Editing Geography of Brazil (section)

==Geographic regions==
{{Main|Regions of Brazil}}
Brazil's 26 [[States of Brazil|states]] and the [[Federal District (Brazil)|Federal District]] (Distrito Federal) are divided conventionally into five regions: [[North Region, Brazil|North]] (Norte), Northeast (Nordeste), [[Southeast Region, Brazil|Southeast]] (Sudeste), [[Southern Region, Brazil|South]] (Sul), and [[Center-West Region, Brazil|Center-West]] (Centro-Oeste).<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 2015 there were 5,570 [[municipal]]ities (municípios),{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} which have municipal governments.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Many municipalities, which are comparable to United States counties, are in turn divided into [[district]]s (distritos), which do not have [[Politics|political]] or [[Administrative division|administrative]] [[autonomy]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 2015 there were 10,424 districts.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} All municipal and district seats, regardless of size, are considered officially to be urban.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> For purely statistical purposes, the municipalities were grouped in 1990 into 558 micro-regions, which in turn constituted 137 meso-regions.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> This grouping modified the previous micro-regional division established in 1968, a division that was used to present census data for 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

Each of the five major regions has a distinct [[ecosystem]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Administrative boundaries do not necessarily coincide with ecological boundaries, however.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In addition to differences in [[physical environment]], patterns of [[economic activity]] and population settlement vary widely among the regions.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The principal ecological characteristics of each of the five major regions, as well as their principal socioeconomic and demographic features, are summarized below.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

{{Detailed map of Brazil}}

=== Center-West ===
{{Main|Center-West Region, Brazil}}
[[File:Pantanal em Itiquira.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pantanal]] wetland]]
The Center-West consists of the states of [[Goiás]], [[Mato Grosso]], [[Mato Grosso do Sul]] (separated from Mato Grosso in 1979) and the [[Federal District (Brazil)|Federal District]], where [[Brasília]] is located, the national capital.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Until 1988 Goiás State included the area that then became the state of Tocantins in the North.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

The Center-West has {{convert|1612077|km2|sqmi|0|sp=us}} and covers 18.9% of the national territory.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Its main biome is the [[cerrado]], the tropical savanna in which natural grassland is partly covered with twisted shrubs and small trees.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The cerrado was used for low-density cattle-raising in the past but is now also used for soybean production.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> There are [[gallery forest]]s along the rivers and streams and some larger areas of forest, most of which have been cleared for [[farming]] and [[livestock]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In the north, the cerrado blends into tropical forest.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> It also includes the [[Pantanal]] [[wetland]]s in the west, known for their wildlife, especially aquatic birds and [[caiman]]s.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In the early 1980s, 33.6% of the region had been altered by anthropic activities, with a low of 9.3% in Mato Grosso and a high of 72.9% in Goiás (not including Tocantins).<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1996 the Center-West region had 10.2 million inhabitants, or 6% of Brazil's total population.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The average density is low, with concentrations in and around the cities of [[Brasília]], [[Goiânia]], [[Campo Grande]], and [[Cuiabá]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Living standards are below the national average.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1994 they were highest in the Federal District, with per capita income of US$7,089 (the highest in the nation), and lowest in Mato Grosso, with US$2,268.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

=== Northeast ===
{{Main|Northeast Region, Brazil}}
[[File:Belezas da Chapada Diamantina 09.JPG|thumb|[[Chapada Diamantina]] region in Bahia]]
The nine states that make up the Northeast are [[Alagoas]], [[Bahia]], [[Ceará]], [[Maranhão]], [[Paraíba]], [[Pernambuco]], [[Piauí]], Rio Grande do Norte, and [[Sergipe]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The [[Fernando de Noronha]] archipelago (formerly the federal territory of [[Fernando de Noronha]], now part of [[Pernambuco]] state) is also included in the Northeast.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

The Northeast, with {{convert|1561178|km2|sqmi|0|sp=us}}, covers 18.3% of the national terrest concentration of rural population, and its living standards are the lowest in Brazil.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1994 Piauí had the lowest per capita income in the region and the country, only US$835, while Sergipe had the highest average income in the region, with US$1,958.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

=== North ===
{{Main|North Region, Brazil}}
[[File:Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest.jpg|thumb|An area of the [[Amazon rainforest]]]]
The equatorial North, also known as the Amazon or [[Amazônia]], includes, from west to east, the states of [[Rondônia]], Acre, [[Amazonas State, Brazil|Amazonas]], [[Roraima]], [[Pará]], [[Amapá]], and, as of 1988, [[Tocantins (state)|Tocantins]] (created from the northern part of Goiás State, which is situated in the Center-West).<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Rondônia, previously a federal territory, became a state in 1986.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The former federal territories of Roraima and Amapá were raised to statehood in 1988.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

