Neighboring Countries of Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America both by population and by size. Brazil shares borders with ten countries. The country has a total area of 3.2 million square miles, and the capital is Brasilia. The country is the only country in South America with Portuguese as the national language. Brazil shares borders with nearly all countries of South America except for Chile and Ecuador. The Brazilian international border has a total length of 10,492 miles.

France (French Guiana)

Brazil and French Guiana are connected by the Oyapock River Bridge which passes over the Oyapock River. The bridge connects Oiapoque city, Brazil to Saint Georges-de-l’Oyapock, French Guiana. The border is 453.6 miles long, and the Oyapock River Bridge was officially opened to the public on March 18, 2017. The bridge can be crossed toll-free, and the French side of the bridge has an immigration checkpoint which is not present on the Brazilian side.

Suriname

Suriname has had border disputes with its neighbors except for the border with Brazil which was set in 1906 in the Treaty of Limits. The border is 368.47 miles long and the Brazilian states of Para and Amapa border Suriname.

Guyana

Brazil and Guyana have had close relations, and Brazil has given military support to Guyana through the years. Brazil supported Guyana during a territorial conflict with Venezuela in 1968 over a sea limit territory. The border between Guyana and Brazil is 997.9 miles long and is marked by the Ireng and Takutu Rivers. The Takutu River Bridge is used as a crossing border between the two countries.

Venezuela

The Brazil-Venezuela border was delineated on May 5, 1859, and was officiated in 1929. The boundary is 1,367 miles long and starts at Cucuy rock where the boundaries of Brazil, Venezuela, and Brazil converge, stretching to the Hua waterfall, the top of Mount Cerro Cupi and ends at the top of Mount Roraima where the boundaries of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana meet. The boundary is 1,366.40 miles long. Venezuela claims Guayana Esequiba, which is located in the western part of Guayana but Guayana still maintains control of the area and Brazil does not recognize Venezuela’s claims to the area. The border is located in the remote areas and has one crossing located between Santa Elena de Uairen, Venezuela and Pacaraima, Brazil.

Colombia

The Colombia-Brazil border is 1,021.7 miles long, and it was set up and agreed upon in treaties. The Vasquez Cobo-Martins treaty of 1907 demarcated the border from the Rio Negro stretching northwest along the Amazon River-Orinoco, and then south to the mouth of River Apaporis. The second treaty was the 1928 Tratado de Limites y Navegacion Fuvial - the treaty established the Apaporis-Amazon portion of the boundary as a geodetic boundary after Colombia gained control of the area.

Peru

The Brazil-Peru border was set by the 1909 treaty of Rio de Janeiro. The border is 1,861 miles long and the Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas border Peru. Peru and Brazil celebrated the tenth anniversary of their alliance in 2013. The aim of the alliance was to strengthen the relationship between Brazil and Peru through economic and infrastructure cooperation between the two countries. In 2011 the Interoceanic Highway, which connects Acre to the Pacific, was officially opened. It was a project between the two countries. Several other projects are carried out between the two countries aiming at strengthening the ties between the two.

Bolivia

The Brazil-Bolivia border begins from the Pantanal and ends in the Amazon forest and is 2,126.95 miles long. The border crosses some terrains including major cities and remote areas. The first treaty demarcating the border between the two countries was signed in 1867. In 1898 it was discovered that the 1867 treaty allocated the Acre region to Peru while a majority of the population in the region were Brazilians and Bolivia laid claim to the area; this led to conflict as the people in the region did not want to be governed by the Bolivian government. The conflict went on up to 1903 when the Brazilian military was sent to the region to restore peace until the matter was settled. In 1903, Brazil had talks with both Peru and Bolivia on the acquisition of the region by the population residing in the region being Brazilian. After discussion, the treaty of Petropolis was signed with Bolivia agreeing to give up the region to Brazil and get compensation in other areas along the border.

Paraguay

The border between Brazil and Paraguay begins at Foz do Iguacu Parana to Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul. The border was set up in 1872 as part of the peace treaty signed between Brazil and Paraguay after the Paraguayan War of 1864, and it is about 848.17 miles long. The border is marked by a bridge named the International Peace Bridge which is also used as a crossing border between the two countries.

Argentina

The border between Argentina and Brazil is about 783.55 miles long. The border begins at the conflux of the Iguacu and Parana Rivers, stretching through the Iguacu Falls and then stretches upstream to the source of the San Antonio River. The boundary then covers a land stretch covering 15.6 miles long up to the source of River Peperu-Guacu and along the river’s channel to the confluence between the river and the Uruguay River then downstream the Uruguay River and ends at the mouth of River Quarai. The boundary was set by a treaty between the two countries in 1898, and rivers mark most of its length.

Uruguay

The Brazil-Uruguay border is marked by a stretch of land located in the Southern part of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The border is about 663.6 miles long and begins at the point the borders between Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay meet running westwards to the mouth of Arroyo Chui, Brazil. The Western part of the border is demarcated by River Quarai and the Eastern part by River Jaguarao. There are disputed areas along the border which include the corner of Artigas and the Brazilian Island. The two areas are under Brazilian administration, but Uruguay has laid claim to the areas over the years, though the dispute has never escalated into a conflict.

Border Disputes

Brazil has had border disputes with Uruguay and Bolivia, but none of the disputes has escalated to war. During the Venezuelan-Guyana border dispute, Brazil made it clear it believes in dispute resolution by arbitration and not war.