At metropolises they are urban centers that polarize a complex network of cities. These cities have a dependent relationship with the metropolis, which offers quantity and variety of main activities, products and services in the metropolitan region, which justifies the power of attraction of these urban centers.
Classification of Brazilian Metropolises
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is the body responsible for categorizing urban centers and classifies metropolises as follows:
great national metropolis -only Sao Paulo it figures in this category and is the largest urban center in Brazil;
national metropolis – This group includes Rio de Janeiro and Brasília;
Metropolis – This is the case of Manaus, Belém, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Goiânia and Porto Alegre.
Five biggest metropolises in Brazil*
The five largest Brazilian metropolises concentrate almost a quarter of the country's population and are important economic, population and cultural centers. They organize an urban network that not only involves neighboring municipalities, but also establishes connections with several states and even with the entire national territory. Discover these important urban centers below:
São Paulo is the largest of the Brazilian metropolises and even has a special name: Great national metropolis
1º – Sao Paulo (19,672,582 inhabitants): has more intense business relationships with its surroundings – cities in the state of São Paulo, from Rio de Janeiro, the south of Minas Gerais and the north of Paraná – but maintains links with all the Federation Units. It concentrates, in the municipalities that comprise it, around 28% of the Brazilian population and 40.5% of the GDP.
Rio de Janeiro has more than eleven million inhabitants and is one of the largest metropolises in the country
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2º – Rio de Janeiro (11,711,233 inhabitants): even if with less intensity than São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro also has relations with the whole country. The most expressive connections occur within the state itself, extending beyond it to São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.
Belo Horizonte's network of influence exceeds the limit of the state of Minas Gerais
3º – Belo Horizonte (5,413,627 inhabitants): Porto Alegre's area of influence comprises Rio Grande do Sul and part of Santa Catarina, with direct or indirect links with several cities, concentrating 8.3% of the country's total population and 9.7% of the GDP national.
Porto Alegre is one of the largest cities in terms of number of inhabitants and has great cultural and economic importance
4º – Porto Alegre (3,960,068 inhabitants): The population of the urban network of Porto Alegre represents 8.3% of the national total, and the GDP is 9.7%. Its influence network encompasses the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.
Recife is one of the main Brazilian metropolises and is the only one in the Northeast that ranks among the five largest
5º – Recife (3,688,428 inhabitants): it is the fifth largest population in the country. In 2005, the region held 4.7% of the national GDP. Its influence network encompasses the states of Pernambuco, Paraíba and Alagoas, as well as Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia.
*Data from the 2010 Census.
By Amarolina Ribeiro
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
RIBEIRO, Amarolina. "Five largest Brazilian metropolises"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/cinco-maiores-metropoles-brasileiras.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.