Regions and States of Brazil

Brazil is divided into 26 states and one Federal District, grouped by IBGE into 5 regions: North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South. The 27 units are the real administrative divisions. The regions are statistical groupings with no government of their own. Below the states sit 5,571 municipalities, and the country has 214,211,951 people (IBGE estimate, 1 July 2026). On the interactive map of Brazil above, click any region or state to see its capital, population, area, largest cities, time zone and World Heritage sites, or type a city name in the search box to find which state it is in.

How to use this interactive map of Brazil

• Explore a region: click or tap it on the map to open its states, population, area, landmarks and food. Switch the Regions / States toggle to see the full Brazil states map with all 27 units.
• Compare data: use View by to color the map by region, population, density, area, GDP per capita, World Heritage sites or time zone.
• Find a place: type any of Brazil's 5,571 municipalities in the search box to see its state and region.
• Test yourself: the Quiz asks you to find states and regions against the clock. Start it with the quiz link.
• Take it with you: Export downloads the data as CSV with a citation. Printables has labelled and blank maps of Brazil in A4 (SVG or PNG).

The 5 regions of Brazil

Click a column heading to sort by population, area or number of states.

Population is the IBGE estimate for 1 July 2026. Areas are from the IBGE 2025 edition and total 8,509,360.9 km². The Southeast holds 41.6% of the population on 10.9% of the land. The North is the opposite: 45.2% of the area and 8.8% of the people, a density of 4.9 per km² against 96.3 in the Southeast.

The regions of Brazil one by one

North (7 states: Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Pará, Amapá and Tocantins) covers the Amazon basin and is the largest region, at 3,849,537 km². Most of it is rainforest and river. Visitors come for the Meeting of the Waters at Manaus, Ver-o-Peso Market in Belém and the Amazon Theatre. Our guide to the rivers in Brazil covers the Amazon and its tributaries.

Northeast (9 states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia) has a long Atlantic coast and a dry interior called the sertão. It was the first part of Brazil settled by the Portuguese. Salvador, Olinda and São Luís keep colonial centres, and Lençóis Maranhenses, Jericoacoara and Fernando de Noronha draw beach travellers. It is the second most populous region, with 57,366,981 people.

Central-West (3 states and the Federal District: Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás and Brasília) sits on the high plateau of the Cerrado savanna. It contains the national capital and most of the Pantanal wetland. Tocantins is sometimes counted here, but IBGE places it in the North.

Southeast (4 states: Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo) is the most populous region, with 89,015,421 people, and the economic centre. It has São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, plus the gold-mining towns of Minas Gerais. See our list of historical places in Brazil for Ouro Preto, Diamantina and Paraty.

South (3 states: Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul) has the coolest climate in Brazil, with occasional frost. German, Italian and Polish immigrants shaped its towns, and the gaucho ranching tradition is strongest in Rio Grande do Sul. Iguaçu Falls, the Serra Gaúcha and the beaches of Florianópolis are the main draws. The coastal lagoons are listed in lakes in Brazil.

The regions also differ in people and speech. For how Portuguese varies from one to the next, read dialects in Brazil. For who settled where, see ethnic groups in Brazil.

26 states and one Federal District: what is the difference?

Brazil is a federation of 27 federative units, and only 26 of them are states. The 27th, the Federal District (Distrito Federal), contains the national capital, Brasília. It is not a state, and Brasília is not a state either: it is the one city in the district.

• A state has an elected governor and legislature and is divided into municipalities. Brazil has 26.
• The Federal District has an elected governor and legislature too, but the Constitution bars it from being divided into municipalities, so it holds both state and municipal powers. It is split into administrative regions instead. It has 3,009,996 people on 5,760.8 km², a density of 522.5 per km², the highest in Brazil.
• A municipality (município) has its own mayor and council. Brazil has 5,571, from Minas Gerais with 853 down to Roraima with 15.
• A region has no governor, legislature or budget. It exists for statistics, school geography and planning.

