January 22, 2026
The top Brazilian tourist destination that’s not Rio.
Brazil is a huge country that, just like Russia, actually stretches across two hemispheres. The difference is that while Brazil sits across both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Russia straddles the Eastern and Western ones.
But perhaps what sets Russia apart from Brazil the most is that Russia’s territories mostly lie on permafrost. Brazil is all about tropics and humid subtropics – perfectly suitable for street carnivals with scantily-clad crowds…
Sure – there are differences; where aren’t there any? But we’re also more or less similar. Let’s take a look:
Size: Brazil = eight million km²; Russia = 17 million km² (but permafrost is more than half of that).
Population: though 10–15 years ago the two countries were roughly equal, today – Brazil = 212 million; Russia = 144 million.
Now, for geography and populations, Wikipedia will do for me. But when it comes to economies, I trust – believe it or not – CIA data more!
Here, for example, are the top 10 economies in the world in terms of GDP at purchasing power parity (2024 data):
