Brazil Transportation - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 9 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 443

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 102,109,977 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 1,845,650,000 (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

PP

Airports

4,093 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

698

civil airports: 35

military airports: 14

joint use (civil-military) airports: 17

other airports: 632

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

3,395

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports

13 (2021)

Pipelines

5,959 km refined petroleum product (1,165 km distribution, 4,794 km transport), 11,696 km natural gas (2,274 km distribution, 9,422 km transport), 1,985 km crude oil (distribution), 77 km ethanol/petrochemical (37 km distribution, 40 km transport) (2016)

Railways

total: 29,849.9 km (2014)

standard gauge: 194 km (2014) 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge: 23,341.6 km (2014) 1.000-m gauge (24 km electrified)

broad gauge: 5,822.3 km (2014) 1.600-m gauge (498.3 km electrified)

dual gauge: 492 km (2014) 1.600-1.000-m gauge

Roadways

total: 2 million km (2018)

paved: 246,000 km (2018)

unpaved: 1.754 million km (2018)

Waterways

50,000 km (2012) (most in areas remote from industry and population)

Merchant marine

total: 877

by type: bulk carrier 11, container ship 20, general cargo 40, oil tanker 27, other 779 (2022)

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Belem, Itajai, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Sao Sebastiao, Tubarao

oil terminal(s): DTSE/Gegua oil terminal, Ilha Grande (Gebig), Guaiba Island terminal, Guamare oil terminal

container port(s) (TEUs): Itajai (1,610,092), Paranagua (1,044,157), Santos (4,442,876) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import): Pecem, Rio de Janiero

river port(s): Manaus (Amazon)

dry bulk cargo port(s): Sepetiba ore terminal, Tubarao

NOTE: The information regarding Brazil on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Brazil 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Brazil 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.