States of Brazil

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The Federative Republic of Brazil is a union of twenty-seven Federative Units (Portuguese: Unidades Federativas (UF)): twenty-six states (estados; singular estado) and one federal district (distrito federal), where the federal capital, Brasília, is located. The states are generally based on historical, conventional borders which have developed over time. The federal district is not a state in its own right, but shares some characteristics of a state as well as some of a municipality. The Federal District is bordered by the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais. The codes given below are defined in ISO 3166-2:BR.

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History

The first administrative divisions of Brazil were the hereditary captaincies (capitanias hereditárias), stretches of land leased to Portuguese noblemen or merchants with a charter to colonize the land. These captaincies were to be passed from father to son, but the crown retained the power of revoking it, which the king indeed did in the 16th century. Then the vast Portuguese dominion in South America was divided between the State of Brazil, in the southern half, and the State of Maranhão, in the northern half (note that Maranhão by then referred not only to current Maranhão, but rather to the whole of the Amazon region; the name marã-nã in old Tupi language means "wide river", i.e. the Amazon River).

After the Iberian Union (1580–1640), the territory of Portuguese colonial domains in South America was more than doubled, and the land was divided into captaincies, royal captaincies and provinces. Unlike Spanish America, the whole territory was united under a single viceroy, with a seat in Salvador (and after 1763, Rio de Janeiro). This situation contributed later to keeping Brazil as a unified nation-state and avoiding the fragmentation of the Spanish domains.

With independence, in 1822, the colony became an empire and all captaincies were turned into provinces. Most internal borders were kept unchanged from the colonial period, generally following natural features such as rivers and mountain ridges. Minor changes were made to suit domestic politics (such as the Triângulo Mineiro from Goiás to Minas Gerais, the splitting of Paraná and the left bank of the São Francisco River from Pernambuco to Bahia), as well as additions resulting from diplomatic settlement of territorial disputes by the end of the 19th century (Amapá, Roraima, Palmas). When Brazil became a republic in 1889, all provinces were immediately turned into states.

In 1943, with the entrance of Brazil into the Second World War, the Vargas regime detached seven strategic territories from the border of the country in order to administer them directly: Amapá, Rio Branco, Acre, Guaporé, Ponta Porã, Iguaçu and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. After the war, the first three territories became states, with Rio Branco and Guaporé being renamed Roraima and Rondônia, respectively, whilst Ponta Porã and Iguaçu remained as territories. In 1988, Fernando de Noronha became part of Pernambuco.

In 1960, the square-shaped Distrito Federal was carved out of Goiás in preparation for the new capital, Brasília. The previous federal district became Guanabara State until in 1975 it was merged with Rio de Janeiro State, retaining its name and with the municipality of Rio de Janeiro as its capital.

In 1977, Mato Grosso was split into two states. The northern area retained the name Mato Grosso while the southern area became the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with Campo Grande as its capital. The new Mato Grosso do Sul incorporated the territory of Ponta Porã and the northern part of Iguaçu. Central Iguaçu went to Paraná, and southern Iguaçu went to Santa Catarina.

In 1988, the northern portion of Goiás became Tocantins State, with Palmas as its capital.

1534 Capitanias hereditárias  1621 Two states  1709 São Paulo at its greatest extent  1789 Inconfidência Mineira  1823 Imperial provinces  1889 At the start of Republic  1943 Border territories  1990 Current

Proposed division of Pará

On 11 December 2011, a plebiscite was held in the state of Pará to consult the population about the possibility of splitting the state of Pará into three different states (Pará, Tapajós and Carajás). Both Tapajós and Carajás were rejected by the population by approximate margins of 2:1.

List of Brazilian states

Flag	State	Abbreviation	Capital	Area (km²)	Population (2010)	Density (2010)	GDP (% total) (2008)	GDP per capita (R$) (2008)	HDI (2007)	Literacy (2008)	Infant mortality (2009)	Life expectancy (2009)
	Acre	AC	Rio Branco	7005152581400000000152,581.4	7005732793000000000732,793	70004800000000000004.80	70066730000000000006,730,000 (69992000000000000000.2%)	70039896000000000009,896	69997800000000000000.780	84%	700128900000000000028.9‰	700172000000000000072.0
	Alagoas	AL	Maceió	700427767700000000027,767.7	70063168922000000003,168,922	7002112390000000000112.39	700719477000000000019,477,000 (69996000000000000000.6%)	70036227000000000006,227	69997200000000000000.720	75%	700146400000000000046.4‰	700167600999990000067.6
	Amapá	AP	Macapá	7005142814600000000142,814.6	7005668689000000000668,689	70004680000000000004.68	70066765000000000006,765,000 (69992000000000000000.2%)	700411033000000000011,033	69998000000000000000.800	97%	700122500000000000022.5‰	700171000000000000071.0
	Amazonas	AM	Manaus	70061570745700000001,570,745.7	70063480937000000003,480,937	70002210000000000002.21	700746823000000000046,823,000 (70001600000000000001.6%)	700414014000000000014,014	69998000000000000000.800	93%	700124300000000000024.3‰	700172200000000000072.2
	Bahia	BA	Salvador	7005564692700000000564,692.7	700714021432000000014,021,432	700124830000009999924.83	7008121508000000000121,508,000 (70003900000000000003.9%)	70038378000000000008,378	69997670000000000000.767	83%	700131400000000000031.4‰	700172600999990000072.6
	Ceará	CE	Fortaleza	7005148825600000000148,825.6	70068448055000000008,448,055	700156760000000000056.76	700760099000000000060,099,000 (70001900000000000001.9%)	70037112000000000007,112	69997490000000000000.749	81%	700127600000000000027.6‰	700171000000000000071.0
	Distrito Federal	DF	Brasília	70035822100000000005,822.1	70062562963000000002,562,963	7002441740000000000441.74	7008117572000000000117,572,000 (70003800000000000003.8%)	700445978000000000045,978	69999000000000000000.900	97%	700115800000000000015.8‰	700175800000000000075.8
	Espírito Santo	ES	Vitória	700446077500000000046,077.5	70063511672000000003,511,672	700176230000000000076.23	700769870000000000069,870,000 (70002300000000999992.3%)	700420231000000000020,231	69998210099999000000.821	92%	700117700000000000017.7‰	700174300000000000074.3
	Goiás	GO	Goiânia	7005340086700000000340,086.7	70066004045000000006,004,045	700117650999990000017.65	700775275000000000075,275,000 (70002500000000000002.5%)	700412879000000000012,879	69998240000000000000.824	91%	700118300000000000018.3‰	700173900000000000073.9
	Maranhão	MA	São Luís	7005331983300000000331,983.3	70066569683000000006,569,683	700119780000000000019.78	700738487000000000038,487,000 (70001200000000000001.2%)	70036104000000000006,104	69997220000000000000.722	81%	700136500000000000036.5‰	700168400000000000068.4
	Mato Grosso	MT	Cuiabá	7005903357900000000903,357.9	70063033991000000003,033,991	70003360000000000003.36	700753023000000000053,023,000 (70001600000000000001.6%)	700417927000000000017,927	69998080000000000000.808	90%	700119200000000000019.2‰	700173700000000000073.7
	Mato Grosso do Sul	MS	Campo Grande	7005357125000000000357,125.0	70062449341000000002,449,341	70006850000000000006.85	700733145000000000033,145,000 (70001100000000000001.1%)	700414188000000000014,188	69998300000000000000.830	91%	700116900999990000016.9‰	700174300000000000074.3
	Minas Gerais	MG	Belo Horizonte	7005586528300000000586,528.3	700719595309000000019,595,309	700133400000000000033.40	7008282522000000000282,522,000 (70009100000000000009.1%)	700414233000000000014,233	69998250000000000000.825	92%	700119100000000000019.1‰	700175100999990000075.1
	Pará	PA	Belém	70061247689500000001,247,689.5	70067588078000000007,588,078	70006080000000000006.08	700758519000000000058,519,000 (70001900000000000001.9%)	70037993000000000007,993	69997820000000000000.782	88%	700123000000000000023.0‰	700172500000000000072.5
