Population distribution and density of Brazil

Population distribution denotes the spatial pattern due to dispersal of population, formation of
agglomeration, linear spread etc. Population density is the ratio of people to physical space.
Brazil’s population is approximately at 185 million. Brazil population is equivalent to 2.73% of
the total world’s population. Brazil ranks number 6 in the list of countries by population. Brazil
is a large country and its population is still increasing quickly. Most people live along the coast,
the population density is high. From the dot map below we can see that fewer people live inland,
the population density is low. The population density in Brazil is 25 per Km2. 87.6 % of the
population live in urban areas.

Figure: Population distribution and density of Brazil

Population Distribution in Brazil can be described as exceedingly varied and uneven. The most
densely populated areas are the south, south east and north east. 90% of Brazilians are living
within 500km of the coastline of the Atlantic. The North and North east of Brazil are extremely
sparsely populated with some places having as little as 1 person per km2.
Factors of population distribution in brazil-
Brazil is largely made up of immigrants. Migrants are attracted to the coastal areas because it is
easy to import and export goods. The south east became populated because it was found to be
plentiful in raw materials such as coffee beans, minerals, gold and diamonds which opens a chain
of employment, because 66% of Brazil’s Industry is based in South East .The north east on the
other hand lacks the ability to yield crops or rear animals and so is sparsely populated. Due to the
lack of prospering industries in the north east many have migrated to the south east. The East
Coast zone and south east are heavily populated due to an excellent water supply because the
Atlantic Ocean is a source region, and fertile soils due to the weathered, volcanic rock below.
 Population growth in Brazil
 Between 1960 and 2021, Brazil’s population increased from 72.18 million to 213.99
million people, a growth by 196.5% in 61 years.
 The population nearly tripled in this time frame, but the fertility decline has caused the
annual population growth rate to gradually decrease from 3.03% in 1951 to 0.46% in
2022.

Fig: Population growth and annual growth rate of Brazil (1950-2022)

 Population growth is a net result of the birth rate, mortality rate and migration rate.
According to the graph below, average number of deaths per year was 1294818 and
average number of births per year was 2940942 in Brazil between 1960 and 2021.

Fig: Birth rate and death rate in Brazil (1960-2021)

 Migration trends in Brazil
 Brazil has been a recipient of immigrants throughout its history, with the immigrants
being of a vast variety of nationalities.
 Until 1822 (year of Brazil’s independence), the people who entered the country were
generally considered to be colonizers.
 Since then, the people who entered the independent country were immigrants, mainly
from Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, Poland, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Russia
and a multitude of other nations.
 Counting from 1872 (year of first census) by the year 2000, Brazil had accepted
approximately 6 million immigrants.
 In the 16th century, Portuguese colonizers entered Brazil to establish a sugar-based
plantation economy in the country’s northeast.
 By the late 1800s, global population growth and technological innovations had begun to
encourage mass migration. More than 2.6 million immigrants entered Brazil between
1890 and 1919.
 In the period between the Great Depression and the end of World War II, Brazil
underwent a marked change. Since the Constitution of 1934 created immigration quotas
by country.
 A severe economic crisis in the 1980s caused Brazil to resort to emigration alongside the
prevalent immigrations, leading to relatively large populations of Brazilians in the US,
Paraguay, the UK, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, even in the current
era.
 According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, more than 3.1 million Brazilians resided
outside the country in 2014.
 Currently, an estimated 4.2 million Brazilians are living abroad.