Population Distribution - Brazil is the largest country in South America and has a population of 160 million (in 1997).

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Rachael Hay

Population Distribution

Brazil is the largest country in South America and has a population of 160 million (in 1997). Despite this vast population, the distribution of the population in Brazil is very uneven. This uneven distribution can be explained by a number of factors, which are explained below. They are not in any order.

        

The first factor is climate. There are four main types of climate in Brazil and these affect where people live. In the west, there is a tropical rainforest climate, so very few people live there, as it is too humid. The east has monsoon weather with very high rainfall throughout the year. The south has a very dry climate, which causes a winter drought. A drought also occurs in the eastern highlands. The mean monthly temperature for Brazil is well over 28° and Brazil receives over 2000 mm of rain per year. This causes floods, landslides and leaches nutrients from the soil. The floods and heavy rain are more common in the west and there is many rainforests in that area.

The second factor is vegetation. A lot of Brazil is covered in rainforests. These have very dense vegetation, which makes it hard for people to establish lives there. The Amazon there fore the population is very sparsely distributed, with only a few towns near the river mouth. In other areas of Brazil, there is Savannah land in the middle of Brazil and temperate woodlands in the east.

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The next factor is relief or the lay of the land. Brazil has mountains in the southeast and this is part of the golden triangle. This is an area between Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Goiaga. This is one of the most heavily populated areas of Brazil, as the climate is a lot cooler. The cities here are either on high mountainous land or close to the coast. Most people in Brazil live between 400 and 1000 metres above sea level.

The next factor is disease and pests. This is also another reason why very few people ...

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