territory occupation and the municipalities creation during the Brazilian Imperial Period

AbstractAfter the 1988’s Constitution, Brazil has created, thousands of new municipalities, drawing the attention of a lot of researchers, who published countless works to explain the phenomenon. However, the municipalities’ creation have been occurred since establishment of the Brazilian territory, culminating with the first form of government was instituted, in 1532. The present work shows, specifically, the dynamic of the municipalities´creation throughout the Imperial period, starting in 1822 and going until 1889, by the time of the Independence of Brazil. The objective is to associate the territory partitioning into local political units, with the Imperial Brazilian territory formation an occupation dynamic, emphasizing the function of the municipalities in that process. For this, the work recovers the role of the municipalities during that period, as the spatial order resulting from these political units, which is analyzed based in the geopolitical strategies with the expansion and possession territory intentions.