State of Brazil

State of Brazil
Estado do Brasil
State of the Portuguese Empire
1549–1815
Flag Coat of arms
The State of Brazil in 1709
Capital		Salvador (1645-1763) Rio de Janeiro (1763-1815)
Languages		Portuguese
Religion		Roman Catholicism
Government		Absolute Monarchy
Monarch
•	1621-1640	Philip IV of Spain (Philip III of Portugal)
•	1750–1777	Joseph I of Portugal
Governor General/Viceroy
•	1621	Luís de Sousa
•	1806	Marcos de Noronha e Brito
History
•	End of hereditary captaincies	1549
•	Transference of the capital to Rio de Janeiro	1763
•	Inconfidência Mineira	1792
•	Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil	22 January 1808
•	Elevation of Brazil to Kingdom	16 December 1815
Currency		Portuguese Real
Preceded by Succeeded by Governorate General of Brazil State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro State of Maranhão and Piauí United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves

The State of Brazil (Portuguese: Estado do Brasil) was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil.

In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was separated into two states, the State of Brazil and the State of Maranhão. The state was created in June 13, 1621 by Philip II of Portugal.

With the creation of the state, Portuguese America now had two administrative units: the State of Maranhão, with its capital in São Luís, Maranhão, and the State of Brazil, whose capital was São Salvador.

The State of Brazil became a Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.

The State of Brazil originally included 12 of the original 15 captaincies, all except Ceará (which became subordinate to Pernambuco later) and Maranhão, two parts, which included the subcaptaincy of Para west of the Tordesillas Line at that time (north to south):