Brazil, regions and population (2010 Census)

The demographic censuses conducted in Brazil and worldwide are essential reference sources for the planning of public policies.

Before 1750 in Brazil, the information about the population did not have the purpose of counting the number of inhabitants: it was only data that the Portuguese Monarchy requested, such as reports from ecclesiastical authorities, colonial officials and churchgoers. In addition, there were the population estimates provided by the ombudsmen to the General Stewardship of Police. From 1750 on, the population survey began to have military objectives: to know who could be called, among the free and adult inhabitants to defend the colony.

In 1846, Brazil’s first census regulation was elaborated, which defined the periodicity of the census in an eight-year interval. However, the first census planned for 1852 was not carried out.

A new census regulation was established in 1870 and it was determined that the population count would take place every ten years covering the entire national territory. In 1871 the General Directory of Statistics was created and, one year later, the first census of Brazil was carried out, called Census of the Population of the Empire of Brazil. After this year, censuses took place in the years 1890, 1900, 1920, 1940-2010. The censuses of 1910 and 1930 were not carried out.

The General Directorate of Statistics was abolished and, in 1934, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) was created, which in 1936 was replaced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), whose mission is to portray Brazil with information necessary for the knowledge of its reality and the exercise of citizenship.

According to IBGE, the population evolution numbers for Brazil are:

Year   Inhabitants
1872   9,930,478
1890   14,333,915
1900   17,438,434
1920   30,635,605
1940   41,236,315
1950   51,944,397
1960   70,070,457
1970   93,139,037
1980   119,002,706
1991   146,825,475
2000   166,112,500
2010   190,755,799

Next, information from the 2010 Census (Brazil and its states by regions) is presented.

BRAZIL:

Capital: Brasília
Population: 190,755,799 habitantes
Area (Km2): 8,502,728.269 Km2
States: 27
Municipalities: 5,565

Regiões:

NORDESTE:

NORTH:

MIDWEST:

SOUTHEAST:

SOUTH:

sources consulted

ANTES e depois do primeiro censo. Vou te Contar: revista do Censo 2000. Rio de Janeiro, n. 1, p. 5, mar. 2000. Disponível em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/censo/revista1.pdf>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2011.

DADOS históricos dos Censos. Disponível em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica
/populacao/censohistorico/default.shtm>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2011.

IBGE. Estados@. Disponível em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/estadosat/>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2011.

IBGE-PAÍSES. Disponível em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/paisesat/main.php>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2011.

IBGE. Histórico. Disponível em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/disseminacao
/eventos/missao/instituicao.shtm>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2011.

how to quote this text

BARBOSA, Virgínia (Org. e compilação). Brazil, regions and population (2010 Census). In: PESQUISA Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2011. Available from: https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/pt-br/artigo/brasil-regioes-populacao-censo-2010/. Access on: Month. day, year. (Ex.: Aug. 6, 2021.)