Brazilian leagues

I began a career as "unemployed" and quickly took a job with Trem in the Brazilian Third Division. Their were only three games left of the first round and we lay 7th (the 1st of two relegation places), 5 points behind 6th; this became 8 points when they won their match, meaning, realistically, we would have to win all our remaining games to have a chance of surviving. Unfortunately we lost 1-0 to the second placed team. I was not really expecting to survive and simply took the job without looking at their situation prior.

I thought that the Third Division was the lowest tier and that i would consequently be sacked as i couldn't stay on as manager without a division to manage in. However, i find myself in the State Championship - a tier that i did not consciously load in. So, i'm a bit confused as to how the tier system works in Brazil.

Could someone just quickly explain it so i'm 100% sure on where i stand?

In the Brazilian league system, the state championships start in january and go through may, and the national leagues from may to december.

And in the former system if you had a good position in the state championships, you would qualify again to the third division. (now this works for the fourth division, as a 'new' third division with 20 teams was established in 2009)