IBGE fosters debate on new classification of rural and urban spaces
July 31, 2017 10h00 AM | Last Updated: September 04, 2017 09h32 AM
The publication Classification and characterization of rural and urban spaces of Brazil - a first approach, released today by the IBGE, proposes the discussion of the criteria used in the delimitation of the national territory. The objective of the study is to improve the dissemination of the Population Census 2020 and provide society with advances in the distinction between rural and urban areas to be used as a reference in the design of public policies and private planning. According to the new proposal, 76% of the population was "urban" in 2010, whereas the classification used nowadays, by means of a municipal law, indicates a figure of 84.4%.
The study presents a classification of the rural and urban spaces by municipality and establishes the same criteria for the whole country. There are three basic criteria for such classification: demographic density, localization in relation to the main urban centers and population size. After the analysis of the criteria, the municipalities were classified as "urban", "rural" or "intermediate". The methodology applied is in line with that of international organizations, such as the European Union, and of countries as the Unites States. Therefore, comparability with Brazilian results is made possible.
Through an analysis of well-accepted approaches in the international and academic scopes, the publication fosters the discussion of a new rural-urban delimitation in line with the initiatives of the New Urban Agenda, adopted by the 167 countries participating in the Unites Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) and by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The publication is available in digital format on the Interactive Geographic Platform which gathers in the same atmosphere all the information comprised in the project.
Classification of the municipalities according to rural-urban typology, by Major regions and population
| Rural-urban typology | Municipalities and total population (quantity and percentage) | Brazil | North | Northeast | Southeast | South | Centrl-West |
| Urban | Number of municipalities | 1,456 | 85 | 307 | 625 | 312 | 127 |
| % municipalities in relation to Major Region | 26.16 | 18,93 | 17,11 | 37,47 | 26,26 | 27,25 | |
| Total population, according to 2010 Census | 144,765,500 | 10.522.570 | 31.472.716 | 70.641.832 | 20.916.325 | 11.212.057 | |
| % total pop, according to 2010 Census | 75.89 | 66,33 | 59,30 | 87,90 | 76,37 | 79,76 | |
| Intermediate close to a city | Number of municipalities | 686 | 39 | 244 | 247 | 108 | 48 |
| % municipalities in relation to Major Region | 12.33 | 8,69 | 13,60 | 14,81 | 9,09 | 10,30 | |
| Total population, according to 2010 Census | 12,461,908 | 784.746 | 5.822.054 | 3.434.832 | 1.684.994 | 735.282 | |
| % total pop, according to 2010 Census | 6.53 | 4,95 | 10,97 | 4,27 | 6,15 | 5,23 | |
| Intermediate remote | Number of municipalities | 60 | 33 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| % municipalities in relation to Major Region | 1.08 | 7,35 | 0,39 | 0,18 | 0,08 | 3,43 | |
| Total population, according to 2010 Census | 1,305,906 | 791.645 | 133.152 | 50.821 | 5.917 | 324.371 | |
| % total pop, according to 2010 Census | 0.68 | 4,99 | 0,25 | 0,06 | 0,02 | 2,31 | |
| Rural close to a city | Number of municipalities | 3,040 | 171 | 1.134 | 769 | 765 | 201 |
| % municipalities in relation to Major Region | 54.63 | 38,08 | 63,21 | 46,10 | 64,39 | 43,13 | |
| Total population, according to 2010 Census | 28,689,820 | 2,093,740 | 14,573,418 | 6,022,152 | 4,771,683 | 1,228,827 | |
| % total pop, according to 2010 Census | 15.04 | 13.20 | 27.46 | 7.49 | 17.42 | 8.74 | |
| Rural Remote | Number of municipalities | 323 | 121 | 102 | 24 | 2 | 74 |
| % municipalities in relation to Major Region | 5.80 | 26.95 | 5.69 | 1.44 | 0.17 | 15.88 | |
| Total population, according to 2010 Census | 3,524,597 | 1,671,753 | 1,072,542 | 214,773 | 7,972 | 557,557 | |
| % total pop, according to 2010 Census | 1.85 | 10.54 | 2.02 | 0.27 | 0.03 | 3.97 | |
| Total – Brazil | Total municipalities | 5,565 | 449 | 1,794 | 1,668 | 1,188 | 466 |
| Brazil total pop | 190,747,731 | 15,864,454 | 53,073,882 | 80,364,410 | 27,386,891 | 14,058,094 |
Source: IBGE - DGC/Coordenação de Geografia, Censo Demográfico 2010 (2011).
In Brazil, 76% of the population lived in "urban" municipalities and 60% of the municipalities were "rural"
The proposed typology demonstrates that 76% of the Brazilian population was found in "predominantly urban" municipalities, which corresponds to 26% of the total municipalities. The majority of the Brazilian municipalities was classified as "predominantly rural" (60.4%): 54.6% were "rural close to a city" and 5.8%,"rural remote".
In the North, 10.5% of the population lived in remote rural municipalities and 65% of the number of municipalities were rural
In the North Region, a significant share of the population (10.5%) lived in municipalities classified as "rural remote", corresponding to 26.9% of the municipalities. Considering also the quantity of "rural close to acity" municipalities (38.1%), the North Region stood out due to the high percentage of "rural" municipalities (65.0%), despite the fact that 66.3% of its population lived in "urban" municipalities.
In the Northeast, 1/3 of the population lived in "rural" municipalities representing 68.9% of the total municipalities
In the Northeast Region, nearly 1/3 of the population (29.5%) lived in 1,236 "rural" municipalities (68.9%), causing the Northeast to have the lowest percentage of population living in "urban" municipalities (59.3%).
In the Southeast, 87% of the population lived in "urban" municipalities
The Southeast had the highest absolute numbers (625), as well as relative ones (37.5%), of "urban" municipalities, which encompassed 87% of the regional population.
In the South, just 0.05% of the population lived in "remote" municipalities
The South Region had, in relation to isolation, the lowest relative values of the municipalities classified as "intermediate remote areas" (0.02%) and "rural remote" (0.03%) among the five Major Regions, which demonstrates how close their municipal headquarters are.
In the Central-West, 79.8% of the population lived in "urban" municipalities
The Central-West Region stands out as an area of great contrasts. It has the second highest percentage of population in "urban" municipalities (79.8%) and in intermediate remote (2.3%) and remote rural (4%) municipalities.
Rural-urban municipal typology 
Source: IBGE - DGC/Coordenação de Geografia, Censo Demográfico 2010 (2011).