Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( Portuguese : República Federativa do Brasil, IPA: [bɾaziw] ), is a country in South America bordering French Guiana , Suriname , Guyana , Venezuela , Colombia , Peru , Bolivia , Paraguay , Argentina , Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean . Brazil, with its 8.5 million square kilometers, the largest country in South America (it covers almost half of the continent ) and the Southern Hemisphere and the fifth largest in the world (only Russia , Canada , the United States and China are larger).