The newest state is Tocantins, created by the 1988 Constitution out of northern Goiás. English-language sources sometimes call Brazil's states "provinces". The correct term is states (estados).

All 27 states of Brazil

The table lists every unit with its abbreviation, capital, region, population and area. Open it, then click a heading to sort.

São Paulo is the most populous state (46,179,008, or 21.6% of Brazil), ahead of Minas Gerais (21,460,311), Rio de Janeiro (17,225,410) and Bahia (14,889,472). Roraima has the fewest (761,012). By area, Amazonas is the largest at 1,558,704.3 km², followed by Pará (1,245,831.5 km²) and Mato Grosso (903,208.0 km²). Sergipe is the smallest state at 21,938.2 km². Only the Federal District is smaller.

Income per person follows a different order. In 2023 the Federal District led at R$129,790, then São Paulo (R$77,566) and Mato Grosso (R$74,620). Maranhão was lowest at R$22,021.

States and capitals of Brazil

Every state has a capital city, and the Federal District has Brasília. Only two capitals share their state's exact name: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The other 24 states differ, for example Salvador (Bahia), Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais), Fortaleza (Ceará), Curitiba (Paraná) and Manaus (Amazonas).

The largest capital by the 2026 estimate is São Paulo with 11,911,337 people. Rio de Janeiro follows with 6,731,133, then Brasília (3,009,996, counting the whole Federal District), Fortaleza (2,582,360) and Salvador (2,559,945). The smallest is Palmas, the capital of Tocantins, with 333,154. Brasília has been the national capital since 1960. Rio de Janeiro held that role before it. The capitals are listed alongside every other place in our alphabetical list of cities and towns in Brazil, and several keep notable collections: see museums in Brazil.

Time zones in Brazil

Brazil has four time zones, from UTC-2 to UTC-5, set by Law 12,876 of 2013. Most of the population lives on Brasília time (UTC-3). Daylight saving time was abolished in 2019, so the offsets do not change during the year. Color the map with View by time zone to see the split.

Brasília time (UTC-3) covers the Federal District and 20 states, with Pernambuco counted apart from Fernando de Noronha. Amazon time (UTC-4) covers Rondônia, Roraima, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and most of Amazonas, so Manaus, Porto Velho, Boa Vista, Cuiabá and Campo Grande share it. Acre and the far west of Amazonas use UTC-5, which puts Rio Branco one hour behind Manaus. Pernambuco includes the island of Fernando de Noronha, which keeps UTC-2.

Acre moved to UTC-4 in 2008 and returned to UTC-5 in 2013. Amazonas is the only state split across two zones, and Pernambuco is the only other with a second zone. For the continent around Brazil, see South America and the countries in South America.

The North region versus the Legal Amazon

The North region and the Legal Amazon are different things. The North is the 7 states IBGE groups under that name. The Legal Amazon (Amazônia Legal) is an administrative area set by law for regional development. It covers those 7 states plus all of Mato Grosso and the part of Maranhão west of the 44th meridian. IBGE puts it at about 5.0 million km², or 59% of Brazil.

Neither is the same as the Amazon biome. Brazil's six biomes are the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, Pampa and Pantanal, and each crosses state lines. Travellers planning a trip into this part of the country will find ideas in adventurous things to do in Brazil.

Intermediate and immediate geographic regions

Inside each state, IBGE has used two further levels since 2017: 133 intermediate geographic regions and 510 immediate geographic regions. They replaced the older meso- and microregions. Both levels are built around a main city and the municipalities that depend on it, and they are used for statistics rather than government.

World Heritage sites by state

Brazil has 26 UNESCO World Heritage properties: 16 cultural, 9 natural and 1 mixed. The newest, the Amazonia Theaters, was added in 2026. Minas Gerais has the most with 5, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 4. Properties that cross a state line, such as the Pantanal Conservation Area, count once nationally and once in each state. Open any state on the map to see its sites.

