Brazil: cities by population
Brazil has a population of 213,562,666 (UN estimate, 2026), with Brasilia as its capital. The 50 largest of its 5,639 recorded towns and cities, ranked.
+23%
since 2000 (174,018,282)
+2%
projected by 2050 (217,489,299)
26
people per km²
Figures are the latest available in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), which draws on national censuses of varying dates — treat them as recent, not same-year. Country totals are UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant) where the UN lists the country separately; the handful it reports under a parent state keep a GeoNames figure and are marked as such. Sources & method.
Largest cities in Brazil
| # | Place | Region | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Paulo | São Paulo | 12,400,232 |
| 2 | Rio de Janeiro | Rio de Janeiro | 6,747,815 |
| 3 | Belo Horizonte | Minas Gerais | 2,721,564 |
| 4 | Salvador | Bahia | 2,711,840 |
| 5 | Fortaleza | Ceará | 2,400,000 |
| 6 | Manaus | Amazonas | 2,219,580 |
| 7 | Brasília | Federal District | 2,207,718 |
| 8 | Curitiba | Paraná | 1,948,626 |
| 9 | Recife | Pernambuco | 1,653,461 |
| 10 | Goiânia | Goiás | 1,536,097 |
| 11 | Belém | Pará | 1,499,641 |
| 12 | Porto Alegre | Rio Grande do Sul | 1,488,252 |
| 13 | Guarulhos | São Paulo | 1,345,364 |
| 14 | Maceió | Alagoas | 1,031,597 |
| 15 | Campinas | São Paulo | 1,031,554 |
| 16 | São Luís | Maranhão | 917,237 |
| 17 | Campo Grande | Mato Grosso do Sul | 906,092 |
| 18 | Natal | Rio Grande do Norte | 896,708 |
| 19 | Teresina | Piauí | 871,126 |
| 20 | Duque de Caxias | Rio de Janeiro | 866,347 |
| 21 | Nova Iguaçu | Rio de Janeiro | 843,046 |
| 22 | São Bernardo do Campo | São Paulo | 840,499 |
| 23 | João Pessoa | Paraíba | 817,511 |
| 24 | Sorocaba | São Paulo | 762,172 |
| 25 | Uberlândia | Minas Gerais | 754,954 |
| 26 | Osasco | São Paulo | 728,615 |
| 27 | São José dos Campos | São Paulo | 727,078 |
| 28 | Ribeirão Preto | São Paulo | 698,642 |
| 29 | Aracaju | Sergipe | 664,908 |
| 30 | Joinville | Santa Catarina | 664,500 |
| 31 | Santo André | São Paulo | 662,373 |
| 32 | Jaboatão dos Guararapes | Pernambuco | 644,037 |
| 33 | Contagem | Minas Gerais | 627,123 |
| 34 | Cuiabá | Mato Grosso | 618,124 |
| 35 | Feira de Santana | Bahia | 616,272 |
| 36 | Londrina | Paraná | 581,382 |
| 37 | Porto Velho | Rondônia | 548,952 |
| 38 | Juiz de Fora | Minas Gerais | 540,756 |
| 39 | Ananindeua | Pará | 535,547 |
| 40 | Aparecida de Goiânia | Goiás | 527,796 |
| 41 | Serra | Espírito Santo | 520,653 |
| 42 | Belford Roxo | Rio de Janeiro | 518,384 |
| 43 | Niterói | Rio de Janeiro | 515,317 |
| 44 | Macapá | Amapá | 512,902 |
| 45 | Florianópolis | Santa Catarina | 508,826 |
| 46 | Campos dos Goytacazes | Rio de Janeiro | 483,540 |
| 47 | São José do Rio Preto | São Paulo | 480,393 |
| 48 | Caxias do Sul | Rio Grande do Sul | 479,599 |
| 49 | São João de Meriti | Rio de Janeiro | 466,536 |
| 50 | Campina Grande | Paraíba | 443,911 |
Twenty years earlier: Brazil in the 2005 World Gazetteer — population then 181,823,645.
Common questions
What is the population of Brazil?
Brazil has a population of 213,562,666, the UN World Population Prospects estimate for 2026. The UN's medium-variant projection for 2050 is 217,489,299 — a forecast, not a measurement.
What is the capital of Brazil?
Brasilia. The largest place we record there is São Paulo, with 12,400,232 people.