Recife is a coastal city located in the northeast region of Brazil. With a population of 1.5 million inhabitants,it is the ninth largest city in Brazil. Recife is the major city on the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR), which is composed of 15 municipalities (Goiana, one of the 15 municipalities, joined the administrative region in 2018).

Belo Horizonte is the sixth-largest city in Brazil and is embedded within the third-largest metropolitan area. It is in the state of Minas Gerais; that, together with the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, forms the richest and most urbanised area of the country, where 43 per cent of the national population lives. This area hosts one of the most developed transport infrastructure systems (highways, railways, airports and ports) of South America.