![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/ARCHELLA_E_THERY_Img_06.png/640px-ARCHELLA_E_THERY_Img_06.png&w=640&q=50)
List of cities in Brazil by population
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brazil has a high level of urbanization with 87.8%[1] of the population residing in urban and metropolitan areas. The criteria used by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)[2] in determining whether households are urban or rural, however, are based on political divisions, not on the developed environment.
![A map of Brazil, with purple circles denoting areas of high population in the year 2000. A large majority of the circles line Brazil's eastern coast.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/ARCHELLA_E_THERY_Img_06.png/320px-ARCHELLA_E_THERY_Img_06.png)
Nowadays, the country has 5,570 cities, with 5,568 municipalities plus the capital (Brasília) and the Island of Fernando de Noronha.[3]
With two exceptions, the state capitals are all the largest cities in their respective states: Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina is its second-largest city after Joinville, while Vitória is only the fourth-largest city in Espírito Santo, although it is located in that state's largest metropolitan area.