Brazil's Operation Arc of Fire clamp down on logging Governor of Amazon Eduardo Braga, towards sustainability BBC reports from the Brazilian Amazon The satellites saving the Amazon Country profile - Brazil

• Amazon surface area: 4,776,980 km²
• Estimated deforestation: 700,000 km² since 1970
• Population: 191.8 million (UN, 2007)
• Forest cover: 56%

Brazil is South America's most influential country, an economic giant and one of the world's biggest democracies.

Brazil also contains 65% of the Amazon, yet it is estimated that 700,000km² has been lost through deforestation since 1970. This is an area larger than Afghanistan, and accounts for 80% of recent deforestation in the whole of the Amazon basin.

Despite the destruction, the Brazilian Amazon remains the largest continuous area of tropical forest in the world.

Cattle ranching accounts for around 70% of all forest loss. Soya production and illegal logging are the other main culprits. The construction of new hydroelectric dams and the building of roads across the region are also blamed for deforestation as they open access to low-cost land and attract new migrants.

Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of soya and beef, much of it driven by growing demand from the rapidly-expanding Asian economies, particularly China.

(Sources: Conservation International, FAO, mongabay.com, Oxford University Environmental Change Institute, UN, WWF)