South America
Brazil · 5 days
5 Days in Salvador
Brazil's first capital, where drums, dendê oil and the orixás still set the calendar. Five days in Salvador, planned honestly.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
South America
Brazil
Discover Brazil - the largest country in South America, home to the Amazon Rainforest, five World Cup titles, Carnival in Rio, and the rhythm of samba.
Where Is Brazil?
Brazil is a country in South America. Its capital is Brasília.
- Capital Brasília
- Population 213M
- Area 8,515,767 km²
Brazil is South America's giant in every sense. It takes up nearly half the continent, shares a border with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador, and packs 215 million people into a territory that stretches from the Amazon basin to the subtropical vineyards of the south. Portuguese is the only official language - making Brazil the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world by a factor of twenty over Portugal itself.
The cultural output is extraordinary. Brazil gave the world samba, bossa nova, Carnival, and a style of football so beautiful it has its own name - jogo bonito. Five World Cup titles is a record nobody else has matched. But the country's scale goes beyond sport and music - the Amazon Rainforest alone covers an area larger than India, and Brazil has more species of plants and animals than any other nation on Earth. From the concrete modernism of Brasilia to the favelas of Rio, from the waterfalls of Iguazu to the beaches of Fernando de Noronha, this is a country that does absolutely nothing small.
At a glance
Language
Portuguese
Currency
Brazilian Real (BRL)
Calling Code
+55
Drives On
Right
Internet
.br
Timezone
Multiple (UTC-2 to UTC-5)
Script
Latin
Government
Federal Presidential Republic
Independence
1822
Travel guides
Plan a trip to Brazil
Brazil · 5 days
5 Days in Rio de Janeiro
Mountains that drop into the sea, beaches with their own etiquette and a city that sings at night. Five days in Rio, planned honestly.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
Brazil · Costa Verde · 5 days
5 Days in Paraty and Ilha Grande
A colonial gold port that floods on purpose, then a car-free island with no roads. Rio's green coast, planned properly.
Bases: Paraty, Vila do Abraão
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
By population
Largest cities in Brazil
1
Sao Paulo
Largest city in South America and the southern hemisphere, a sprawling economic powerhouse with world-class restaurants and art
22,400,000
2
Rio de Janeiro
The Marvelous City of Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, Copacabana Beach, and Carnival
13,500,000
3
Belo Horizonte
Third largest metro area and capital of Minas Gerais, known for its food scene and proximity to colonial gold towns
6,000,000
4
Brasilia
Purpose-built capital inaugurated in 1960, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa in a striking modernist airplane layout
4,800,000
5
Fortaleza
Northeastern coastal city with year-round sunshine, famous for its beaches, seafood, and forro music
4,100,000
6
Salvador
First capital of Brazil, heart of Afro-Brazilian culture with capoeira, candomble, and the most vibrant Carnival outside Rio
4,000,000
People
Famous people from Brazil
Pele
SportWidely considered the greatest footballer of all time, won three World Cups and scored over 1,000 career goals
Ayrton Senna
SportThree-time Formula 1 champion and national hero, considered one of the greatest racing drivers in history
Tom Jobim
MusicComposer of The Girl from Ipanema and founding father of bossa nova, which blended samba with cool jazz
Oscar Niemeyer
ArtArchitect who designed the capital Brasilia, a pioneer of modernist concrete architecture who worked until age 104
Paulo Coelho
LiteratureAuthor of The Alchemist, translated into 80 languages and one of the best-selling books of all time
Machado de Assis
LiteratureWidely regarded as Brazil's greatest writer, a mixed-race self-taught genius who pioneered modernist fiction a century early
Carmen Miranda
MusicThe Brazilian Bombshell who became the highest-paid entertainer in 1940s Hollywood, an icon of Brazilian culture
Neymar
SportOne of the most skillful and expensive footballers of his generation, Brazil's all-time top scorer
Food
Traditional cuisine of Brazil
- Feijoada
- Brazil's national dish - a rich, slow-cooked black bean stew with pork, sausage, and beef, served with rice, farofa, and orange slices
- Churrasco
- Brazilian barbecue where skewered meats are grilled over charcoal and sliced tableside, a carnivore's paradise
- Pao de Queijo
- Addictive little cheese bread balls made with cassava flour, chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside
- Acai Bowl
- Frozen acai berry puree from the Amazon, served in a bowl with granola and fruit - Brazil's superfood export to the world
- Brigadeiro
- Chocolate truffle made from condensed milk and cocoa, rolled in sprinkles - Brazil's most beloved sweet
- Coxinha
- Teardrop-shaped chicken croquette, breaded and deep-fried until golden - the king of Brazilian snack bars
- Moqueca
- Bahian fish stew simmered in coconut milk, dendê palm oil, and peppers, served in a clay pot
- Caipirinha
- Brazil's national cocktail - cachaca rum muddled with lime and sugar, simple and dangerously drinkable
Nature
Nature and landmarks in Brazil
- Amazon RainforestForest
- The world's largest tropical rainforest, covering over 5.5 million square kilometers and containing 10% of all species on Earth
- Iguazu FallsRiver
- System of 275 waterfalls on the Argentine border, taller than Niagara and twice as wide, surrounded by subtropical forest
- Sugarloaf MountainMountain
- Iconic granite peak rising 396 meters from Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, reached by a glass cable car
- PantanalNational Park
- The world's largest tropical wetland at 150,000 square kilometers, with the highest concentration of wildlife in South America
- Fernando de NoronhaIsland
- UNESCO-listed volcanic archipelago 350 km off the coast with pristine beaches and some of the best diving in the Atlantic
- Chapada DiamantinaNational Park
- Dramatic table-top mountain park in Bahia with waterfalls, caves, and natural swimming pools
- Amazon RiverRiver
- The world's largest river by discharge volume and second longest, carrying more water than the next seven largest rivers combined
- Lencois MaranhensesDesert
- Surreal landscape of white sand dunes interspersed with thousands of crystal-clear freshwater lagoons in Maranhao
Sport
Sports in Brazil
- Football
- Record five-time FIFA World Cup champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), the most successful national team in World Cup history
- Volleyball
- Olympic powerhouse in both indoor and beach volleyball, with multiple gold medals in both disciplines
- Formula 1
- Produced three world champions - Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, and the legendary Ayrton Senna
- MMA
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu originated here and Brazil has produced more UFC champions than any other country
- Surfing
- Gabriel Medina won the World Surf League Championship twice, cementing Brazil as a surfing superpower
Facts
Did you know?
Brazil has won the FIFA World Cup a record five times, more than any other country
The Amazon Rainforest produces about 6% of the world's oxygen and is home to 10% of all known species
Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, surrounded mostly by Spanish-speaking neighbors
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the world's largest festival, with around 2 million people per day in the streets
Brazil is the world's largest producer of coffee, a position it has held for over 150 years
Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese population of any city outside Japan, with over 1.5 million people of Japanese descent
Brasilia was built from scratch in just 41 months in the late 1950s and is laid out in the shape of an airplane
Brazil has more species of plants, freshwater fish, and mammals than any other country on Earth
Play
Can you find Brazil on a map?
Drop a pin where you think it is and see how close you got. A few rounds and you will place Brazil and its neighbours without a second thought.
