Federations of the World

Federation Maps and Fact Sheets

Brazil
Federalism goes back to 1891
Current Federal constitution adopted in 1988
Official Website of the federal government of Brazil (Portugese)

Constituent units

• 26 states: Acre; Alagoas; Amapá; Amazonas; Bahia; Ceará; Espírito Santo; Goiás; Maranhão; Mato Grosso; Mato Grosso do Sul; Minas Gerais; Pará; Paraíba; Paraná; Pernambuco; Piauí; Rio de Janeiro; Rio Grande do Norte; Rio Grande do Sul; Rondônia; Roraima; Santa Catarina; São Paulo; Sergipe; Tocantins.
  Federal Capital District (Brasília)
  • Map of Brazil and short description of each state
  • Official Websites of state governments: following federal institutions links (Portuguese)

Constitutional distribution of powers

• Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil
  • Powers of the Union (articles 21, 22)
  • The Federated states (article 25)
  • Common powers (article 23)
  • Concurrent powers (article 24)
    (Source: Senado Federal)

Legislative institutions

• Federal: National Congress composed of a Federal Senate (Senado Federal) and Chamber of Deputies (Câmara dos Deputados). The Senate is composed of three Senators from each state and from the Federal Capital District; the Senators are directly elected.
  • Fact sheet on the Federal Senate of Brazil
  • Official Website of the Federal Senate (Portuguese)
  • Official Website of the Chamber of Deputies (Portuguese)
• States: Unicameral legislatures

Official language: Portuguese

Other links of interest

• Fact sheet on the constitution of Brazil
• Political Organization
• Occupation of the Territory
• History (French)
• Population (French)
• Federations magazine (Forum of Federations), notably:
  • Brazil's new government: Ready to reform taxes?, Vol. 3. No. 1 / February-March 2003 (PDF)
  • The Practitioner's page: Cesario Melantonio Neto of Brazil, Vol. 1, No. 5 / Summer 2001 (PDF)