The municipalities of Brazil (), also known as the counties of Brazil, are the administrative divisions of the Brazilian states. Brazil currently has 5,571 municipalities, which, given the 2026 population estimate of 214,211,951, 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 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 cannot be divided into municipalities, which is why its territory is composed of several 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 states, as well as those of the municipalities, thus simultaneously assuming all the obligations arising from them.
The 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 () and a legislative body called municipal chamber (). 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 municipal elections were held in 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. However, municipal governments have no judicial power per se, and courts are only organised at the state or federal level. A subdivision of the state judiciary, or , 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 (), 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. However, these must abide by the Brazilian Constitution, and forming exclaves or seceding from the state or union is expressly forbidden.
Statistics CodeStateMunicipalitiesMain0122Municipalities of Acre02102Municipalities of Alagoas0316Municipalities of Amapá0462Municipalities of Amazonas05417Municipalities of Bahia06184Municipalities of Ceará0778Municipalities of Espírito Santo08246Municipalities of Goiás09217Municipalities of Maranhão10142Municipalities of Mato Grosso1179Municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul12853Municipalities of Minas Gerais13144Municipalities of Pará14223Municipalities of Paraíba15399Municipalities of Paraná16184Municipalities of Pernambuco17224Municipalities of Piauí1892Municipalities of Rio de Janeiro19167Municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte20497Municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul2152Municipalities of Rondônia2215Municipalities of Roraima23295Municipalities of Santa Catarina24645Municipalities of São Paulo2575Municipalities of Sergipe26139Municipalities of Tocantins
Ranking of municipalities
By population
RankMunicipalityStatePopulation (2026)1São PauloSão Paulo11,911,3372Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro6,731,1333BrasíliaFederal District3,009,9964FortalezaCeará2,582,3605SalvadorBahia2,559,9456Belo HorizonteMinas Gerais2,415,4517ManausAmazonas2,327,1018CuritibaParaná1,832,1839RecifePernambuco1,588,98310GoiâniaGoiás1,511,7095571Serra da SaudadeMinas Gerais8575570AnhangueraGoiás9065569BoráSão Paulo9355568AraguainhaMato Grosso9895567Nova CastilhoSão Paulo1,070
By area Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. RankMunicipalityStateArea (km²)1AltamiraPará159,533.32BarcelosAmazonas122,453.43São Gabriel da CachoeiraAmazonas108,700.14OriximináPará107,560.15TapauáAmazonas84,697.76São Félix do XinguPará84,212.87Atalaia do NorteAmazonas76,313.48AlmeirimPará72,968.59JutaíAmazonas68,971.110LábreaAmazonas68,349.95571Águas de São PedroSão Paulo3,35570Santa Cruz de MinasMinas Gerais3,55569São Caetano do SulSão Paulo15,45568JandiraSão Paulo17,15567PoáSão Paulo17,2
See also List of cities in South America Lists of cities
References
External links
Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics