GEO Brasil - UNEP

From that time on, demographic
concentrations in intermediate- and
large-sized urban agglomerations are
intensified Those municipalities with
more than 100 thousand and less than
200 thousand inhabitants reported a
nine-fold growth in population during
the period 1940-1980 Those
municipalities with a population
ranging from 200 thousand to 500
thousand inhabitants jumped from
eleven in 1960 to 76 in 2000, which is
nearly a seven-time difference There
were only two cities with over half a
million inhabitants in 1940; 14 cities in
1980; and 31 cities in 2000
Graph 5 - Evolution of birth and mortality rates in Brazil - 1881/2000
(por mil)
50.0
45.0
40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
1881 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2000
the state of the environment in Brazil
Cities with more than one million
inhabitants – only two in 1960, Sao
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro –, became
five in 1970; 10 in 1980; and finally 13
in 2000 These figures become more
meaningful if compared to data on
Brazil in 1872, a time when the total
population of the ten largest cities was
below one million inhabitants – only
815 thousand inhabitants
These figures unveil a new reality of
macro urbanisation and
metropolisation However, when
demographic figures regarding either
direct agglomerations or those in the
immediate outskirts of these large
cities are taken into account, the
demographic concentration picture is
substantially magnified
Source: IBGE - National Atlas of Brazil - 2000
Table 7 - Average geometric rate of annual growth
Brazil and Regions - 1940/1996
REGIONS
Average geometric rate of annual growth (%)
1940/1950 1950/1960 1960/1970 1970/1980 1980/1991 1991/1996
Brazil 2.39 2.99 2.89 2.48 1.93 1.38
North 2.29 3.34 3.47 5.02 3.85 2.44
Northeast 2.27 2.08 2.4 2.16 1.83 1.06
Southeast 2.14 3.06 2.67 2.64 1.77 1.35
South 3.25 4.07 3.45 1.44 1.38 1.24
Midwest 3.41 5.36 5.6 4.05 3.01 2.22
Sources: IBGE National Atlas of Brazil - 2000
During the 1990’s, migration dynamics
in Brazil undergo changes as two
complementary trends of the current
spatial distribution of population are
strengthened On the one hand, the
Southeast Region remains as a
centralising area and keeps pulling
migrants both towards its metropolitan area and to its dynamic, moderate-sized
cities On the other hand, the new migration trends towards rural areas refer to
the people who move towards dynamic agricultural hubs, such as the States of
Goias, Mato Grosso, Rondonia and Tocantins (situated in the soybean expansion
zone) Even though the migratory flows are geared towards agricultural areas,
the output of this process will concentrate in the urban peripheries of these
regions (Graph 6 and Map 3)
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