Bahia

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Bahia

**Bahia**

Flag of Bahia See other Brazilian States Capital Salvador Largest City Salvador Area 564 273 km² Population
- Total
- Density
13 070 250
23.2 inh./km² Governor Paulo Souto Demonym Baiano HDI (2000) 0.688 – medium Timezone GMT-3 ISO 3166-2 BR

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size. It is also the most important state, in terms of economics and culture, in Brazil's Northeast Region. Bahia's capital is the city of Salvador, or more properly, São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, and is located at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of All Saints.

Name

Pronunciation IPA: // The presented pronunciation is in Brazilian Portuguese. In European Portuguese the pronunciation is: //. (the H is not pronounced, and the stress is on the second syllable). The name is an archaic spelling of the Portuguese word meaning "bay" and comes from "a baía de Todos os Santos" (All Saints' Bay), first seen by European sailors on November 1st 1501, All Saints' Day.

History

The Portuguese Pedro Álvares Cabral landed at what is now Porto Seguro, on the southern coast of Bahia in 1500, and claimed the territory for Portugal. In 1549, Portugal established the city of Salvador, on a hill facing the Bay of All Saints. The city and surrounding captaincy served as the administrative and religious capital of Portugal's colonies in the Americas until 1763. The Dutch held control of Bahia from May 1624 through April 1625. Charles Darwin visited Bahia in 1832 on his famous Voyage of The Beagle.

The state was also the last area of Brazil to join the independent confederation; Some members in the elite remained loyal to the Portuguese crown after the rest of the country was granted independence. After several battles, mostly in Pirajá, the province was finally able to expel the Portuguese on July 2nd 1823, known as Bahia Independence Day, a great popular celebration. In the state there is an ongoing discussion about the exact moment of Brazilian indepedence, because for almost all "baianos," it really happened in Bahia with the battles, and not on September 7, when the Emperor, Pedro I, declared independence.

Bahia was a center of sugar cultivation from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and contains a number of historical towns, such as Cachoeira, dating from this era. Integral to the sugar economy was the importation of a vast number of African slaves; more than 37% of all slaves taken from Africa were sent to Brazil, mostly to be processed in Bahia before being sent to work in plantations elsewhere in the country.

The oldest Roman Catholic cathedral and the first medical college in the country are located in Bahia's capital, which also has one of the highest percentage of churches of any capital city in Brazil. The Catholic Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia, Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, is the Cardinal Primate of Brazil.

Demographics

According to the IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro da Geografia e Estatística) 2000 Demographic Census, Bahia's population breakdowns are as follow:

Total population: 13,070,250; Whites (Branca): 3,067,786 (23%) Blacks (Preta): 1,700,531 (13%) Asians (Amarela): 23,868 (less than 1%) Mixed race (Parda): 8,095,318 (62%) Indigenous (Indígena): 60,329 (about .5%)

Bahia has the largest numerical population of self-identified Black residents in Brazil, as well as the one of the highest combined percentages (75%) of Black and mixed-race residents of any Brazilian state.

Geography

The state's geographical regions comprise the mata atlântica or remnants of the Atlantic coast forests; the recôncavo region radiating from the Bay (the largest in Brazil), the site of sugar and tobacco cultivation; and the planalto, which includes the fabled sertão region of Bahia's far interior.

Bahia is bordered, in counterclockwise fashion, by Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Piauí, and Maranhão to the north, Goiás and Tocantins to the west, and Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo to the south.

Brazil's second longest river system, the São Francisco, runs from the Atlantic Ocean along the state's northern border with Sergipe and Pernambuco down through the planalto into the neighboring southern state of Minas Gerais.

The state has the longest coastline in Brazil; the northern coastline running from Salvador forms the Linha Verde (Green Line).

Economy

Bahia is the main producer and exporter of cacao in Brazil. In addition to important agricultural and industrial sectors, the state also has considerable mineral and petroleum deposits. In recent years, soy cultivation has increased substantially in the state.

