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)