- published: 10 Apr 2014
- views: 1303
The Federative Republic of Brazil is a union of twenty-seven Federative Units (Portuguese: Unidades Federativas (UF)): twenty-six states (estados; singular estado) and one federal district (Distrito Federal), where is located the federal capital, Brasília. The states are generally based on historical, conventional borders which have developed over time. The federal district is not a state in its own right, but shares some characteristics of a state and some of a municipality. The Federal District is bordered by the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais. The codes given below are defined in ISO 3166-2:BR.
The first administrative divisions of Brazil were the hereditary captaincies (capitanias hereditárias), stretches of land leased to Portuguese noblemen or merchants with a charter to colonize the land. The captaincies were to be passed from father to son, but the crown retained the power of revoking it, which the king indeed did in the 16th century. Then the vast Portuguese dominion in South America was divided between the State of Brazil, in the southern half, and the State of Maranhão, in the northern half (note that Maranhão by then referred not only to current Maranhão, but rather to the whole of the Amazon region; the name marã-nã in old Tupi language means "wide river", i.e. the Amazon River).
Video 12 - Flags of Brazilian States - Bandeiras dos Estados Brasileiros
Flags of Brazilian states - Vlajky států Brazílie
How Powerful Is Brazil?
U.S.-BRAZIL RELATIONS
7 More Brazilian States now support Same-sex Marriage (March-April 2013)
9 Brazilian States Face Dengue Fever Outbreak
Most beautiful women in the world, countries and brazilian states
004. The States of Brazil
Brazilian Immigration to the United States
What Spurred Standard & Poor’s Rating Actions On Several Brazilian States