The states of Brazil are both conventional and arbitrary
The states of Brazil have been configured in many ways over the years. When the Portuguese were first involved in the area now known as Brazil. the administrative divisions were known as captaincies. There were fifteen in total, granted to twelve donatarios. The captaincies consisted of straight strips of land of varying height parallel to the equator and extending from the coastline to a line drawn north and south approximately through the longest part of present day Brazil. This period lasted from approximately 1534 to 1573.
In 1573 the states of Brazil still extended from the coastline to the same north-south line but there were only two states involved--the state of Maranhao and the state of Brasil. The division was approximately two thirds of the area to the northern state of Maranhao and one third to the southern state.
By 1709, the area of Brazil had more than doubled, to be close to its present day shape and size. The states of Brazil were reconfigured with the state of Sao Pedro in the south. To the north of Sao Pedro was Sao Paulo at its largest size. Although Sao Paulo encompassed nearly one-third of the entire country, it had no coastline. The coastal states were small Rio de Janeiro, with Bahia, Pernambuco, and the much small Maranhao moving from south to north. The remaining state was Grao-Para which took up the entire northwest third of the country.
The period from 1789 through the present shows a pattern of an increasing number of states with some increase in territorial size, but mostly a reconfiguration or division of existing states for better administrative control of the land area. There was a more significant reconfiguration with the years of World War II in order to administer border areas directly from the government.
More recent changes to the states of Brazil occurred in 1960 with the Federal District carved from the state of Goias to become the site of Brasilia; the division of Mato Grosso in 1977 to become Mato Grosso in the north and Mato Grosso do Sul in the south. The final revision to the political outlines occurred in 1988 when the northern part of Goias became the new state of Tocantins. This <a href=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Brazil">current list of Brazilian states</a> and some of their vital statistics can be found here.
Most, if not all of these political changes seem to have occurred peacefully and for administrative reasons rather than other issues.
The political subdivision of upon which Brasilia sits has some characteristics of a state and others of a city, but is administered separately as the Federal District.
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World Factbook Brazil
The World Factbook - Brazil contains a wealth of information about the country. Information contained in the World Factbook - Brazil is prepared by the CIA.Model Brazil
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