Tocantins
The Tocantins is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being its newest state. It is located southeast of the North Region and has boundaries Goiás to the south, Mato Grosso to the west and southwest, Pará to the west and northwest, Maranhão to the north, northeast and east, Piauí to the east and Bahia to the east and southeast. It occupies an area of 277,720,520 km², slightly larger than Ecuador, Burkina Faso and New Zealand. Its capital is the planned city of Palmas. In the national flag and the national seal of Brazil, the Tocantins is represented by the star Adhara. The largest cities of the state are respectively: Palmas, Araguaína, Gurupi, National Harbor and Tocantins Paradise. Together, these five cities housed, in 2009, about 42.22 percent of the state's total population. The relief is plated to the center, south and east, Serra Geral to the southeast, Serra das Traíras to the south, and Araguaia plain, with Bananal Island, in the north, west and southwest. The Tocantins River, the Araguaia River, the Javaés River, the Sono River, the Balsas River, the Manuel Alves River and the Paranã River are important. The climate is tropical. See list of Tocantins rivers.