Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,367 km. Brazil is crossed by both the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn, and as such is home to a vast array fauna and flora, natural environments, as well as extensive natural resources. The Brazilian population is concentrated along the coastline and in a few large urban centers in the interior. Brazil was a colony of Portugal from its discovery in 1500 until its independence in 1822. Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889. There are currently 26 States and 5,564 Municipalities.

Brazil is the world's 8th largest economy in terms of purchasing power and the 10th largest economy at market exchange rates. The country has a diversified middle-income economy with wide variations in development levels and mature manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors. Technology and services also play an important role and are growing rapidly. Brazil is a net exporter, having gone through free trade and privatization reforms in the 1990s.

Brazil's climate has little seasonal variation since most of the country is located within the tropics. However, although 90% of the country is located within the tropical zone, year-long climate varies considerably from the mostly tropical North (the equator traverses the mouth of the Amazon) to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27' S latitude), which crosses the country at the latitude of the city of São Paulo. Brazil has five climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and subtropical.

Brazil's large area comprises different ecosystems, which together sustain some of the world's greatest biodiversity. Because of the country's intense economic and demographic growth, Brazil's ability to protect its environmental habitats has increasingly come under threat. Extensive logging in the nation's forests, particularly the Amazon, both official and unofficial, destroys areas the size of a small country each year, and potentially a diverse variety of plants and animals. Between 2002 and 2006, an area of the Amazon Rainforest equivalent in size to the State of South Carolina was completely deforested for the purposes of raising cattle and wood logging. By 2020, at least 50% of the species resident in Brazil may become extinct.