Maranhão in numbers

6,776,699residents · 2022 Census

Rank: 12th among the 27 states
Share of Brazil: 3.3% of Brazil's 203,080,756 people
Municipalities: 217
Capital: São Luís
Region: Northeast
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census (SIDRA table 4714)

Maranhão has 6,776,699 inhabitants (2022 Census), the 12th most populous state in the country, behind São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and 8 others, and holds 3.3% of Brazilians. The capital, São Luís, has 1,037,775 people, 15.3% of the state. The state has 217 municipalities.

Maranhão on the map of Brazil

Dark outline: Maranhão. Color: state population, in millions.

Population rank among the states in the same region (Northeast):

State	People
Bahia	14,141,626
Pernambuco	9,058,931
Ceará	8,794,957
Maranhão	6,776,699
Paraíba	3,974,687
Rio Grande do Norte	3,302,729
Piauí	3,271,199
Alagoas	3,127,683
Sergipe	2,210,004

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The 10 most populous municipalities in Maranhão

#	Municipality	People	% of state
1	São Luís	1,037,775	15.3%
2	Imperatriz	273,110	4.0%
3	São José de Ribamar	244,579	3.6%
4	Timon	174,465	2.6%
5	Caxias	156,973	2.3%
6	Paço do Lumiar	145,643	2.1%
7	Codó	114,275	1.7%
8	Açailândia	106,550	1.6%
9	Bacabal	103,711	1.5%
10	Balsas	101,767	1.5%

Municipalities by size

Size	Municipalities	Population	% of state
up to 5,000	5	22,947	0.3%
5,000 to 20,000	124	1,516,995	22.4%
20,000 to 100,000	78	2,777,909	41.0%
over 100,000	10	2,458,848	36.3%

10 municipalities have over 100,000 inhabitants and hold 36.3% of the state's population.

See all 217 municipalities in Maranhão (2022 Census population)

#	Municipality	People	% of state
1	São Luís	1,037,775	15.3%
2	Imperatriz	273,110	4.0%
3	São José de Ribamar	244,579	3.6%
4	Timon	174,465	2.6%
5	Caxias	156,973	2.3%
6	Paço do Lumiar	145,643	2.1%
7	Codó	114,275	1.7%
8	Açailândia	106,550	1.6%
9	Bacabal	103,711	1.5%
10	Balsas	101,767	1.5%
11	Santa Inês	85,014	1.3%
12	Pinheiro	84,621	1.2%
13	Barra do Corda	84,532	1.2%
14	Chapadinha	81,386	1.2%
15	Grajaú	73,872	1.1%
16	Barreirinhas	65,589	1.0%
17	Itapecuru Mirim	60,440	0.9%
18	Coroatá	59,566	0.9%
19	Santa Luzia	57,635	0.9%
20	Buriticupu	55,499	0.8%
21	Tutóia	53,356	0.8%
22	Viana	51,442	0.8%
23	São Bento	46,395	0.7%
24	Presidente Dutra	45,155	0.7%
25	Lago da Pedra	44,403	0.7%
26	Vargem Grande	43,261	0.6%
27	Coelho Neto	41,658	0.6%
28	Santa Helena	41,561	0.6%
29	Zé Doca	40,801	0.6%
30	Colinas	40,316	0.6%
31	Araioses	39,052	0.6%
32	São Mateus do Maranhão	38,829	0.6%
33	Rosário	38,475	0.6%
34	Turiaçu	37,491	0.6%
35	Amarante do Maranhão	37,085	0.5%
36	Pedreiras	37,050	0.5%
37	Santa Rita	37,035	0.5%
38	Tuntum	36,251	0.5%
39	Brejo	34,120	0.5%
40	São Domingos do Maranhão	34,034	0.5%
41	Estreito	33,294	0.5%
42	Bom Jardim	33,100	0.5%
43	Urbano Santos	32,812	0.5%
44	Penalva	32,511	0.5%
45	Matões	32,174	0.5%
46	Turilândia	31,638	0.5%
47	Cururupu	31,558	0.5%
48	Pindaré-Mirim	31,429	0.5%
49	Parnarama	31,250	0.5%
50	Vitorino Freire	30,845	0.5%
51	Raposa	30,839	0.5%
52	Vitória do Mearim	30,805	0.5%
53	Buriti	29,685	0.4%
54	Arari	29,472	0.4%
55	Bom Jesus das Selvas	28,599	0.4%
56	Monção	27,751	0.4%
57	São Bernardo	26,943	0.4%
58	Timbiras	26,484	0.4%
59	Alto Alegre do Pindaré	25,710	0.4%
60	Humberto de Campos	25,680	0.4%
61	Arame	25,517	0.4%
62	Anajatuba	25,322	0.4%
63	São João dos Patos	25,020	0.4%
64	Icatu	24,794	0.4%
65	João Lisboa	24,709	0.4%
66	Pedro do Rosário	24,320	0.4%
67	Santa Luzia do Paruá	24,307	0.4%
68	Cantanhede	24,303	0.4%
69	Carutapera	24,238	0.4%
70	Carolina	24,062	0.4%
71	Alto Alegre do Maranhão	24,048	0.4%
72	Santa Quitéria do Maranhão	23,957	0.4%
73	Porto Franco	23,903	0.4%
74	Miranda do Norte	23,864	0.4%
75	Aldeias Altas	23,286	0.3%
76	Governador Nunes Freire	23,128	0.3%
77	Dom Pedro	23,053	0.3%
78	Itinga do Maranhão	22,513	0.3%
79	Trizidela do Vale	22,484	0.3%
80	Buriti Bravo	22,455	0.3%
81	Riachão	22,145	0.3%
82	Matinha	22,034	0.3%
83	Pio XII	21,886	0.3%
84	Maracaçumé	21,149	0.3%
85	Palmeirândia	21,059	0.3%
86	Mirador	21,030	0.3%
87	Peritoró	20,479	0.3%
88	Paulo Ramos	20,341	0.3%
89	Cândido Mendes	19,932	0.3%
90	Bequimão	19,584	0.3%
91	São Vicente Ferrer	19,498	0.3%
92	Barão de Grajaú	18,984	0.3%
93	Pastos Bons	18,802	0.3%
94	São Raimundo das Mangabeiras	18,672	0.3%
95	Morros	18,554	0.3%
96	São João Batista	18,544	0.3%
97	Alcântara	18,467	0.3%
98	Governador Edison Lobão	18,411	0.3%
99	São Benedito do Rio Preto	18,364	0.3%
100	Esperantinópolis	18,311	0.3%
101	Paraibano	18,274	0.3%
102	Olho d'Água das Cunhãs	17,919	0.3%
103	São Luís Gonzaga do Maranhão	17,818	0.3%
104	Formosa da Serra Negra	17,719	0.3%
105	Pirapemas	17,714	0.3%
106	Apicum-Açu	17,519	0.3%
107	Presidente Sarney	17,511	0.3%
108	Matões do Norte	17,432	0.3%
109	Passagem Franca	17,220	0.3%
110	Gonçalves Dias	17,206	0.3%
111	Poção de Pedras	17,161	0.3%
112	Mata Roma	17,090	0.3%
113	Jenipapo dos Vieiras	17,076	0.3%
114	Sítio Novo	17,074	0.3%
115	Paulino Neves	17,056	0.3%
116	Fortuna	16,976	0.3%
117	Bacabeira	16,966	0.3%
118	São João do Soter	16,889	0.2%
119	Cajari	16,412	0.2%
120	Bacuri	16,290	0.2%
121	Centro Novo do Maranhão	16,267	0.2%
122	Joselândia	14,924	0.2%
123	Conceição do Lago-Açu	14,915	0.2%
124	Lago Verde	14,769	0.2%
125	Senador La Rocque	14,700	0.2%
126	Davinópolis	14,404	0.2%
127	São Pedro da Água Branca	14,338	0.2%
128	Nova Olinda do Maranhão	14,314	0.2%
129	Santo Antônio dos Lopes	14,304	0.2%
130	Nina Rodrigues	14,176	0.2%
131	Mirinzal	13,978	0.2%
132	Igarapé do Meio	13,974	0.2%
133	Santo Amaro do Maranhão	13,949	0.2%
134	Governador Eugênio Barros	13,930	0.2%
135	Itaipava do Grajaú	13,828	0.2%
136	Magalhães de Almeida	13,807	0.2%
137	Anapurus	13,793	0.2%
138	Maranhãozinho	13,761	0.2%
139	Primeira Cruz	13,614	0.2%
140	Olinda Nova do Maranhão	13,577	0.2%
141	Buritirana	12,918	0.2%
142	Cidelândia	12,878	0.2%
143	Fortaleza dos Nogueiras	12,640	0.2%
144	Centro do Guilherme	12,342	0.2%
145	Campestre do Maranhão	12,301	0.2%
146	São João do Carú	12,251	0.2%
147	Bom Lugar	12,212	0.2%
148	Água Doce do Maranhão	12,142	0.2%
149	São Francisco do Maranhão	12,064	0.2%
150	Axixá	11,790	0.2%
151	Bela Vista do Maranhão	11,750	0.2%
152	Loreto	11,597	0.2%
153	Lagoa Grande do Maranhão	11,411	0.2%
154	Capinzal do Norte	11,374	0.2%
155	Presidente Juscelino	11,356	0.2%
156	Lima Campos	11,297	0.2%
157	Araguanã	11,181	0.2%
158	Alto Parnaíba	11,109	0.2%
159	Peri Mirim	11,108	0.2%
160	Fernando Falcão	10,873	0.2%
161	Governador Newton Bello	10,713	0.2%
162	Lagoa do Mato	10,572	0.2%
163	Santana do Maranhão	10,567	0.2%
164	Presidente Vargas	10,549	0.2%
165	Vila Nova dos Martírios	10,362	0.2%
166	Guimarães	10,290	0.2%
167	Sucupira do Norte	10,238	0.2%
168	Governador Archer	10,231	0.2%
169	Igarapé Grande	10,231	0.2%
170	Duque Bacelar	10,223	0.2%
171	Cedral	10,208	0.2%
172	Senador Alexandre Costa	10,207	0.2%
173	Serrano do Maranhão	10,202	0.2%
174	Godofredo Viana	10,186	0.2%
175	Cajapió	10,121	0.1%
176	São João do Paraíso	9,904	0.1%
177	Cachoeira Grande	9,732	0.1%
178	Lago do Junco	9,506	0.1%
179	Brejo de Areia	9,218	0.1%
180	Montes Altos	9,106	0.1%
181	São Francisco do Brejão	9,051	0.1%
182	Tasso Fragoso	8,862	0.1%
183	Milagres do Maranhão	8,818	0.1%
184	Satubinha	8,784	0.1%
185	Lago dos Rodrigues	8,758	0.1%
186	Belágua	8,460	0.1%
187	Feira Nova do Maranhão	8,048	0.1%
188	São Domingos do Azeitão	7,992	0.1%
189	Boa Vista do Gurupi	7,574	0.1%
190	Jatobá	7,471	0.1%
191	Ribamar Fiquene	7,420	0.1%
192	Amapá do Maranhão	7,170	0.1%
193	Luís Domingues	7,161	0.1%
194	Central do Maranhão	7,094	0.1%
195	Governador Luiz Rocha	7,063	0.1%
196	Lajeado Novo	7,057	0.1%
197	Marajá do Sena	7,027	0.1%
198	São José dos Basílios	6,957	0.1%
199	Santa Filomena do Maranhão	6,697	0.099%
200	Altamira do Maranhão	6,447	0.095%
201	Afonso Cunha	6,144	0.091%
202	Graça Aranha	6,023	0.089%
203	Porto Rico do Maranhão	5,954	0.088%
204	Bernardo do Mearim	5,840	0.086%
205	São Pedro dos Crentes	5,783	0.085%
206	São Raimundo do Doca Bezerra	5,650	0.083%
207	Sambaíba	5,568	0.082%
208	Tufilândia	5,507	0.081%
209	Benedito Leite	5,469	0.081%
210	Bacurituba	5,252	0.078%
211	Junco do Maranhão	5,146	0.076%
212	Nova Colinas	5,021	0.074%
213	Sucupira do Riachão	4,985	0.074%
214	Presidente Médici	4,696	0.069%
215	São Roberto	4,544	0.067%
216	São Félix de Balsas	4,402	0.065%
217	Nova Iorque	4,320	0.064%

