View source for Municipalities of Brazil

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Short description|State administrative areas in Brazil}}
[[File:Brazil_Municipalities.svg|right|thumb|300px|Municipalities of Brazil by state]]

{{Politics of Brazil}}

The '''municipalities of Brazil''' ({{langx|pt|municípios do Brasil}}) are [[administrative division]]s of the [[states of Brazil|Brazilian states]]. [[Brazil]] currently has 5,571 municipalities, which, given the 2019 population estimate of 210,147,125,<ref name="IBGE Official Estimate">{{cite web |last1=Silva |first1=Antonio Carlos Coutinho Gouvea da |title=Projeções da População {{!}} Estatísticas {{!}} IBGE :: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística |url=https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas-novoportal/sociais/populacao/9109-projecao-da-populacao.html?=&t=resultados |website=www.ibge.gov.br |access-date=30 August 2018 |language=pt-br}}</ref> makes an average municipality population of 37,728 inhabitants. The average state in Brazil has 214 municipalities. [[Roraima]] is the least subdivided state, with 15 municipalities, while [[Minas Gerais]] is the most, with 853. Northern states are divided into small numbers of large municipalities (e.g. [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|Amazonas]] is divided into only 62 municipalities), and therefore they cover large areas incorporating several separated towns or villages that do not necessarily conform to one single conurbation. Southern and eastern states on the other hand, are divided into many small municipalities (e.g. [[Minas Gerais]]), and therefore large urban areas usually extend over several municipalities which form one single conurbation. More than a half of Brazilian municipalities have a population of lesser than 10,000 inhabitants.

The [[Federal District (Brazil)|Federal District]] cannot be divided into [[Municipality|municipalities]], which is why its territory is composed of several [[Administrative regions of the Federal District (Brazil)|administrative regions]]. These regions are directly managed by the government of the Federal District, which exercises constitutional and legal powers that are equivalent to those of the [[Federated state|states]], as well as those of the municipalities, thus simultaneously assuming all the obligations arising from them.

The [[Constitution of Brazil|1988 Brazilian Constitution]] treats the municipalities as parts of the Federation and not simply dependent subdivisions of the states. Each municipality has an autonomous local government, comprising a [[mayor]] ({{lang|pt|prefeito}}) and a legislative body called municipal chamber ({{lang|pt|[[câmara municipal]]}}). Both the local government and the legislative body are directly elected by the population every four years. These elections take place at the same time all over the country; the last [[2024 Brazilian municipal elections|municipal elections]] were held on October 2024. Each municipality has the constitutional power to approve its own laws, as well as collecting taxes and receiving funds from the state and federal governments.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Constituicao/Constituicao.htm|title=Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988|website=planalto.gov.br|publisher=[[Brazil]]|language=pt}}</ref> However, municipal governments have no judicial power [[wikt:per se|per se]], and courts are only organised at the state or federal level. A subdivision of the state judiciary, or {{lang|pt|[[comarca]]}}, can either correspond to an individual municipality or encompass several municipalities.

The seat of the municipal administration is a designated city (cidade), with no legal specifications regarding minimum population, area, or facilities. The city always shares the same name as the municipality, as they are not considered separate entities. Municipalities can be subdivided, solely for administrative purposes, into districts—often, new municipalities are formed from these districts. Other populated areas are villages, but these have no legal status or regulation. Almost all municipalities are subdivided into neighbourhoods ({{lang|pt|[[bairro]]s}}), although most municipalities do not officially define their neighbourhood limits (usually small cities in the [[countryside]]).

Municipalities can be split or merged to form new municipalities within the borders of the state, if the population of the involved municipalities expresses a desire to do so in a [[plebiscite]].<ref name=":0" /> However, these must abide by the [[Brazilian Constitution]], and forming [[exclaves]] or seceding from the state or union is expressly forbidden.<ref name=":0" />

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==A==
* [[List of municipalities in Acre|Municipalities of Acre (AC)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Alagoas|Municipalities of Alagoas (AL)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Amapá|Municipalities of Amapá (AP)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Amazonas|Municipalities of Amazonas (AM)]]

==B==
* [[List of municipalities in Bahia|Municipalities of Bahia (BA)]]

==C==
* [[List of municipalities in Ceará|Municipalities of Ceará (CE)]]

==E==
* [[List of municipalities in Espírito Santo|Municipalities of Espírito Santo (ES)]]

==G==
* [[List of municipalities in Goiás|Municipalities of Goiás (GO)]]

==M==
* [[List of municipalities in Maranhão|Municipalities of Maranhão (MA)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Mato Grosso|Municipalities of Mato Grosso (MT)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul|Municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Minas Gerais|Municipalities of Minas Gerais (MG)]]

==P==
* [[List of municipalities in Pará|Municipalities of Pará (PA)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Paraíba|Municipalities of Paraíba (PB)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Paraná|Municipalities of Paraná (PR)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Pernambuco|Municipalities of Pernambuco (PE)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Piauí|Municipalities of Piauí (PI)]]

==R==
* [[List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro|Municipalities of Rio de Janeiro (RJ)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte|Municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte (RN)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul|Municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul (RS)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Rondônia|Municipalities of Rondônia (RO)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Roraima|Municipalities of Roraima (RR)]]

==S==
* [[List of municipalities in Santa Catarina|Municipalities of Santa Catarina (SC)]]
* [[List of municipalities in São Paulo|Municipalities of São Paulo (SP)]]
* [[List of municipalities in Sergipe|Municipalities of Sergipe (SE)]]

==T==
* [[List of municipalities in Tocantins|Municipalities of Tocantins (TO)]]

==See also==
* [[Lists of cities]]
* [[List of cities in Brazil by population]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Municipalities in Brazil}}
* {{webarchive |date=17 December 2012 |url=https://archive.today/20121217204243/http://www.world-gazetteer.com/s/p_br.htm |title=Map on the ''World Gazetteer''}}
* [http://www.ibge.gov.br Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics] {{in lang|pt}}

{{Brazil topics}}
{{South America topic|List of cities in}}
{{Articles on second-level administrative divisions of South American countries}}

[[Category:Municipalities of Brazil| ]]
[[Category:Lists of municipalities in Brazil|*]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Brazil]]
[[Category:Second-level administrative divisions by country|Municipalities, Brazil]]