Subdivisions of Brazil

Brazil is divided into several types and levels of subdivisions.

Regions

Since 1942, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics has divided Brazil into five geographic regions.^[1] On 23 November 1970, the regions of Brazil were adjusted slightly to the definition that is still in use today.^[2]

North Region (Região Norte)
Northeast Region (Região Nordeste)
Central-West Region (Região Centro-Oeste)
Southeast Region (Região Sudeste)
South Region (Região Sul)

Federative units

Brazil is divided into 27 federative units: 26 states and 1 federal district (Distrito Federal).

Acre (AC)
Alagoas (AL)
Amapá (AP)
Amazonas (AM)
Bahia (BA)
Ceará (CE)
Espírito Santo (ES)
Goiás (GO)
Maranhão (MA)
Mato Grosso (MT)
Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)
Minas Gerais (MG)
Pará (PA)
Paraíba (PB)
Paraná (PR)
Pernambuco (PE)
Piauí (PI)
Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Rio Grande do Norte (RN)
Rio Grande do Sul (RS)
Rondônia (RO)
Roraima (RR)
Santa Catarina (SC)
São Paulo (SP)
Sergipe (SE)
Tocantins (TO)
Distrito Federal (DF)

Municipalities

The lowest level of political division of Brazil are the municipalities, which has some political and economical autonomy. There are over 5500 municipalities in Brazil, comprising almost the entirety of the country's territory. The only exceptions are the Federal District (not divided into municipalities, but into 33 administrative regions, without any political autonomy) and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, which consists in a state district.

Statistical areas

For statistical purposes, Brazilian states and the Federal District are divided into "Intermediate Geographic Regions" (Portuguese: Regiões Geográficas Intermediárias), which themselves are divided into smaller "Immediate Geographic Regions" (Regiões Geográficas Imediatas), which correspond to a metropolitan area.^[3] In 1989–2017, they were grouped into mesoregions and microregions.

References

^ "Divisão Regional". ibge.gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
^ Contel, Fabio Betioli (2014). "As divisões regionais do IBGE no século XX (1942, 1970 e 1990)" [The regional divisions of IBGE in the 20th century (1942, 1970 and 1990)]. terrabrasilis.revues.org (in Portuguese). OpenEdition Journals. doi:10.4000/terrabrasilis.990. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
^ "Divisão Regional do Brasil" [Regional Division of Brazil]. ibge.gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2021.

[1] "Divisão Regional". ibge.gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Retrieved 15 November 2015.

[TerraBrasilis-2] Contel, Fabio Betioli (2014). "As divisões regionais do IBGE no século XX (1942, 1970 e 1990)" [The regional divisions of IBGE in the 20th century (1942, 1970 and 1990)]. terrabrasilis.revues.org (in Portuguese). OpenEdition Journals. doi:10.4000/terrabrasilis.990. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2015.

[3] "Divisão Regional do Brasil" [Regional Division of Brazil]. ibge.gov.br (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2021.

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