A microregion (Portuguese: Microrregião) is a legally defined area in Brazil consisting of a group of municipalities. Microregions are grouped together into mesoregions. In theory, Brazilian law provides for member municipalities to co-operate on matters of common interest, but in practice, the divisions are used primarily or statistical purposes by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.
As of 2014[update], there are 5569 municipalities, divided over 557 microregions and 136 mesoregions: