Editing Brazil (section)

=== Topography and hydrography ===
{{See also|List of rivers of Brazil}}
[[File:Brazil topo.jpg|thumb|Topographic map of Brazil]]

Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of the terrain lies between {{convert|200|m|sp=us}} and {{convert|800|m|sp=us}} in elevation.<ref name="Encarta 7">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Natural Regions |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=MSN |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342/Brazil.html |access-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028044617/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342/Brazil.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 }} {{Dubious|date=January 2010}}<!-- tertiary source --></ref> The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country.<ref name="Encarta 7" /> The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills.<ref name="Encarta 7" />

The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to {{convert|1200|m|sp=us}}.<ref name="Encarta 7" /> These ranges include the [[Mantiqueira Mountains|Mantiqueira]] and [[Espinhaço Mountains|Espinhaço]] mountains and the [[Serra do Mar]].<ref name="Encarta 7" /> In the north, the [[Guiana Shield|Guiana Highlands]] form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the [[Amazon Basin]] from rivers that empty into the [[Orinoco]] River system, in Venezuela, to the north. The highest point in Brazil is the [[Pico da Neblina]] at {{convert|2994|m|sp=us}}, and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name="CIA Geo" />

Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic.<ref name="Encarta 8">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Rivers and Lakes |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=MSN |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342/Brazil.html |access-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028044617/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342/Brazil.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 }} {{Dubious|date=January 2010}}<!-- tertiary source --></ref> Major rivers include the [[Amazon River|Amazon]] (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the [[Paraná River|Paraná]] and its major tributary the [[Iguazu River|Iguaçu]] (which includes the [[Iguazu Falls]]), the [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Negro]], [[São Francisco River|São Francisco]], [[Xingu River|Xingu]], [[Madeira River|Madeira]] and [[Tapajós]] rivers.<ref name="Encarta 8" />