|
The Federative Republic of Brazil is a union of twenty-seven Federative Units ((ポルトガル語:Unidades Federativas (UF))): twenty-six states (''estados'') and one federal district (''distrito federal''), where the federal capital, Brasília, is located. The states are generally based on historical, conventional borders which have developed over time. The Federal District is not a state in its own right, but shares some characteristics of a state as well as some of a municipality. The codes given below are defined in ISO 3166-2:BR. ==History== The present states of Brazil trace their history directly to the captaincies established by Portugal following the incursion, in 1500, into what would become Brazil. The first administrative divisions of Brazil were the hereditary captaincies (''capitanias hereditárias''), stretches of land granted by the Portuguese Crown to noblemen or merchants with a charter to colonize the land. Each of the holders of these captaincies was referred as a captain donatary (''capitão donatário''). These captaincies were to be passed from father to son, but the Crown retained the power of revoking it, which the King indeed did in the 16th century. In 1549, the Portuguese Crown appointed Tomé de Sousa as the first governor-general of the vast Portuguese dominion in South America. This dominion became collectively known as the State of Brazil (''Estado do Brasil''). In several periods of the history, the northern half of the dominion was detached from the State of Brazil, becoming a separate entity known as the State of Maranhão (note that ''Maranhão'' by then referred not only to current Maranhão, but rather to the whole of the Amazon region; the name ''marã-nã'' in old Tupi language means "wide river", i.e. the Amazon River). After the Iberian Union (1580–1640), the territory of Portuguese colonial domains in South America was more than doubled, and the land was divided into hereditary and royal captaincies, with the last of these being governed directly by the Crown. Unlike Spanish America, the whole territory kept united under a single governor-general (with the permanent title of viceroy after 1720), with a seat in Salvador (and after 1763, Rio de Janeiro). This situation contributed later to keeping Brazil as a unified nation-state and avoiding the fragmentation of the Spanish domains. In 1759, the hereditarily of the captaincies was totally abolished by the government of the Marquis of Pombal, with all captains becoming appointed by the Crown. The captaincies were officially renamed "provinces" on the 28 February 1821. With independence, in 1822, the former captaincies became provinces of the Empire of Brazil. Most internal borders were kept unchanged from the colonial period, generally following natural features such as rivers and mountain ridges. Minor changes were made to suit domestic politics (such as the Triângulo Mineiro from Goiás to Minas Gerais, the splitting of Paraná and ceding the south bank of the São Francisco River from Pernambuco to Bahia), as well as additions resulting from diplomatic settlement of territorial disputes by the end of the 19th century (Amapá, Roraima, Palmas). When Brazil became a republic in 1889, all provinces were immediately turned into states. In 1943, with the entrance of Brazil into the Second World War, the Vargas regime detached seven strategic territories from the border of the country in order to administer them directly: Amapá, Rio Branco, Acre, Guaporé, Ponta Porã, Iguaçu and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. After the war, the first three territories became states, with Rio Branco and Guaporé being renamed Roraima and Rondônia, respectively, whilst Ponta Porã and Iguaçu remained as territories. In 1988, Fernando de Noronha became part of Pernambuco. In 1960, the square-shaped Distrito Federal was carved out of Goiás in preparation for the new capital, Brasília. The previous federal district became Guanabara State until in 1975 it was merged with Rio de Janeiro State, retaining its name and with the municipality of Rio de Janeiro as its capital. In 1977, Mato Grosso was split into two states. The northern area retained the name Mato Grosso while the southern area became the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with Campo Grande as its capital. The new Mato Grosso do Sul incorporated the territory of Ponta Porã and the northern part of Iguaçu. Central Iguaçu went to Paraná, and southern Iguaçu went to Santa Catarina. In 1988, the northern portion of Goiás became Tocantins State, with Palmas as its capital. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「States of Brazil」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|