Brazil has a high level of urbanization with 87.8% of the population residing in urban and metropolitan areas. The criteria used by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in determining whether households are urban or rural, however, are based on political divisions, not on the developed environment. Its most populous city is São Paulo.
Nowadays, the country has 5,571 cities, with 5,569 municipalities plus the capital (BrasÃÂlia) and the Island of Fernando de Noronha.
With two exceptions, the state capitals are all the largest cities in their respective states: Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina is its second-largest city after Joinville, while Vitória is only the fourth-largest city in EspÃÂrito Santo, although it is located in that state's largest metropolitan area.
This is a list of the most populous cities based on the population of the municipality where the city is located, rather than its metropolitan area. As IBGE considers the entire Federal District synonymous to BrasÃÂlia, the population of the Federal District is shown for BrasÃÂlia.