Federal District of Brazil

Federal District

Federal District is a federal district of Brazil. It covers about 5,790 km² (2,240 mi²), the 27th largest of the 27 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for Brazil, and about the same size as Brunei. About 2.8 million people live there (Wikidata, 2022).

In area1.01×the size ofBrunei5,720 km² In people1.00×as many people asAlbania2.8 million

50 km

Federal District
Brunei

Facts

Area, measured	5,790 km²2,240 mi²
Official area	5,760 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of Brazil	less than 0.1%of the area of the 27 states and districts
Rank by area	27th of 27states and districts of Brazil
Population	2.8 millionWikidata, 2022 · the census year of every unit
Density	486 people per km²
Capital	Brasília
Latitude range	16°S to 15°S
Type	Federal DistrictBR-DF

What the numbers say about Federal District

Federal District covers less than 0.1% of the area of Brazil and ranks 20th of 27 by population, against 27th by area.
It would take 1,463 states and districts the size of Federal District to cover Brazil.
Federal District holds 1.4% of the 203.1 million people that Wikidata’s 2022 figures give for the 27 states and districts together: about 1 in 72.
The largest, Amazonas, is 270× the size of Federal District, the smallest of the 27.
Closest in size within Brazil: Sergipe (21,600 km², 3.73×) and Alagoas (27,600 km², 4.77×).
Counted as a country, Federal District would be larger than 68 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 172nd by area, between Palestine (6,070 km²) and Brunei (5,720 km²).
With 2.8 million people it would rank 139th of 238 by population.
Federal District has 486 people per km², about the density of the Netherlands, which has 480 per km².
That makes Federal District the most densely populated of the 27 states and districts, 20.3× the average for Brazil (24 per km²).
Federal District has 193× the density of Amazonas, the least crowded of the 27: 486 against 2.5 people per km².
Federal District lies at 16°S, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.1×.
Laid out flat, Federal District stretches about 61 km north to south and 104 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 5,760 km² agrees with our measured area of 5,790 km², to within 2%.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Compare Federal District

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2022. Brazil’s units share the 2022 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method

Federal District

Facts

What the numbers say about Federal District

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Federal District sits in Brazil

Ranked within Brazil

Compare Federal District

Federal District

Facts

What the numbers say about Federal District

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

Where Federal District sits in Brazil

Ranked within Brazil

Compare Federal District

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