The urban hierarchy of Brazil places Brazil's cities into categories: global cities, national metropolises, regional metropolises, regional capitols (A, B and C), sub-regional centers (A and B) and zone centers (A, B and C).

Urban hierarchy

Global cities

Brazil's global cities possess areas of influence that surpass the country's borders. Brazil's global cities are the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

National metropolises

Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are Brazil's national metropolises. They are the first level of territorial management, providing a focus for centers located in all parts of Brazil.

Regional metropolises

Regional metropolises constitute the second level of territorial management, and influence the surrounding macro-region where they are located. Brazil's regional metropolises include Curitiba,

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, Porto Alegre, Goiânia,

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

, Recife,

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Belém and

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

Regional capitals

The regional capitol is the third level of territorial management, and influences its state and its surrounding states. These are subdivided into: A regional capitols (cities such as Natal, Campinas,

Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a populat ...

and Vitória); B regional capitols (cities such as

Caxias do Sul Caxias do Sul (), is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, situated in the state's mountainous Serra Gaúcha region. It was established by Italian immigrants on June 20, 1890. Today it is the second largest city in the state of Rio Gr ...

, Chapecó, Porto Velho and Campina Grande) and C regional capitols (cities such as Campos,

Caruaru Caruaru is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco. The most populous city in the interior of the state, Caruaru is located in the microzone of Agreste and because of its cultural importance, it is nicknamed ''Capital do Agreste'' (Por ...

, Governador Valadares and Mossoró).

Sub-regional centers

Sub-regional centers possess influence over cities that are within close proximity, and nearby towns and rural areas as well. These are subdivided into: A sub-regional centers (cities such as Alfenas, Anápolis, São Mateus and

Umuarama Umuarama is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. Its population was 112,500 inhabitants in 2020. Umuarama is one of the most important cities in Paraná, one of the three states of southern Brazil. The city elevation is 430 m (1,3 ...

) and B sub-regional centers (

Afogados da Ingazeira Afogados da Ingazeira (''Jamestown'') is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco. The estimated population in 2020, according with IBGE, was 37,404 and the total area is . It has a population density of 97 inhabitants per square kilom ...

, Cacoal,

Caratinga Caratinga is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The population in 2020 was 92,603 inhabitants and the total area of the municipality was 1,251 km2. The elevation is 578 meters above sea level, w ...

and

Tefé Tefé, known in early accounts as Teffé, is a municipality in the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil. Location Tefé is located about 525 km by air or 595 km by river to the west of Manaus on the south bank of the Rio Solimões (th ...

Zone centers

The zone centers are the cities or towns that have an important regional influence, but limited to the immediate surrounding area, and exercising elementary management functions. These are subdivided into two levels: A zone centers (cities such as Tabatinga,

Lagoa Vermelha Lagoa Vermelha is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 27,778. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio Grande ...

, Lins and Três de Maio) and B zone centers (towns such as Afonso Cláudio,

Eirunepé Eirunepé is a Brazilian municipality in the southwest part of the state of Amazonas, about 1,150 kilometers a straight line from Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-l ...

, São Bento and Taió).

References

External links

*
IBGE mostra a nova dinâmica da rede urbana brasileira
* {{in lang, pt}
SUBSÍDIOS À CARACTERIZAÇÃO E TENDÊNCIAS DA REDE URBANA DO BRASIL
Urban planning Urban geography Demographics of Brazil