Even with 1.9m two-wheeler sales in 2024 and a grid that is 90% green, Brazil has shied away from electric. Till now, that is. Things may be changing as major funds chase decarbonisation and startups sprout. We catch the green shoots and explore the country in a two-part series.
The equator passes through Brazil just about 300 km north of Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. The city is significant, and we will revisit it later in this analysis. Because Brazil practically lies on the equator, it is the least impacted by the Mercator distortion, the phenomenon that makes countries further away from the equator appear much bigger on a cylindrical map.
To sum up, Brazil is huge. At 8.5 million sq km, it is the fifth-largest country in the world.
Population and Demographics
However, it's not very populated, with only about 200 million inhabitants. A great river flows through the country, and nearly two-thirds of the land mass is the rainforest irrigated by the river.
Hollywood tells us that man-eating snakes and venomous insects exist in that forest. Then, the climate army says that the almost uninhabitable rainforest is an area of great ecological importance. If anything happens to it, like too many humans pilfering through it, the glaciers will start melting.
When we said great river, we meant it - the Amazon and its tributaries are the largest freshwater hydrological system in the world. The river is massive, and crossing it is a challenge compounded by flooding - it bulges many times its size in a flood. Understandably, most transportation is up/down the river rather than across it.
As a result, most prominent Brazilian cities are near the coast. Most population density is around the coast, except for some scattered cities, like Manaus, close to the river.
São Paulo is the largest city by far, followed by Rio de Janeiro, the erstwhile capital. The present capital, Brasilia, ranks third.
According to World Bank data, Brazil is a mid-income economy with a per capita income of USD 21,107 / year (PPP basis). This compares favorably against India (USD 10,166 / year) and Indonesia (USD 15,416/year) but is lower than Mexico (USD 24,720/year).
Then there is the average male height - Brazil stands at 5'7.5" compared to India at 5'5", Indonesia at 5'4.5", and Vietnam at 5'6".
Combining the above facts, we can relate to the Brazilian two-wheeler choices. We will come to that soon.
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