MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The Brazilian population reached 192.37 million on July first

The state and city of Sao Paulo remain the most populated

The Brazilian population grew by 1.62 million between 2010 and 2011 according to the latest data from the country’s Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE, which means that on July first the total number of inhabitants was 192.37 million.

In 2010, the population of South America’s largest country was 190.75 million and back in 2000, it was 169.79 million.

According to IBGE Sao Paulo remains as the most populated city in Brazil with 11.3 million followed by Rio do Janeiro with 6.35 million; Salvador de Bahía, 2.7 million; Brasilia, 2.6 million and Fortaleza, 2.47 million.

Brasilia which back in 2000 ranked sixth now has moved to the fourth place while Belo Horizonte dropped from position four to six.

The state of Sao Paulo is also the most populated with 41 million inhabitants, or 21.6% of the total population of the country, followed by Minas Gerais with 19.7 million (10.3%) and Rio do Janeiro with 16.1 million (8.4%).

The state of Roraima to the north of Brazil has the least population with 460.000 which is equivalent to 0.2% of total population.

The 27 state capitals of Brazil hold 45.9 million people or 23.8% of the country’s total population.