Vitória, spelled Victória until the 1940s, is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. It is located on a small island within a bay where a number of rivers meet the sea. It was founded in 1551. The city proper 93 square kilometres has a population of 365,855 whilst the Greater Vitória metropolitan area has a population of more than 1,857,616, the 14th largest in Brazil.
Vitória is a riverine island surrounded by Vitória's Bay. In addition to Vitória, the main island, another 34 islands and a mainland portion are part of the municipality, totalling 93.381 square kilometres. Originally there were 50 islands, many of which were joined to the largest island by landfill.
In 1998, the United Nations rated Vitória as the fourth best state capital in Brazil to live in, rating cities on health, education, and social improvement projects. Among the Brazilian capitals, Vitória currently maintains the second best human development index according to research from Getulio Vargas Foundation. It was considered the fourth best city to live in Brazil by United Nations in 2013 and ranked the highest gross domestic product per capita.