States of Brazil

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The Federal Republic of Brazil is a union of twenty-six estados ("states"; singular estado) and formed by the states and one district, the Distrito Federal ("Federal District") which contains the capital city, Brasília.

States are based on historical, conventional borders and have developed throughout the centuries; though some boundaries are arbitrary. The federal district is not a state on its right, but shares some characteristics of a state and some of a municipality.

The Federal District is encompassed by the state of Goiás and Minas Gerais. The codes given below are defined in BR.

History

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 administrate them directly: Amapá, Rio Branco, Acre, Guaporé, Ponta Porã, Iguaçu and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. After the war, the first three territories were retained as states, with Rio Branco and Guaporé being renamed Roraima and Rondônia, respectively. Ponta Porã and Iguaçu resorted to territorial status. 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 the state of Guanabara until in 1975 it was merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro, becoming the municipality of Rio de Janeiro.

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 the state of Tocantins, with Palmas as its capital.

List of Brazilian states

Flag	State	BR	Capital	Area (km²)	Population (2005)	Density (2005)	GDP (% total) (2004)	GDP per capita (2004)	HDI (2000)	Literacy (2003)	Infant Mortality (2002)	Life Expectancy (2004)
	Acre	AC	Rio Branco				(%)			84%	‰
	Alagoas	AL	Maceió				(%)			70%	‰
	Amapá	AP	Macapá				(%)			91%	‰
	Amazonas	AM	Manaus				(%)			94%	‰
	Bahia	BA	Salvador				(%)			79%	‰
	Ceará	CE	Fortaleza				(%)			78%	‰
	Distrito Federal	DF	Brasília				(%)			96%	‰
	Espírito Santo	ES	Vitória				(%)			90%	‰
	Goiás	GO	Goiânia				(%)			90%	‰
	Maranhão	MA	São Luís				(%)			77%	‰
	Mato Grosso	MT	Cuiabá				(%)			90%	‰
	Mato Grosso do Sul	MS	Campo Grande				(%)			91%	‰
	Minas Gerais	MG	Belo Horizonte				(%)			89%	‰
	Pará	PA	Belém				(%)			90%	‰
	Paraíba	PB	João Pessoa				(%)			75%	‰
	Paraná	PR	Curitiba				(%)			93%	‰
	Pernambuco	PE	Recife				(%)			79%	‰
	Piauí	PI	Teresina				(%)			72%	‰
	Rio de Janeiro	RJ	Rio de Janeiro				(%)			96%	‰
	Rio Grande do Norte	RN	Natal				(%)			77%	‰
	Rio Grande do Sul	RS	Porto Alegre				(%)			95%	‰
	Rondônia	RO	Porto Velho				(%)			92%	‰
	Roraima	RR	Boa Vista				(%)			91%	‰
	Santa Catarina	SC	Florianópolis				(%)			95%	‰
	São Paulo	SP	São Paulo				(%)			95%	‰
	Sergipe	SE	Aracaju				(%)			90%	‰
	Tocantins	TO	Palmas				(%)			83%	‰

See also

• Municipalities of Brazil
• Brazil Socio-Geographic Division
• List of Brazil state name etymologies
• List of major cities in Brazil

External links

• Map of Brazil
• Portal of Brazilian municipalities

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Last updated on Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 23:07:56 PST (GMT -0800)
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