It’s how big? 5 amazing facts about Brazil

I knew that Brazil was big but I had no idea just how big! It started to dawn on me when I looked at booking some internal flights and realised that it took days to get anywhere – although that is also a slight reflection on the lack of a comprehensive national flight network. Still, Brazil really is vast and holds many records when it comes to size. Here are my top 5 amazing, size-related facts.

1. Brazil is the largest country in both South and Latin America and 5th largest in the world –  with an area of 8,515,767.049 km² and a population of around 206 million people, the majority of which live by the coast. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent’s land area.
2. It is also the largest country in the world to have Portuguese as the official language
3. Brazil is the only country in the world that has both the equator and the Tropic of Cancer running through it.
4. Another indication of its size, Brazil spans 4 time zones, with only part of the country observing daylight saving time, just to add to the confusion!
5. Brazil’s economy is the world’s seventh-largest by GDP (PPP) as of 2015.  As one of the world’s major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.