Smaller places are worth the detour too. Our list of the largest cities in Brazil by area shows how large some Amazon municipalities are, and the smallest cities in Brazil by population shows the other end.

Frequently asked questions

How many states are in Brazil?

Brazil has 26 states and one Federal District, which makes 27 federative units. The capital, Brasília, is in the Federal District and is not a state.

What are the 5 regions of Brazil?

The 5 regions of Brazil are North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South. They are IBGE statistical groupings and have no government of their own.

What is the capital of Brazil, and is Brasília a state?

Brasília is the capital of Brazil. It is a city in the Federal District, which is not a state, and it has been the capital since 1960, when it replaced Rio de Janeiro.

What is the largest state in Brazil?

Amazonas is the largest state at 1,558,704.3 km², about 18% of Brazil. Pará is second at 1,245,831.5 km² and Mato Grosso is third at 903,208.0 km².

What is the smallest state in Brazil?

Sergipe is the smallest state at 21,938.2 km². The Federal District is smaller at 5,760.8 km², but it is not a state.

What is the most populated state in Brazil?

São Paulo has the most people, 46,179,008 in the IBGE estimate for 1 July 2026, or 21.6% of the country. Roraima has the fewest at 761,012.

How many time zones does Brazil have?

Brazil has four time zones: UTC-2 (Fernando de Noronha), UTC-3 (Brasília time, covering most of the country), UTC-4 (Amazon time) and UTC-5 (Acre and far-western Amazonas).

Does Brazil have daylight saving time?

No. Brazil ended daylight saving time in 2019 under Decree 9,772, and the clocks stay on the same offset all year.

What are the states and capitals of Brazil?

Each of the 26 states has its own capital, and the Federal District has Brasília, for example Salvador for Bahia, Belo Horizonte for Minas Gerais and Manaus for Amazonas. Only Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo share the exact name of their state.

Which region of Brazil is the biggest, and which has the most people?

The North is the biggest region at 3,849,537 km², 45.2% of Brazil. The Southeast has the most people, 89,015,421 or 41.6% of the population.

How many municipalities does Brazil have?

Brazil has 5,571 municipalities in the IBGE 2026 population estimates. Minas Gerais has the most (853), and the Federal District counts as one.

What is the difference between the North region and the Legal Amazon?

The North is a region of 7 states. The Legal Amazon is a larger administrative area of about 5.0 million km² that adds all of Mato Grosso and part of Maranhão to those states.

Sources and methodology

• Population: IBGE, Estimativas da População 2026, reference date 1 July 2026, published August 2026. The national total of 214,211,951 equals the sum of the 27 state figures. Population density uses these figures and the 2025 areas. IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022, resident population by state (SIDRA table 4709), is shown for reference.
• Area: IBGE, Áreas Territoriais 2025. Rio Grande do Sul includes the lagoon areas of Lagoa dos Patos and Lagoa Mirim.
• Municipalities: IBGE localities service and the 2026 estimates file, 5,571 municipalities with the Federal District counted as one.
• GDP per capita: IBGE, Contas Regionais 2023 (released November 2025), divided by the 2022 Census population. 2024 regional accounts are not yet published.
• World Heritage: UNESCO World Heritage List, 26 properties in Brazil (16 cultural, 9 natural, 1 mixed) after the 2026 session.
• Time zones: Law 12,876 of 30 October 2013, which amends Decree 2,784 of 1913, and Decree 9,772 of 25 April 2019 on daylight saving time. The law draws the UTC-5 area as a line from Tabatinga to Porto Acre and names no municipalities. The map applies it to the 7 Amazonas municipalities with seats west of that line (Atalaia do Norte, Benjamin Constant, Eirunepé, Envira, Guajará, Ipixuna and Tabatinga), and other sources give a longer list.
• Legal Amazon: Complementary Law 124 of 2007; area from the IBGE Quadro Geográfico.
• Geographic regions: IBGE, Divisões Regionais do Brasil 2017. The 5 macro-regions are the IBGE division, with Tocantins in the North and the Federal District in the Central-West.

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