Intermediate geographic regions

IBGE division that groups municipalities around a hub city.

Intermediate region	People	% of state	Municipalities
São Luís	3,151,355	46.5%	73
Imperatriz	1,258,279	18.6%	43
Santa Inês - Bacabal	1,174,204	17.3%	59
Caxias	736,321	10.9%	14
Presidente Dutra	456,540	6.7%	28

Frequently asked questions

What is the population of Maranhão?

Maranhão had 6,776,699 inhabitants in IBGE's 2022 Census. It is the 12th most populous state in the country, behind São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and 8 others.

How many municipalities are there in Maranhão?

Maranhão has 217 municipalities. The most populous is São Luís, with 1,037,775 inhabitants.

What is the capital of Maranhão and how many people live there?

The capital is São Luís, with 1,037,775 inhabitants in the 2022 Census (15.3% of the state's population).

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Download the data and cite it

Municipalities of Maranhão with their 2022 Census population: CSV. Updated on Oct 26, 2026. How to cite: dadobruto.com. Maranhão in numbers. Data: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census (SIDRA table 4714). https://dadobruto.com/en/states/maranhao

License: You may copy and republish the data and charts, including commercially, under the CC BY 4.0 license. The condition is to credit "dadobruto.com" and, when published online, to link to dadobruto.com or to the page the data came from. The original numbers follow the rules of IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census (SIDRA table 4714).