Best Time to Visit Brazil

Geographical location

Brazil, with over 205 million inhabitants, is a huge country that accounts for almost half of South America’s cotinous population. The national area is more than 20 times as large as the Federal Republic of Germany.

The fifth largest country in the world is located on the southern Atlantic and borders almost all other South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Peru.

Only Ecuador and Chile have no immediate border. The longest border of Brazil runs to the neighbouring state Bolivia on altogether 2100 miles.

Although the 710 meter high Corcovado with the Jesus statue next to the Sugarloaf in Rio de Janeiro undoubtedly form the most famous elevations of the country, the summit of Pico da Neblina at 2994 meters marks the highest mountain of Brazil.

The water-rich Amazon is still today the lifeline of an incomparable flora and fauna. With almost 60,000 plant species, more than 700 reptile species and over 50 primate species, Brazil is considered the most species-rich country on earth.

The landscape is characterised by the mountainous plateaus in the south of the country and the extensive, evergreen rain forests in the lowlands of the Amazon basin. Brazil’s largest cities are all located near the coast.

Apart from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Allegre, Recife and Fortaleza are the largest conurbations. Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil for over 200 years, but lost its status to the new plan capital Brasilia in the central highlands.

Brazilian climate

The weather in Brazil is very different from region to region. Tropical areas around the Amazon are characterised by very heavy rainy seasons in the first half of the year and at the end of the year and a dry season with less precipitation in the summer months. These areas are close to the equator, so there are no distinct seasons and temperatures are high all year round. In Manaus, the average temperature fluctuates only between 26 °C and 28 °C.

Similar climatic conditions prevail in northern Brazil on the Atlantic coast (Belem), where the average temperatures also fluctuate only very slightly from one another and the rainy season is in the first half of the year. The water temperatures there are constant at 27 °C all year round, so that pleasant bathing is possible there.

In the southern half of the country, however, the seasons are somewhat more pronounced. Here are annual average temperatures of over 20 °C still reached, but the temperature declines slightly in the winter months (June – August), so that in June in Porto Allegre to the south only 14 °C are reached on average.

Rainfall in the south is also lower than in the equatorial zones, and seasonal differences are also less pronounced. In the very south, in Porto Allegre, most precipitation occurs in the Brazilian winter months (June – September), while in Rio this time is actually the dry season and at the beginning and end of the year most precipitation falls.

In Brazil you can expect a lot of sunshine and good weather all year round in many areas, but this does not apply to the areas on the Amazon during the rainy season, in which case the average is less than 4 hours of sunshine per day.