Brazil has 87,362 areas classified by locality, that is, every place in the national territory where there is a permanent cluster of inhabitants. The finding was released this Monday (24)in Rio de Janeiro, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The research is part of the 2022 Census, conducted by the institute, and represents an expansion of 65,476 in relation to the previous census, in 2010, when Brazil had 21,886 locations.
Among the locations mentioned are cities, towns, urban centers, villages, hamlets, rural centers, indigenous locations, quilombola locations and agricultural villages of the settlement projects.
IBGE stated that the update that multiplied the number of these clusters by four is explained by technical issues.
“This growth appears in all mapped categories and is linked both to the improvement of mapping tools and to the improvement of the methodology used by the Institute”, he informed. One of the mapping methods used is high spatial resolution satellite images.
The institute emphasizes that mapping is not limited only to political-administrative limits. It also takes into account how people live, use and name places.
IBGE’s Mesh and Territorial Planning manager, Felipe Leitão, considers that identifying these locations enriches the geographic analysis of the distribution of the Brazilian population, recognizing that the locations “do not exist only as geographic categories and official statistics, but mainly as spaces of daily life and social significance”.
Regional differences
According to the institute, the data reveals marked differences between the country’s regions, with the South and Southeast concentrating more locations in urban situations, that is, classified as cities, towns or urban centers.
“On the other hand, the North and Northeast have the largest absolute numbers of villages and hamlets, strengthening the image of a Brazil in which the rural world is still very present and diverse.”
The North and Northeast also stand out with the largest number of indigenous and quilombola locations.
The Census had revealed that the country has more than 8,400 quilombola locations and around 8,500 indigenous locations.
The IBGE points out that the detailed data It is useful for activities such as service logistics, infrastructure, tourism, distribution of health and education services and environmental conservation, among others.
“It is also a rich tool for academic investigations and the development and monitoring of public policies”, concluded the IBGE.
