is divided into five primary geographic areas: the northern Guiana Highlands
; Brazilian Highlands
) central and east; the massive Amazon River
wetland areas of the southwest, and the Southern Highlands - to the west and south of Curitiba.
The Brazilian Highlands
are covered by low mountain ranges and forested river valleys. From Rio de Janeiro - north to Fortaleza, a series of higher mountain ranges form a natural barrier between the Atlantic Ocean
and the country's interior.
is the world's largest freshwater wetland, a seasonally flooded plain fed by the tributaries of many rivers. For size comparison, it's almost 10 times the size of the Florida Everglades
is the world's largest tropical rain forest. It's drained by the huge Amazon River, and more than 200 of its tributaries - with more than a dozen of those tributaries being on (The Longest Rivers of the World
) list. The Sao Francisco is the longest river completely within Brazil's
The Guiana Highlands
, a relatively flat-topped mountainous area covered by rain forest, stretches across much of northern South America
. It's home to many of the planet's most spectacular waterfalls, and Brazil's