List of cities in Brazil
Encyclopedia
Administrative division
An administrative division, subnational entity, or country subdivision is a portion of a country or other political division, established for the purpose of government. Administrative divisions are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and are required to manage themselves through their own...
s of the Brazilian states. At present date, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
has 5,564 municipalities, making the average municipality population 34,361. The average state in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
has 214 municipalities. Roraima
Roraima
Roraima is the northernmost and least populated state of Brazil, located in the Amazon region. It borders the states of Amazonas and Pará, as well as the nations of Venezuela and Guyana. The population is 400,000 and the capital is Boa Vista...
is the least subdivided state, with 15 municipalities, while Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
is the most subdivided state, with 853. The Federal District
Brazilian Federal District
The Federal District is set apart for Brasília, the capital of Brazil. Located in a region called Planalto Central, or Central Plateau, the Federal District is divided in 29 administrative regions. Brasilia - place where the three branches of the Federal Government are located - is the main...
, where the national capital, Brasília
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, is located, cannot be divided in municipalities (according the Brazilian Constitution, the Federal District absorbs the constitutional and legal powers, attributions and obligations of states and municipalities).
The 1988 Brazilian Constitution
Constitution of Brazil
During its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.-Imperial Constitution :Background...
treats the municipalities as parts of the Federation and not simply dependent subdivisions of the states. Each municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
has an autonomous local government, comprising a mayor, directly elected by the people to a four years term, and a legislative body (Câmara Municipal), also directly elected by the people. These elections take place at the same time all over the country; the last municipal elections
Brazilian municipal elections, 2008
The Brazilian municipal elections of 2008 will be held on October 5 and October 26. Over 130 million voters will choose mayors and city councillors for the 5,565 municipalities of Brazil....
were held in 2008. Each Municipality has the constitutional power to approve their own laws and collects taxes and also receives funds from the state and federal governments. However, municipal governments have no judicial power, and courts are only organised at the state or federal level. A subdivision of the state judiciary, or comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
, can either correspond to an individual municipality or encompass several municipalities.
The seat of the municipal administration is denominated city, with no consideration from the law about the population, area or facilities. The city has the same name of the municipality. Municipalities can be subdivided, only for administrative purposes, in districts (normally, new municipalities are formed from these districts). Other populated sites are villages, but with no legal effects or regulation.
Municipalities can be split or merged to form new municipalities within the borders of the state, if the people of the involved municipalities express a desire to do so in a plebiscite. However, these must abide by the Federal Constitution, and forming exclaves or seceding from the state or union is expressly forbidden.
A
- Municipalities of Acre (AC)
- Municipalities of Alagoas (AL)
- Municipalities of Amapá (AP)
- Municipalities of Amazonas (AM)
D
- Administrative Regions of Distrito Federal (DF)
M
- Municipalities of Maranhão (MA)
- Municipalities of Mato Grosso (MT)
- Municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)
- Municipalities of Minas Gerais (MG)
P
- Municipalities of Pará (PA)
- Municipalities of Paraíba (PB)
- Municipalities of Paraná (PR)
- Municipalities of Pernambuco (PE)
- Municipalities of Piauí (PI)
R
- Municipalities of Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
- Municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte (RN)
- Municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul (RS)
- Municipalities of Rondônia (RO)
- Municipalities of Roraima (RR)
S
- Municipalities of Santa Catarina (SC)
- Municipalities of São Paulo (SP)
- Municipalities of Sergipe (SE)
See also
- List of cities
- List of major cities in Brazil
- List of municipalities of Brazil