Este estado tem muitas cidades.

Because estado is a masculine noun in Portuguese, so the demonstrative has to match it.

• este = this, masculine singular
• esta = this, feminine singular

So:

• este estado = this state
• esta cidade = this city

Notice that cidade is feminine, which is why later you get muitas cidades, not muitos cidades.

Here, estado means state in the sense of a political region, like a U.S. state or a Brazilian state.

It can also mean state/condition in other contexts, such as:

• estado de saúde = state of health
• estado civil = marital status

But in Este estado tem muitas cidades, the meaning is clearly the geographic/political one.

In Portuguese, common nouns are normally not capitalized, even if English would often capitalize them in certain contexts.

So:

• este estado = this state
• o estado de São Paulo = the state of São Paulo

You would capitalize proper names like São Paulo, but not the word estado by itself unless it is part of a special official style.

Tem is the third-person singular form of the verb ter, which usually means to have.

Conjugation of ter in the present:

• eu tenho = I have
• você/ele/ela tem = you/he/she has
• nós temos = we have
• vocês/eles/elas têm = you/they have

So in this sentence:

• Este estado tem muitas cidades = This state has many cities

Because muitas is an adjective/determiner that must agree with cidades in gender and number.

• cidade is feminine singular
• cidades is feminine plural

So you need the feminine plural form:

• muita cidade = a lot of city / much city, not natural in this context
• muitas cidades = many cities

Agreement pattern:

• muito livro = much/a lot of book material, or many in some contexts depending on use
• muitos livros = many books
• muita cidade = not common here
• muitas cidades = many cities

The singular is cidade and the plural is cidades.

This follows a very common pattern:

• words ending in -e often form the plural by adding -s
• so cidade + s = cidades

Examples:

• cidade → cidades
• nome → nomes
• parte → partes

So muitas cidades simply means many cities.

Portuguese does not use articles in exactly the same way English does.

In muitas cidades, the word muitas already works like many, so you do not normally add as here.

• muitas cidades = many cities
• as muitas cidades = the many cities

The version with as is possible, but it is more specific and marked. In your sentence, the general idea is just many cities, so muitas cidades is the natural choice.

Because este already determines the noun.

In Portuguese, demonstratives like este, esse, and aquele usually stand directly before the noun:

• este estado = this state
• essa cidade = that city
• aquele país = that country over there

You would not normally say o este estado.

Traditionally:

• este = this, near the speaker
• esse = that, near the listener or already mentioned
• aquele = that over there, farther away

So the textbook distinction is:

• este estado = this state
• esse estado = that state
• aquele estado = that state over there

However, in Brazilian Portuguese, everyday speech often uses esse where older grammar rules might expect este. So in real life, Brazilians often say esse much more often than learners first expect.

That means:

• Este estado tem muitas cidades is correct.
• Esse estado tem muitas cidades may also sound natural in many situations in Brazil, depending on context.

Yes, it is grammatical and natural.

It is a simple, clear sentence:

• Este estado = this state
• tem = has
• muitas cidades = many cities

A Brazilian might also say:

• Esse estado tem muitas cidades.

depending on the situation and how they are pointing out or referring to the state.

A rough Brazilian pronunciation is:

EH-stee es-TAH-do tein MOOY-tas see-DAH-jees

A few notes:

• este: the first e is like eh
• estado: stress is on da → es-TA-do
• tem: in Brazilian Portuguese this is nasalized; it does not sound exactly like English tem
• muitas: often sounds roughly like MOOY-tas
• cidades: the d before e in much of Brazil sounds like j in jeep, so it can sound like see-DAH-jees

Pronunciation varies by region, but that is a useful approximation.

Because cidades is pronounced ci-DA-des, with stress on the DA syllable.

This is something learners often need to get used to: Portuguese stress does not always match English instincts.

So:

• cidade = ci-DA-de
• cidades = ci-DA-des

The stressed syllable stays in the same place when the word becomes plural.

Yes. That means There are many cities in this state.

Compare:

• Este estado tem muitas cidades = This state has many cities
• Há muitas cidades neste estado = There are many cities in this state

Both are correct, but they are structured differently:

• tem gives the state as the subject: the state has
• há presents existence: there are

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people also often say:

• Tem muitas cidades neste estado

as an existential sentence, especially in speech, even though that is literally using ter instead of haver.

Yes. That is completely normal.

Portuguese often uses ter in ways that line up well with English have. A state can have many cities, a city can have many parks, a country can have many beaches, and so on.

Examples:

• A cidade tem muitos parques. = The city has many parks.
• O Brasil tem muitos rios. = Brazil has many rivers.

So Este estado tem muitas cidades sounds perfectly fine.

Because the most neutral Portuguese word order is also subject + verb + object/complement.

So:

• Este estado = subject
• tem = verb
• muitas cidades = object

That makes the sentence very straightforward for an English speaker.

You can change word order in Portuguese for emphasis in some cases, but the standard version here is exactly the natural one.

Here it means many.

• muitas cidades = many cities

In English, many cities and a lot of cities are often close in meaning. In Portuguese, muitas is the direct equivalent of many.

You could also say:

• Este estado tem várias cidades. = This state has several cities.
• Este estado tem um monte de cidades. = This state has a lot of cities. Informal.

So muitas is a neutral, standard choice.

Yes, especially in everyday Brazilian speech.

For example:

• Tem um banco aqui. = There is a bank here.
• Tem muitas pessoas na rua. = There are many people on the street.

That is very common in Brazil.

But in your sentence, tem is best understood in its regular has sense:

• Este estado tem muitas cidades = This state has many cities

So while tem can sometimes mean there is/are, here it is just the normal verb to have.

Yes, but often less than learners expect.

In formal writing and careful speech, este is absolutely used and correct. But in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many speakers prefer esse in situations where traditional grammar would distinguish este and esse more sharply.

So:

• Este estado tem muitas cidades. = correct
• Esse estado tem muitas cidades. = also very common in Brazil, depending on context

As a learner, it is good to understand este, but also good to know that real usage may be a little looser than textbook rules.