Capitals of Brazil: what are they, map, curiosities

At capitals of Brazil correspond to the cities where the headquarters of the state governments are located. The Brazilian territory is divided into 26 states and one Federal District and it has 27 capitals, in addition to Brasília, which is the seat of the government of the Federal District and the current capital of Brazil.

The Brazilian states and their respective capitals are distributed among the five regions of the country: North Region, Northeast Region, Midwest Region, Southeast Region and South Region.

readalso:Brazil states

Brazilian capitals and states - by regions

capitals

States and acronyms

Bethlehem

Pará (PA)

Good view

Roraima (RR)

Macapa

Amapá (AP)

Manaus

Amazon (AM)

palms

Tocantins (TO)

Porto Velho

Rondônia (RO)

White River

Acre (AC)

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capitals

States and acronyms

Aracaju

Sergipe (SE)

strength

Ceará (CE)

João Pessoa

Paraíba (PB)

Maceio

Alagoas (AL)

Christmas

Rio Grande do Norte (RN)

Recife

Pernambuco (PE)

savior

Bahia (BA)

St. Louis

Maranhão (MA)

Teresina

Piauí (PI)

capitals

States and acronyms

Brasília (headquarters of government)

Federal District*

Large field

Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)

Cuiabá

Mato Grosso (MT)

Goiania

Goiás (GO)


*Federal District: It is not considered a state, but a federal unit.

capitals

States and acronyms

Belo Horizonte

Minas Gerais (MG)

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro - RJ)

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo-SP)

Victory

Holy Spirit (ES)

capitals

States and acronyms

Curitiba

Paraná (PR)

Florianopolis

Santa Catarina (SC)

Porto Alegre

Rio Grande do Sul (RS)


knowmore:Brazilian regions

History of the capitals of Brazil

Did you know that Brazil already had three federal capitals? Throughout the country's history and development, the federal capital, which was initially located in the Northeast region of the country, was transferred to the Southeast region and, later, to the Region Midwest.

  • savior

Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, chosen because of its strategic location.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, chosen because of its strategic location.

The first capital of Brazil was the city of Salvador, located in Bahia. The city was chosen as the capital in 1549, the year of its foundation, with the Portuguese military and politician Tomé de Sousa, the first governor-general of Brazil, at the head of the government.

The choice of Salvador as the capital was influenced both by its location, which facilitated the flow of natural resources explored in the Brazilian territory for the European continent, as for the existence of pau-brasil and the production of sugar cane in the region. Salvador was the country's capital for 214 years.

  • Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil between 1753 and 1960.
Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil between 1753 and 1960.

Later, there was the transfer from the capital of Brazil to the city of Rio de Janeiro, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast of the country, in view of the new economic reality experienced in that period. The sugar economy gave way to the mining economy, with gold extraction especially in the states of Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais and Goiás. Rio de Janeiro was the country's capital between 1763 and 1960.

  • Brasilia

Brasília is currently the capital of Brazil and seat of the government of the Federal District.
Brasília is currently the capital of Brazil and seat of the government of the Federal District.

The current capital of Brazil is Brasília, located in the Center-West Region, also corresponding to the seat of government of the Federal District. In the city, there is the seat of the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary Powers, as well as the embassies of the countries of the world. Brasília, considered a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), became the country's capital in 1960, when it was inaugurated by the then president of the country, Juscelino Kubitschek.

Lookalso:Main Brazilian cities

Curiosities about the capitals of Brazil

  • São Paulo is the most populous capital of the country with approximately 12.1 million inhabitants, according to estimates by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Soon after, appears the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, with more than 6 million inhabitants. And, according to the IBGE, among the 17 most populous municipalities in the country, only three are not capitals.

  • According to a survey carried out by the Macroplan consultancy and published by Época Negócios, the best capital to live in today is Curitiba, capital of Paraná. The second place is the capital Florianópolis (Santa Catarina) and Vitória (Espírito Santo). The worst capitals to live in are: Macapá (Amapá), Porto Velho (Rondônia) and Maceió (Alagoas). The study uses criteria such as education, culture, health, safety, sanitation and sustainability.

  • A survey carried out by the international website TripAdvisor and published by Exame indicates that the Brazilian capitals preferred by tourists are Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis and Salvador.

by Rafaela Sousa
Graduated in Geography

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

SOUSA, Rafaela. "Capitals of Brazil"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/capitais-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.

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