Senador Canedo, Brazil

With just 23,905 residents, Senador Canedo is hardly the cosmopolitan hub of Brazil. The city's economy revolves around the petrochemical industry, which dominates the local landscape. Bureaucracy is a persistent headache, with a mere 10-member city council overseeing a population of over 44,000 eligible voters. While the literacy rate is a respectable 90%, the lone hospital offers only 75 beds to serve the entire municipality. This is a place for the blue-collar worker, not the international executive seeking an easy life abroad.