Resource information
In the 20th Century, Brazil rapidly
urbanized and is now not only an urban nation but a
metropolitan one. Brazils sprawling regioes metropolitanas
(metropolitan regions, or RMs, which are municipal clusters)
are now home to almost 50 million people and much of the
countrys economic vitality. The RM spatial level and its
supporting governmental institutions have thus become
critical to Brazils future development. While challenges
remain for tackling deprivation in rural areas, poverty in
Brazil is now predominantly urban. More than six in 10
Brazilians in extreme poverty were living in urban settings
as of 2012. Of these, over a fourth was concentrated in the
10 largest RMs.