Another major industry is tourism: Bahia's long coastline, beautiful beaches and cultural treasures make it one of Brazil's chief tourist destinations. In addition to the island of Itaparica, the town of Morro de São Paulo across the Bay on the northernmost tip of the southern coastline, and the large number of beaches between Ilhéus and Porto Seguro, on the southeastern coast, the littoral area north of Salvador, stretching towards the border with Sergipe, has become an important tourist destination. The Costa do Sauípe contains one of the largest resort hotel developments in Brazil.

Bahian Culture

As the chief locus of the early Brazilian slave trade, Bahia is considered to possess the greatest and most distinctive African imprint, in terms of culture and customs, in Brazil. These include the Yoruba-derived religious system of Candomblé, the martial art of capoeira (especially the style of capoeira de angola), African-derived music such as samba, afoxé, and axé, and a cuisine with strong links to western Africa.

Bahia is the birthplace of many noted Brazilian artists, writers and musicians. Among the noted musical figures born in the state are Dorival Caymmi; João Gilberto; Gilberto Gil, the country's Minister of Culture; Caetano Veloso and his sister Maria Bethânia (Gil and Veloso being the founders of the Tropicália movement (a native adaptation of the hippie movement) of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which ultimate gained international recognition); Daniela Mercury; Ivete Sangalo; and Carlinhos Brown. The city of Salvador is also home to internationally famous groups, known "blocos-afros," such as Olodum, Ara Ketu, and Ilê Aiyê. The first rock'n roll singer in Brazil was also from Bahia. Born Raul Seixas, he was known as "Maluco Beleza" or "Crazy Beauty."

During the 19th century, one of Brazil's greatest poets, the Bahian abolitionist poet and playwright Castro Alves, a native of the recôncavo city of Cachoeira, penned his most famous poem, Navio negreiro, about slavery; the poem is considered a masterpiece of Brazilian Romanticism and a key anti-slavery text. Other notable Bahian writers include Gregório de Matos, who wrote during the 17th century and was one of the first Brazilian writers, and Fr. Antonio Vieira, who during the colonial period was one of many authors who contributed to the expansion of the Portuguese language throughout the Brazilian territory. The major Brazilian fiction writer of the 20th Century, Jorge Amado, was born in the southeastern Bahian city of Itabuna, and resided for many years in Salvador. His major novels include Gabriela, Cinnamon and Cloves; Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands; and Tieta, the Goat Girl, all of which became internationally renowned films. More recent writers from Bahia include the fiction writers João Ubaldo Ribeiro and Jean Wyllys, winner of Big Brother Brasil 5 in 2005.

In the visual and plastic arts, one of the best known Bahian figures was the multigenre artist and Argentinian native Hector Julio Páride Bernabó, also known as Carybé (1911-1997). Fine examples of his work are visible in the Afro-Brazilian Museum in Salvador.

Sports

In the sport of boxing, Bahian native Acelino "Popó" Freitas is the current world champion (WBC) in the lightweight class.

The starting goalie for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Brazilian team, Dida, who also plays for Italian soccer team A.C. Milan, is a native of the city of Irará.

Indigenous Populations

There also are indigenous tribes, such as the Pataxó, who reside on the southern Atlantic coast and in the state's interior, and Tuxá, who reside on the edge of São Francisco River in northern of Bahia.

Other Important Cities

Beyond the capital, other important cities in the state include: the old island city of Itaparica, on the island of the same name, in the Bay of All Saints; the industrial city of Camaçari in the Salvador region; the reconcôncavo cities of Cachoeira, Santo Amaro, Nazaré, and São Felix; the resort towns of Arembepe and Conde on the north coast; Ilhéus, where Jorge Amado spent his childhood, and nearby Itabuna; the resort town of Morro de São Paulo, in the Valença region; the southern coastal cities of Porto Seguro, now a major tourist destination, Santa Cruz da Cabrália, and Prado; Juazeiro, the twin city of Petrolina in Pernambuco, on the São Francisco River; Feira de Santana; Jequié; Vitória da Conquista, in the southeast part state; and Lençóis and Palmeiras, in the Chapada Diamantina region.

Notes

External links

Official homepage (Portuguese)
Salvador
Brazil
Porto Seguro
A.T.P. Association Tourism Porto Seguro
IBGE Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Portuguese)

States of Brazil | Bahia

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