With {{convert|3869638|km2|sqmi|0|sp=us}}, the North is the country's largest region, covering 45.3% of the national territory.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The region's principal [[biome]] is the humid [[tropical forest]], also known as the rain forest, home to some of the planet's richest [[biological diversity]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The North has served as a source of forest products ranging from "backlands drugs" (such as [[Smilax regelii|sarsaparilla]], [[cocoa bean|cocoa]], [[cinnamon]], and [[turtle|turtle butter]]) in the colonial period to rubber and [[Brazil nut]]s in more recent times.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In the mid-twentieth century, non-forest products from [[mining]], [[farming]], and livestock-raising became more important, and in the 1980s the [[lumber industry]] boomed.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1990, 6.6% of the region's territory was considered altered by anthropic (man-made) action, with state levels varying from 0.9% in Amapá to 14.0% in Rondônia.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

In 1996 the North had 11.1 million inhabitants, only 7% of the national total.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> However, its share of Brazil's total had grown rapidly in the 1970s and early 1980s as a result of interregional migration, as well as high rates of natural increase.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The largest population concentrations are in eastern Pará State and in Rondônia.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The major cities are [[Belém]] and [[Santarém, Pará|Santarém]] in Pará, and [[Manaus]] in Amazonas.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Living standards are below the national average.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The highest [[per capita income]], US$2,888, in the region in 1994, was in Amazonas, while the lowest, US$901, was in Tocantins.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

=== Southeast ===
{{Main|Southeast Region, Brazil}}
[[File:1 leblon aerial 2014.jpg|thumb|View of [[Rio de Janeiro]]]]
The Southeast consists of the four states of [[Espírito Santo]], [[Minas Gerais]], [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]], and [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Its total area of {{convert|927286|km2|sqmi|0|sp=us}} corresponds to 10.9% of the national territory.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The region has the largest share of the country's population, 63 million in 1991, or 39% of the national total, primarily as a result of internal migration since the mid-19th century until the 1980s.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In addition to a dense urban network, it contains the megacities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which in 1991 had 18.7 million and 11.7 million inhabitants in their metropolitan areas, respectively.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The region combines the highest living standards in Brazil with pockets of urban poverty.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1994 São Paulo boasted an average income of US$4,666, while Minas Gerais reported only US$2,833.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

Originally, the principal biome in the Southeast was the Atlantic Forest, but by 1990 less than 10% of the original forest cover remained as a result of clearing for farming, ranching, and charcoal making.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Anthropic activity had altered 79.7% of the region, ranging from 75% in Minas Gerais to 91.1% in Espírito Santo.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The region has most of Brazil's [[industrialization|industrial production]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The state of São Paulo alone accounts for half of the country's industries.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Agriculture, also very strong, has diversified and now uses modern technology.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

=== South ===
{{Main|Southern Region, Brazil}}
[[Image:Cambirela, morro, neve, vista do morro da cruz - Daniel Queiroz - 23julho2013-IMG 6746.jpg|right|thumb|Snow in mountains near [[Florianópolis]], [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]]]]
The three states in the temperate South: [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], [[Rio Grande do Sul]], and [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]]—cover {{convert|577214|km2|sqmi|0|sp=us}}, or 6.8% of the national territory.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The population of the South in 1991 was 23.1 million, or 14% of the country's total.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The region is almost as densely settled as the Southeast, but the population is more concentrated along the coast.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The major cities are [[Curitiba]] and [[Porto Alegre]].<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> The inhabitants of the South enjoy relatively high living standards.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> Because of its industry and agriculture, Paraná had the highest average income in 1994, US$3,674, while Santa Catarina, a land of small farmers and small industries, had slightly less, US$3,405.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />

In addition to the [[Atlantic Forest]] and [[Araucaria moist forests]], much of which were cleared in the post-World War II period, the southernmost portion of Brazil contains the [[Uruguayan savanna]], which extends into [[Argentina]] and Uruguay.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> In 1982, 83.5% of the region had been altered by anthropic activity, with the highest level (89.7%) in Rio Grande do Sul, and the lowest (66.7%) in Santa Catarina.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> [[Agriculture]]—much of which, such as [[rice]] production, is carried out by small farmers—has high levels of productivity.<ref name="Hudson-1998" /> There are also some important industries.<ref name="Hudson-1998" />