List of administrative divisions of Brazil (Triangles and Crosses)

Map of the Continental Brazil showing the 33 states and the three communes.

The Federation of the Brazilian States is a federal republic consisting of 31 states, three communes (including the Autonomous City), and three islands.

The Brazilian territory comprises a contiguous territory, by the west of the Río de la Plata region to the Atlantic Forest in the east, including the islands in the Atlantic Sea, and the Amazon Rainforest in the north.

The territory of Brazil is limited by Granada by the northwest; the Andine Confederation by the west, and Argentina by the Southwest. Except for Chile and Patagonia, Brazil borders every country in South America.

History

The present states of Brazil trace their history to a combination of the captaincies established by Portugal following the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Treaty of Ilhéus which conceded to the continental Brazil, treaties that defined the borders in the Amazonian region, purchases, and wars, such as the Brazilian–Dutch War for Guyana.

Map of the administrative divisions of Brazil in 1800.

When the independence was formalized, the Code of the League of Brazilian States established 12 states, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Guanabara, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, São Pedro, and the territory of Rio Negro. When the Constitution was promulgated, the states of Paraguai and Sacramento (later renamed to Uruguai) were created, along with the establishment of the Brazilian dominion in Barbados. In 1801, the city of Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of the Colony of Brazil, became the Commune of Guanabara, and two portions of the state of Pernambuco formed the states of Ceará and Rio Grande.

Treaties

Since the establishment of the Republic, the Brazilian government was interested in the expansion of its territory. In 1814, the Treaty of Paris ceded the French territory in South America to Brazil, under negotiation between Brazilian and British diplomats. In exchange, Brazil granted to Great Britain and France to open the ports for foreign trade, and extraterritoriality for the British (relinquished in 1866). The territory was merged into the state of Pará.

In 1905, diplomats of Brazil and the United Kingdom gathered several times to resolve the question of the sovereignty of the Ascension Island, and initially, Saint Helena, and Tristan da Cunha. The question of Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha was dropped, while the Brazilian government could reach into an agreement with the British cabinet to the transfer of Ascension Island in twenty years, allowing the United Kingdom to keep a military base on the island.

Wars

The Brazilian–Dutch War was a conflict fought between the Free State of Brazil and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1833 and 1836, due to the Dutch territory in South America. Over the past decade, the Brazilian and the Dutch clashed several times in the North Atlantic Ocean. Both countries seized each other dominions on The Guianas. Despite initial Dutch victories by the sea, the war ended with the Brazilian victory after the Battle of Paramaribo. A treaty was signed by the Neerlandese and Brazilians in Belém, which ceded the Dutch territory on the Guyanas to Brazil.

The Platine War was fought between the Argentine Confederation and an alliance between the Federation of Brazilian States and the rebellious provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos. It happened between 1851 and 1852 and ended with the victory of Brazil, ensuring its hegemony in the Platine region. Brazil annexed a portion of the province of Corrientes. In 1870, the Brazilian Civil War was officially over after the Treaty of Iguaçu, where the Republic of Catanduva was dissolved, and Mato Grosso, as a punishment, was divided between four states: Araguaia, Cuiabá, Guaporé, and Juruena.

Between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the Acre War was fought between Brazil, the short-lived Republic of Acre, and the Andine Confederation. The region of Acre possessed rich gold deposits and an abundance of timber, principally rubber trees, and the rise of Brazilian settlers in the region was observed by the Andine authorities, who set up a customs office, upsetting the Brazilian settlers, which set the Republic of Acre, engaging into a war between Brazil and the Andine Confederation. The war ended with Brazilian victory, and with the two nations signing the Treaty of Petrópolis, mediated by Granada.

Name changes

The first name change was from the state of Sacramento, now Uruguai. In the 1820s, there was a nativist movement in the state, led by later President Frutuoso Rivera. Following a successful movement, the state changed its name from Sacramento (from the city of Colônia do Sacramento, the first Portuguese settlement in the state) to Uruguai (the pronunciation of the Charruan word for "the river of the urú".

The state of São João was initially named São João das Duas Barras, but shortened to São João, though, the name is still used in official documents. The Governor himself is referred to as the Governor of the State of São João das Duas Barras ("Governador do Estado de São João das Duas Barras").

Administrative divisions

States

Flag	Federative state	Abbreviation	Capital	Population	Statehood
	Acre	AC	Penápolis	803,513	15 June 1962
	Araguaia	AR	Paranatinga	1,037,281	01 March 1870
	Bahia	BH	Salvador	15,794,539	9 September 1793
	Ceará	CE	Fortaleza	8,452,381	28 April 1801
	Corumbá	CO	Corumbá	4,651,235	3 March 1815
	Cuiabá	CUI	Cuiabá	3,826,194	01 March 1870
	Cunani	CN	Caiena	4,123,872	20 May 1838
	Espírito Santo	ES	Vitória	3,929,911	9 September 1793
	Goiás	GO	Goiânia	9,525,511	9 September 1793
	Guaporé	GP	Porto Velho	1,768,204	01 March 1870
	Guianas	GU	Dirceópolis	6,198,652	20 May 1838
	Iguaçu	IG	Umuarama	4,841,235	18 September 1946
	Juruena	JU	Sorriso	1,555,852	01 March 1870
	Madeira	MD	Manaus	3,537,653	18 September 1946
	Maranhão	MA	São Luís	6,574,789	9 September 1793
	Minas Gerais	MG	Belo Horizonte	18,286,645	9 September 1793
	Palmares	PL	Cidade dos Palmares	5,583,869	20 May 1838
	Pará	PA	Belém	8,578,051	9 September 1793
	Paraná	PN	Paranaguá	7,444,727	29 August 1853
	Pernambuco	PE	Recife	13,317,375	9 September 1793
	Piauí	PI	Teresina	3,204,028	9 September 1793
	Rio de Janeiro	RJ	Niterói	8,358,286	9 September 1793
	Rio Grande	RG	Porto Alegre	11,286,500	9 September 1793
	Roraima	RR	São Joaquim	505,665	15 June 1962
	Santa Catarina	SC	Ondina	6,819,190	9 September 1793
	São Francisco	SF	Barreiras	2,078,525	13 September 1943
	São João	SJ	Palmas	1,572,866	14 September 1821
	São Paulo	SP	Campinas	24,676,110	9 September 1793
	São Roque	SR	Natal	3,442,175	28 April 1801
	Solimões	SL	Tefé	606,944	18 September 1946
	Tapajós	TP	Santarém	1,721,818	18 September 1946
	Triângulo	TR	Uberlândia	2,882,146	27 July 1820
	Uruguai	UR	Sacramento	9,128,741	25 August 1800

Communes

Flag	Official name	Abbreviation	Cities		Population	Autonomy
			Capital	Largest
	Autonomous City of Trindade	CA	Trindade		564,290	25 August 1800
	Commune of Guanabara	GB	Rio de Janeiro		10,191,738	28 April 1801
	Commune of Piratininga	PT	São Paulo		21,242,939	26 November 2008

Islands

Flag	Official name	Abbreviation	Cities		Area	Population	Established
			Capital	Largest
	Barbados	BR	São Michel		439 km²	277,821	-
	Ilha da Ascenção	AS	João da Nova		88 km²	1,206	-
	Fernando de Noronha	FN	Fernando de Noronha		17 km²	3,061	-

Former administrative divisions

Flag	Division	Abbreviation	Capital	Notes
	Rio Negro (1793–1850) Amazonas (1850–1946)	RN AM	Manaus	1793–1946 Split between the states of Madeira and Solimões.
	Mato Grosso	MT	Cuiabá	1793–1870 Initially split between Mato Grosso and Corumbá, in 1870 the state was extinct after the Brazilian Civil War, being partitioned in the states of Araguaia, Cuiabá, Guaporé, and Juruena.