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.
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.
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.
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.
