30 fun facts about Brazil you need to know about

Whether you’re snapping photos of Christ the Redeemer or are hitting the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, here are 30 fun facts about Brazil that you need to know about before your next visit.

1. Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world.

Brazil’s rich soil and tropical climate create optimal conditions for growing coffee. Though most of Central America and many countries with South America, Asia, and Africa have countless hectares of coffee fields, Brazil is the king of the Coffee Belt. As the world’s largest coffee producing country, it filled an estimated 66.4 million 60 kg bags of coffee from July 2023 to June 2024. 

2. Brazil is also the largest producer of sugarcane in the world.

Not only does Brazil provide people around the planet with their morning cup of coffee, but the country also sweetens the beverage. Brazil’s sugarcane exportation is increasing alongside its coffee production. Between April 2023 and March 2024, it’s estimated that it produced an estimated 42.7 million metric tonnes of sugarcane. 

3. Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world.

It’s no surprise that Brazil has the opportunity to outproduce other countries when it comes to coffee and sugarcane: it dominates a large portion of South America. At 8,510,418 sq km (3,285,872 square miles), Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. It’s only 1 million sq km smaller than China and less than 1.5 million square kilometres smaller than the United States and Canada. Russia, with a whopping 17 million square kilometres, it’s the world’s largest country. 

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4. The Federal Republic of Brazil is the largest country in South America.

As one of the largest countries on the planet, Brazil is far and away the largest country in South America. The second-largest country on the continent is Argentina (the 8th largest in the world) with 2,704,789 square kilometres (1,044,319 square miles). Peru has close to 1.3 million square kilometres; Colombia has roughly 1.1 sq km. Bolivia and Chile round out the top five with 1.09 square kilometres and 756,096 square kilometres, respectively.  

5. Brazil touches nearly every country in South America

Brazil dominates such a large part of South America that its border touches all but two of the other countries on the continent. Ecuador is bordered by Colombia, and Peru. Chile touches Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. 

6. Brazil is one of the most populous countries in the world.

In 2025, the population of Brazil is estimated between 212 and 221 million people. In world rankings, this places Brazil seventh slightly behind Nigeria and significantly ahead of Bangladesh. China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Pakistan make up the top five. The ethnic group breakdown looks like this: 45.3% mixed race, 43.5% White, 10.2% Black, 0.6% Indigenous, and 0.4% Asian.  

7. Japanese ex-pats will find familiarity in Brazil

One of the more curious facts about Brazil, the largest Japanese population outside of Japan is in Brazil. Descendants of Japanese emigrants are known as Nikkei. Nearly 2 million Japanese-Brazilian people call the country home, primarily in the city of São Paulo. That’s a majority of the 3.8 million of Japanese emigrants living worldwide. 

8. Nearly 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest in in Brazil

More than half of the Amazon rainforest’s 6.7 million square kilometres lies within the borders of Brazil. Roughly 40 percent of Brazil itself is Amazon rainforest, but unfortunately, large portions of that are disappearing by the year. In 2022 alone, Brazil saw record deforestation rates. 

9. Brazil has a comparatively higher unemployment rate than other countries

Recent data estimates that Brazil’s unemployment rate was 7.95 percent in 2023 and 6.1 percent in 2024. In 2023, this puts Brazil at 145th in the world, behind fellow South American countries Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, Argentina, and Suriname. 

10. Portuguese is the second most popular language in South America

Spanish is the most popular language in South America with it being the official language of most other countries on the continent. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil and the second most spoken in South America. Portuguese is actually the sixth most spoken language in the world, though there are small differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese. Pronounciations can be different, even within Brazil itself. Some of the vocabulary, including pronouns and verbs, also have unique variations between the Brazilian and European languages. 

11.  There are more than 4,000 airports in Brazil

With these facts about Brazil, who’d have though you’d discover that Brazil has nearly 5,000 airports within its borders? Just don’t expect to fly into all of them. Only a few hundred are public airports; the rest are private airports or airfields. Still, the total number of airports puts Brazil at the second-most in the world, only behind the United States which has almost 16,000. 

12. Brasília, not Rio de Janeiro, is the capital of Brazil

This is one of the facts about Brazil that you’d likely get wrong on first guess. Casual travellers are forgiven for forgetting that Rio de Janeiro is not the Brazilian capital — although it once was. Rio de Janeiro was originally the colonial capital in 1763. From 1822 to 1960, it served as the capital city for Brazil. It was then replaced by the current capital, Brasília. 

13. The national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 5 times 

Brazil’s men’s national football team has won the most FIFA World Cup trophies. La Selecao has won in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. With five wins (three of which with Pele), they have nearly as many victories as the number of other countries that have won. They’re the only team that’s competed in every World Cup. Germany and Italy are close to tying Brazil with four each; Argentina, France, and Uruguay also have multiple wins. Another fun fact: Norway is the only country that Brazil has never beaten. 

14. Brazil has four different time zones

Visit Brazil and you may travel within four separate time zones. From east to west, Brazil’s time zones are Fernando de Noronha Standard Time (GMT-2), Brasilia Standard Time (GMT-3), Amazon Standard Time (GMT-4), Acre Standard Time (GMT-5). As far as single-countries not, not including territories beyond its mainland borders, Brazil is only behind New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, Australia, and Russia in the number of time zones. 

15. Christ the Redeemer is shorter than another Brazilian statue

Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue is one of the most iconic symbols of Brazil. The statue itself is 30 metres tall, making it the fifth-largest statue of Christ in the world. Many visitors are surprised to learn that there’s not only another Jesus statue in Brazil, but one that’s actually larger. Encantado’s Christ the Protector statue is six metres taller. 

