The Five Regions of Brazil

I thought it would be helpful to break down the different regions of Brazil. Several of the presentations compared the Pantanal to other ecosystems in Brazil. Brazil is divided into 5 regions: North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast, and South. Here are some distinguishing characteristics:

• ·         North: the majority is made up by the Amazon rainforest.  However, the state of Tocantins is part of the Cerrado, a savannah-like ecosystem. Biggest threat to this region is deforestation. This region has the lowest population density.
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• ·         Northeast: Mainly desert-like vegetation, with tropical forests along the coast and the Cerrado in the western and south-western portions. Although this region was where the Portuguese first settled, it is the most impoverished region in Brazil.
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• ·         Central-West: Made up by the Cerrado and Pantanal. The region is the least industrialized in the country, and has its economy based in food & meat processing.
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• ·         Southeast: Mainly tropical-like semi deciduous forests such as the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest). It is semi-arid in the north (known as the Sertao), and the Cerrado in the western and north-western portions. This region is the most populous part of the country, with over 80 million people and important metropolitan areas such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This region is responsible for almost have of the Brazilian economy!
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• ·         South: The Mata Atlântica (Atlantic) rainforest along the coast, tropical semi-deciduous in the north and west Araucárias, a tropical semi-deciduous forest in the north and west, and the Pampas (grasslands) in the south and prairie-like vegetation in the south. This area has the highest standard of living, and has a large number of European immigrants.

 Hopefully this puts the Pantanal in context, and might even prove useful if you are lucky enough to travel around Brazil beforehand. 

-Catie

Source:http://www.brazileguide.com/