	Paraíba	PB	João Pessoa	700456439800000000056,439.8	70063766834000000003,766,834	700166740999990000066.74	700725697000000000025,697,000 (69999000000000000000.9%)	70036866000000000006,866	69997520000000000000.752	78%	700135200000000000035.2‰	700169800000000000069.8
	Paraná	PR	Curitiba	7005199314900000000199,314.9	700710439601000000010,439,601	700152370000000000052.37	7008179270000000000179,270,000 (70006100000000000006.1%)	700416928000000000016,928	69998460000000000000.846	93%	700117300000000000017.3‰	700174700000000000074.7
	Pernambuco	PE	Recife	700498311600000000098,311.6	70068796032000000008,796,032	700189470000000000089.47	700770441000000000070,441,000 (70002300000000999992.3%)	70038065000000000008,065	69997420000000000000.742	82%	700135700000000000035.7‰	700169100999990000069.1
	Piauí	PI	Teresina	7005251529200000000251,529.2	70063119015000000003,119,015	700112400000000000012.40	700716761000000000016,761,000 (69995000000000000000.5%)	70035373000000000005,373	69997400000000000000.740	76%	700126200000000000026.2‰	700169700000000000069.7
	Rio de Janeiro	RJ	Rio de Janeiro	700443696100000000043,696.1	700715993583000000015,993,583	7002366010000000000366.01	7008343182000000000343,182,000 (700111200000000000011.2%)	700421621000000000021,621	69998520000000000000.852	96%	700118300000000000018.3‰	700173700000000000073.7
	Rio Grande do Norte	RN	Natal	700452796800000000052,796.8	70063168133000000003,168,133	700160000000000000060.00	700725481000000000025,481,000 (69998000000000000000.8%)	70038203000000000008,203	69997530000000000000.753	82%	700132200000000000032.2‰	700171100999990000071.1
	Rio Grande do Sul	RS	Porto Alegre	7005281748500000000281,748.5	700710695532000000010,695,532	700137960000000000037.96	7008199499000000000199,499,000 (70006600000000000006.6%)	700420331000000000020,331	69998470000000000000.847	95%	700112700000000000012.7‰	700175500000000000075.5
	Rondônia	RO	Porto Velho	7005237576200000000237,576.2	70061560501000000001,560,501	70006560000000000006.56	700717888000000000017,888,000 (69996000000000000000.6%)	700411977000000000011,977	69997840000000000000.784	90%	700122400000000000022.4‰	700171800000000000071.8
	Roraima	RR	Boa Vista	7005224299000000000224,299.0	7005451227000000000451,227	70002009999999999992.01	70064889000000000004,889,000 (69992000000000000000.2%)	700411845000000000011,845	69997820000000000000.782	93%	700118100000000000018.1‰	700170600999990000070.6
	Santa Catarina	SC	Florianópolis	700495346200000000095,346.2	70066249682000000006,249,682	700165540000000000065.54	7008123283000000000123,283,000 (70004100099999999994.1%)	700420369000000000020,369	69998600000000000000.860	95%	700115000000000000015.0‰	700175800000000000075.8
	São Paulo	SP	São Paulo	7005248209400000000248,209.4	700741252160000000041,252,160	7002166190000000000166.19	70091003016000000001,003,016,000 (700133900000000000033.9%)	700424457000000000024,457	69998570000000000000.857	95%	700114500000000000014.5‰	700174800000000000074.8
	Sergipe	SE	Aracaju	700421910300000000021,910.3	70062068031000000002,068,031	700194830000000000094.83	700719522000000000019,522,000 (69997000000000000000.7%)	70039779000000000009,779	69997700000000000000.770	84%	700131400000000000031.4‰	700171600999990000071.6
	Tocantins	TO	Palmas	7005277620900000000277,620.9	70061383453000000001,383,453	70004980000000000004.98	700713091000000000013,091,000 (69994000000000000000.4%)	700410233000000000010,233	69997840000000000000.784	86%	700125600000000000025.6‰	700171900000000000071.9

See also

• Brazil socio-geographic division
• List of Brazil state name etymologies
• List of Brazilian states by area
• List of Brazilian states by murder rate
• List of Brazilian states by population
• List of major cities in Brazil
• Provinces of Brazil

External links

• Economic statistical data for Brazil's 26 states and federal district (in English, Portuguese, and Spanish)
• States of Brazil at the Open Directory Project
• Wikimedia Atlas of Brazil
• Map of Brazil, showing states and their regular timezones
• http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/condicaodevida/indicadoresminimos/sinteseindicsociais2010/SIS_2010.pdf