The current political division of Brazil: 26 states, 3.288 million mi² and 209.5 million people
The first political division of Brazil is by region: North, Northeast, Southeast, South and Central
As per the Treaty of Tordesillas, until the 19th century, only the area on the right of the Tordesillas line belonged to Brazil. The portion on the left belonged to Spain. The first attempt to colonise Brazil was based on dividing it in 15 Hereditary Captaincies, as shown on coloured stripped areas
The distribution of the indigenous tribes in the coast of Brazil in the16th century
This was the route taken by the Portuguese Conquistador Pedro Alvares Cabral when he discovered Brazil
Major slave trading regions of Africa from 15th to 19th century
Map of the Portuguese Empire. The years are stated in brackets
Area occupied by the Dutch in the 17th century
Map of Porto Calvo drawn by the Dutch in the 17th century. By comparing it to the modern city maps, the archeologists discovered forts foundations that remained buried for over 300 years
Map of the location of the Quilombo dos Palmares
Map of the State of Bahia, the first capital of Brazil. Bahia houses the largest population of people with African descent in the world
Map of the modern State of Pernambuco. Though they share the name, the Captaincy of Pernambuco occupied a much different area from the state. Please refer to the Hereditary Captaincies
A map of Minas Gerais of the 18th century showing the demarcations of the main mining areas
Map of modern-day Sao Paulo state, divided by municipalities. Sao Paulo is home to 44.5 million people
Map of the modern State of Rio de Janeiro. With a population of 16.5 million, Rio de Janeiro is the third most populated state of Brazil
