Provinces of Brazil


The provinces of Brazil were the primary subdivisions of the country during the period of the Empire of Brazil.
On February 28, 1821, provinces were established in the Kingdom of Brazil superseding the captaincies that were in place at the time.

Provinces of 1821

NameEntity sinceNote
Alagoas Province1817Capitania de Alagoas split from the Capitania de Pernambuco
Bahia Province1501
Ceará Province1822
Cisplatina Province1821Oriental Province
Espírito Santo Province1534
Goiás Province1744Capitania Geral de Goiás split from Capitania Geral de São Paulo
Grão-Pará Province1775
Maranhão Province1535
Mato Grosso Province1748
Minas Gerais Province1720
Paraíba Province1574
Piaui Province1718Split from the Estado do Maranhão as the Capitania do Piauí
Pernambuco Province1534
Rio de Janeiro Province1565
Rio Grande do Norte Province1530created as the Capitania do Rio Grande
Santa Catarina Province1738Capitania de Santa Catarina split from the Capitania de São Paulo
São Paulo Province1720Capitania de São Paulo split from the Capitania de São Paulo e Minas de Ouro
São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul Province1760
Sergipe Province1590

Changes from 1821-1889

1821

The captaincies of Brazil are renamed provinces.
The present-day Uruguay is occupied by the Portuguese Army and incorporated in Brazil as its Cisplatine Province.

1822

Independence of Brazil, with the provinces becoming provinces of the Empire of Brazil.

1823

The last Brazilian provinces that remained loyal to the Portuguese Government in Lisbon adhere to the Empire of Brazil.

1828

Cisplatina Province became the independent state of Uruguay.

1834

, the imperial capital, was removed from the Province of Rio de Janeiro, and was included in the Neutral Municipality. At the same time, the capital of the Province of Rio de Janeiro was transferred to Niterói.

1850

Grão-Pará Province split into Amazonas Province and Pará Province.

1889

In 1889 the Empire of Brazil became the Republic of the United States of Brazil and the provinces became states. The Neutral Municipality that included Rio de Janeiro City became the :pt:Distrito Federal do Brasil |Federal District.