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| Brazil occupies nearly half of South America (45.4%) and is the fifth largest country in the world, after the former USSR, Canada, China and the US. The country borders every nation on the continent except Chile, Ecuador and the Guianas. It has 4,604 miles (7,409 Km) of Atlantic coastline and a total area of 3,286,470 square miles (8,511,957 square km). Brazil extends 2,691 miles (4,331 Km) East-West, and 2,965 miles (4,772 km) North-South with the majority of the country falling within the tropical zone until Rio, and the remaining southern areas lying in the temperate zone, thus accounting for Brazil's minor temperature fluctuations between summer and winter (seasons are reversed from the northern hemisphere). | |||
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