Peru vs. Brazil
Geography
| Peru | Brazil | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador | Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean |
| Geographic coordinates | 10 00 S, 76 00 W | 10 00 S, 55 00 W |
| Map references | South America | South America |
| Area | total: 1,285,216 sq km land: 1,279,996 sq km water: 5,220 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 | almost twice the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska | slightly smaller than the US |
| Land boundaries | total: 7,062 km border countries (5): Bolivia 1212 km, Brazil 2659 km, Chile 168 km, Colombia 1494 km, Ecuador 1529 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 | 2,414 km | 7,491 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 200 nm; note: the US does not recognize this claim exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm | 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 | varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes | mostly tropical, but temperate in south |
| Terrain | western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) | mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,746 m lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 1,555 m | highest point: Pico da Neblina 2,994 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 320 m |
| Natural resources | copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas | alumina, bauxite, beryllium, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, niobium, phosphates, platinum, tantalum, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber |
| Land use | agricultural land: 18.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 1.1% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.) forest: 53% (2018 est.) other: 28.2% (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 | 25,800 sq km (2012) | 54,000 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Ubinas (5,672 m), which last erupted in 2009, is the country's most active volcano; other historically active volcanoes include El Misti, Huaynaputina, Sabancaya, and Yucamane; see note 2 under "Geography - note" | recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes; overfishing | 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling 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 | note 1: shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River note 2: Peru is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire | 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 | 1,879,800,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.) | 8.647 trillion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are 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
