 8.647 trillion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | most of the country's population resides in the southern half of the country; approximately 80% of the populace is urban, living in towns or cities; nearly half of the population lives in and around the capital of Montevideo | 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
