Vitoria is the capital of the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. It is located on a small island within a bay where a few rivers meet the sea. It was founded in 1551. The city proper (area 93 km²) has a population of 313,300 (2005) whilst the Greater Vitoria metropolitan area has a population of over 1,612,885 (2005), the 14th largest in Brazil. In 1998, the United Nations rated Vitoria as the fourth best state capital in Brazil to live in, rating cities on health, education, and social improvement projects.

The island was populated shortly after the arrival of Vasco Fernandes Coutinho to Vila Velha, where he first settled colonists, but soon became more popular as the mainland became increasingly dangerous. Other considerations, such as attacks from Dutch and French traders, in search of sugar cane, also contributed to the choice of this island as home to the colonists.

During the first half of the 19th century, Vitoria was still seen as a backward agricultural town, with narrow and disorganized lanes. The commercial capital at the time was Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, and because of that the revenues of commerce would go to Rio de Janeiro, rather than Vitoria. It was only after the adoption of a republican style of government in 1889 that the governors decided to modernize the state capital. In 1892 Muniz Freire came to power for two four-year terms, and began his leadership by paving roads, planning the town's expansion, and contracting a loan of 700 million French Francs to build a rail connection to Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. Muniz Freire intended to channel exports and revenues through the capital, and thus promote its growth.

By 1894 the town showed signs of growth fueled mainly by the great activity of the port of Vitoria, and the high price of coffee, which was the main export product for the state at the time. The money brought in by this increased economic activity spurred on the city's modernization.

In 1908, Jeronimo Monteiro became state governor, and continued urban development. During his time in office he saw Vitoria surpass Cachoeiro de Itapemirim as a commercial center. This was helped by the 1911 completion of the railway line linking the two towns and the improvement of port facilities. During this period, many projects such as the building of schools, Moscoso Park, Santa Casa da Misericordia Hospital, and the Santo Antonio cemetery were undertaken. Monteiro was also responsible for other projects such as the creation of the public archive, the state library and state museum.

Vitoria is one of the three island capitals of Brazilian states, the others being Florianopolis and Sao Luis, and is located in the South-eastern region, the most developed of Brazil. It's strategically located close to the big urban centres of the country and is, on average, an hour by plane from the most important cities in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte.

Vitoria borders on the north with Serra, and on the south with Vila Velha, on the east with the Atlantic Ocean and on the west with Cariacica. It is part of a highly urbanized complex known as Regiao Metropolitana Grande Vitoria (Greater Vitória Metropolitan Region), formed by the boroughs of Serra, Fundao, Vila Velha, Guarapari, Cariacica and Viana.

The borough of Vitoria is an archipelago formed by 34 islands and a portion of the continent. Its total area of 104.26 km² is formed by the biggest island (denominated Ilha de Vitoria), a portion of the continent, all the coastal islands, the estuary islands and the oceanic islands of Trindade and Martin Vaz. Initially there were 50 islands however many of them have been joined to the bigger island by land reclamation.

Geographically speaking the island is an extension of the features of the continent, a granite formation surrounded by sea and areas of mangrove and marshland. The central peak of the island of Vitoria, Morro da Fonte Grande (The Hill at the Great Spring), has an altitude of 308,8m and the main outcrops of granite are Pedra dos (Dois) Olhos (The two-eyed stone) at 296m and Morro de Sao Benedito (The Hill of São Benedito) with an altitude of 194m. The climate is tropical and humid, with an average maximum monthly temperature of 86.72ºF and minimum of 75.2ºF, and a heavy rainy season mainly in the months of October to January.