How Big is Brazil?

Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country, behind only Russia, Canada, China and the United States. If it weren't for Alaska and Hawaii, Brazil would be bigger than the U.S., too. Brazil is larger in area than the 48 contiguous United States by about 40,000 square miles (about 100,000 square km). Even if you add in Alaska and Hawaii, the U.S. beats Brazil in size by only about 400,000 square miles (about 1 million square km).

More facts about Brazil:

• Brazil shares a border with every country in South America except for Chile and Ecuador.


• More than 85 percent of Brazil's population is urban, and that's increasing yearly.


• After Portuguese and Spanish, the language that is spoken the most in Brazil is German, followed by Italian and Japanese.