Brazil

The language is Portuguese, marked by the distinctive letters "Ã / ã".

The backs of signs are often black.

House antennas are distinctive — a clear, transparent satellite dish is used. This alone isn't conclusive, though.

Trucks, buses, and taxis often have red license plates, or plates with red lettering.

Utility poles have a divider in their groove. Round poles also show up.

Yellow chevrons on a black background show up here.

A tank labeled "Fortlev" sits on the roof. It comes in a few colors, but its shape is distinctive.

Look for the logo of Petrobras, South America's biggest oil company. Most gas stations carry Petrobras's green logo.

Orange signs for Banco Itaú, one of South America's largest banks, are everywhere.

Roadside signs display road numbers like "BR XX".

The semi-arid caatinga spreads across the inland northeast. Thorny shrubs, cacti, and drought-hardy grasses cover the ground, and in the dry season the trees shed their leaves, leaving a yellowish-gray wasteland look. It spans the northeastern states such as Piauí and Ceará, and northern Minas Gerais.

Brazil's pampa is confined to the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul. Nearly treeless grassland stretches on and on, rolling in gentle hills called coxilhas. Much of it is grazing land for cattle and sheep.

In the Branco River basin of Roraima, a patch of grassland (the lavrado) opens up unexpectedly inside the Amazon. Sparse shrub grassland stretches on, with forest limited to bands along rivers and streams. Mountains are often visible in the distance.

The Mata Atlântica is shaped by moist winds off the ocean, giving its forest a different look from other regions. You may spot things that resemble palms or pines.

Spot a Paraná pine (Araucaria angustifolia) and think Paraná and its surroundings.

Spot a carnauba palm and think the northeast, centered on Ceará.

Babassu palms are common in Piauí and Maranhão states, and also turn up across the whole southern part of the country.

Syagrus coronata is a tree of eastern Brazil, distributed from southern Pernambuco through Bahia. It may be more common in Bahia.

The açaí palm (açaizeiro) is common in Pará, especially around the Amazon River basin and Marajó Island.

Eucalyptus grandis grows in scattered stands, mostly near the coast from São Paulo down to Rio Grande do Sul.

The Cerrado savanna spreads across the central region. Low trees with twisted trunks and thick, corky bark stand scattered across grassland about waist-high. The soil is reddish. It is widespread across the central states such as Goiás.

The buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is a large palm reaching 35m tall, its thick trunk topped by large leaves forming a round crown. It grows in damp lowlands, so within the Cerrado it lines up in rows along stream courses.

The vivid red soil known as "terra roxa" forms from weathered basalt. It's found in northern Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, western Paraná and São Paulo, and elsewhere.

Along the southeastern coastline, a steep, cliff-like range called the Serra do Mar runs parallel to the sea. It rises abruptly just inland of a narrow coastal strip.

Orange groves — orchards of low trees planted at even spacing — are concentrated in what's called the "citrus belt", centred on São Paulo.

Soybean fields stretching to the horizon. Mato Grosso dominates with about 29% of national production, followed by Paraná, Goiás, and others.

Sugar cane fields are concentrated in São Paulo, which accounts for about 52% of national production. Goiás and Minas Gerais follow, and there are growing regions in the northeast too.

A coffee plantation with low trees planted neatly along the contour lines. Arabica is centred on Minas Gerais, while robusta (locally "conilon") is centred on Espírito Santo.

Cotton fields are sharply concentrated: Mato Grosso accounts for about 70% of national production, Bahia about 21%.

Around Florianópolis, you'll see European-style architecture. Many Portuguese settlers from the Azores came here during its founding, along with plenty of German and Italian immigrants.

In Vila do Abraão, you can see a pointed mountain, and the head of the person carrying the Trekker rig shows in frame. Some stretches were shot from a blue buggy.

The remote island of Fernando de Noronha has utility poles with holes drilled in them, plenty of rocky terrain, and spots where you board a boat. Some very distinctive rock formations may give it away.