Brazil

Twenty-six states and the Federal District

Brazil covers almost half of South America, and its 27 federal units are each the size of a small country. The coast gets most visitors: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Bahia for Salvador's old town, then Pernambuco and Ceará for the northeastern beaches. The Federal District — Brasília, Oscar Niemeyer's planned capital — is an easy tick for anyone flying through, since it's the country's main hub.

The interior is where the checklist gets serious. Amazonas means Manaus and a river trip; Pará adds Belém and the Amazon delta. Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul share the Pantanal, the best place on the continent to see jaguars. The three southern states — Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul — feel closer to Europe than to the Amazon, with Iguaçu Falls on the Paraná side as the headline. Acre, Roraima, and Amapá, the far-flung frontier states, are the ones that separate the serious collectors from everyone else.

Marking the map

Click a state once to mark it visited and again for want-to-go. Brazil's states pair naturally with the country's UNESCO sites — Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, the Pantanal, the historic centers of Salvador and Olinda — if you want a second list to chase on the same trip.

Regions, not just states

Brazilians think in five regions, and it helps to plan that way. The Southeast (São Paulo, Rio, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo) is where most trips start and where the colonial towns of Minas — Ouro Preto, Tiradentes, Diamantina — reward a week by car. The Northeast is nine states of beaches and Afro-Brazilian culture, best collected along the coast from Salvador up to Fortaleza. The South is three states with German and Italian roots, wine country, and Iguaçu. The Center-West is Brasília and the Pantanal. The North is the Amazon, six states most visitors never reach, and the difference between a full map and a nearly full one.