| Native Name: | Estado do Maranhão e Piauí |
| Conventional Long Name: | State of Maranhão and Piauí |
| Common Name: | Maranhão and Piauí |
| Status: | State of the Portuguese Empire |
| Year Start: | 1772 |
| Year End: | 1775 |
| P1: | State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão |
| Flag P1: | Flag Portugal (1750).svg |
| S1: | State of Brazil |
| Flag S1: | Flag Portugal (1750).svg |
| Flag Alt: | Flag |
| Coat Alt: | Coat of arms |
| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Capital: | São Luís |
| Common Languages: | Portuguese |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism |
| Currency: | Portuguese Real |
| Title Leader: | Monarch |
| Leader1: | Joseph I |
| Year Leader1: | 1772–1775 |
| Title Representative: | Governor General |
| Representative1: | Joaquim de Mello e Póvoas |
| Year Representative1: | 1772–1775 |
The State of Maranhão and Piauí (Portuguese: Estado do Maranhão e Piauí) was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire.
The state was created in 1772 by order of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, the Secretary of the State for Joseph I of Portugal.[1]
The state was created because of the economic success of the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo split that state into two states, the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí, thinking that this would cause even better economic conditions, though the state split would prove a failure.
In 1775, due to the failure of the new state, both the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí were merged into the State of Brazil, finally unifying Portuguese America into one colony.[2] [3] [4]