16. The largest portion of the Amazon basin is in Brazil

With so much of the Amazon Rainforest residing in Brazil, it’s unsurprising that a great part of the Amazon River floats through the country. More than 60 percent of the Amazon’s main stream floats through Brazil and the largest part of the Amazon basin is found there, too.   

17. Prison sentences are reduced for every book a prisoner reads

Brazil’s incarcerated individuals have a unique way to earn time off of their sentences: read a book. In the 1980s, the Criminal Enforcement Act was implemented, requiring that all prisons actively prepare the incarcerated for a successful transition back into society. This initially meant that prisoners could earn time off for the number of days working a job through the prison. In 2012, the Ministry of Justice of Brazil expanded this law to include compensating time served through study and reading books. One of the most incredible facts about Brazil!

18. Gender reassignment surgery is free in Brazil

Homophobia and transphobia are criminal offenses in Brazil. Not only can trans persons change their names and gender identification on official documents before or without undergoing gender reassignment surgery, but they can also undergo this procedure for free. Trans people can begin gender reassignment surgery at age 18 and begin using hormone therapy at age 16.

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19. Brazil declared war on the Axis Powers during World War II

Brazil’s Vargas regime was initially on friendly terms with both Italy and Germany when World War II broke out. The country remained neutral, but became increasingly concerned about the Axis Powers involvement in the Western Hemisphere following the bombing of Peal Harbor. Soon after, Brazil formally declared war on the Axis Powers when Germany sank five Brazilian ships off of Brazil’s coast. Brazil became the only Latin American country to send troops to fight in Europe. 

20. Brazil’s space program has a single astronaut in space 

Brazil’s space program was founded in 1960, right as the space race was heating up. Over the last 60 years, however, Brazil has sent very few satellites, rockets, and astronauts into space. The first Brazilian astronaut was sent to the International Space Station in 2006. Shortly before, Brazil launched its first homemade satellite.

21. Catholicism is the most popular religion in Brazil

Brazil has the largest population of Catholics in the world which amount to around 64 percent of the country’s total population. Despite the origins of Catholicism rooted in Vatican City, the number of Catholics in Europe has declined in tandem with an increase in Latin American Catholics. 

22. Rio de Janeiro hosts the largest Carnival celebration on the planet

Mardi Gras may have made a name for itself in New Orleans and Venice may be forever linked to masquerade balls, but Rio de Janeiro has them both beat. The city is recognized around the world for having the biggest — and debatably, best — Carnival celebration. This multi-day celebration brings people to the streets, clad in flamboyant costumes, for dancing, drinking, and partying. No Carnival experience in Rio is complete without a visit to the Sambodromo: the samba hub of the holiday. Nearly 100,000 people pack a stadium for a samba parade like no other.

23. Hundreds of Indigenous tribes still live throughout Brazil

Although less than 1 percent of Brazil’s population is Indigenous, there are still approximately 300 tribes living throughout the country. The population count hovers around 1.7 million and many of these communities are within the five million square kilometre region known as the Legal Amazon. 

24. The Brazilian flag’s current form was finalized less than 40 years ago

Brazil’s first flag as an independent nation was of a slightly similar design in 1822: a yellow diamond featuring the imperial coat of arms against a green background. A significant change was made in 1889 when the coat of arms was replaced with a white-banded blue disk. Stars were added to the flag to note the number of Brazilian states. Finally, in 1992, the flag flown today was stitched with 27 stars representing the federal district and 26 states. 

25. Brazil was briefly Portugal’s seat of government

Brazil was a Portuguese colony in the early 1800s during Napoleon’s conquest of Europe. Once the French Emperor invaded Portugal, the Portuguese court left for Brazil. It was the only time in history that the seat of government was located in a colony. Interestingly, this actually helped Brazil’s future push for independence. The Portuguese government brought a printing press with them, and when the king returned to Europe, the Brazilian people used the press to print literature about potential independence. By 1822, it gained its independence. 

26. Feijoada and caipirinha are the country’s national food and drink 

Brazil’s national dish is feijoada: a black bean stew made with pork. The star ingredient, feijão, lends its namesake to the hearty stew commonly shared around the dinner table. Caipirinha is a cocktail from São Paulo made with sugar, ice, limes, and the sugarcane liquor cachaça. 

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27. Greatest number of animal species in the world

Latin America is an exceptionally biodiversity hotspot, but Brazil is typically considered the country with the most overall biodiversity of fauna and flora on the planet. Researchers believe that between 10 and 20 percent of the world’s species belong to Brazil and that nearly 2 million are actually present — both known and undiscovered — throughout the country. Of known species, researchers estimate around 103,870 are attributed to animals, with approximately 700 new ones discovered each year.

28. Brazil has 70+ national parks

Nature lovers can plan multiple vacations solely exploring Brazil’s national parks. The country holds over 70 protected spaces, including the new addition to the UNESCO World Heritage list, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. Popular parks include the trekking in Chapada Diamantina, the early human archaeological sites of Serra da Capivara, and the largest tropical wetland in the world, Pantanal Matogrossense national park.   

29. The Brazilian Atlantic Islands includes the only atoll in the South Atlantic

One of Brazil’s treasured national parks is Fernando de Noronha, located on an archipelago. Along with the Rocas Atoll, it’s a key area of marine biodiversity preservation. Threatened and endangered species throughout the Tropical South Atlantic rely on the ecosystem created by these islands to foster the marine organism food chain. 

30. Brazil shares the Iguazu Falls with Argentina

The Iguazu Falls are one of the major attractions in all of South America. It’s one of the largest waterfall complexes in the world and is shared by two countries. In Argentina, it’s called Iguazu National Park; in Brazil, it’s Iguaçu National Park. Both countries are committed to the conservation of the largest single Paranaense subtropical rainforest remnant on the continent. 

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