Parima Mountains, State of Roraima, Brazil, 2018 The mountain range that defines the life of the Amazon basin lies far to the west of Brazil. But if the Andes provides most of the water that flows through hundreds of tributaries into the Amazon River, Brazil too can boast mountains. To the southeast lie the Brazilian Highlands, which include the mineral rich state of Minas Gerais. Heading north towards the heart of the rainforest, the landscape remains undulating, with a hilltop known as Serra Pelada in the state of Pará drawing one of the country's biggest-ever gold rushes in the 1980s. Even closer to the Amazon River, occasional large rock formations appear like intruders into the quiet order of the lowlands.