Ceará

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Ceará

**Ceará**

Flag of Ceará See other Brazilian States Capital Fortaleza Largest City Fortaleza Area 148,016 km² Population
- Total
- Density
6,500,000
43.9 inh./km² Governor Lúcio Alcântara(PSDB) Demonym Cearence HDI (2000) 0.700 – medium Timezone GMT-3 ISO 3166-2 BR

Ceará (pron. IPA: // The presented pronunciation is in Brazilian Portuguese. The European Portuguese pronunciation is: //.) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast.

Geography

Ceará has a varied environment, with mangroves, caatinga, jungle, scrubland and tropical forest. However, it is hot almost all year round. This environment and temperature attracts many tourists, especially ecotourists. The temperature in the state varies from 22 °C to 36 °C with the lowest temperatures not being typical in the capital Fortaleza but in the innumerous mountains in the state. The endless stretch of beaches in the state is a major tourist attraction. Ceará has several famous beaches such as Canoa Quebrada, Jericoacoara, Morro Branco, Taíba and Flexeiras. The beaches are divided into two groups (in relation to the capital Fortaleza): Sunset Coast (Costa Solpoente) and Sunrise Coast (Costa Solnascente).

History

Ceará was first colonised by the Portuguese in the middle of the 1600s, when what is today Brazil was hotly contested by the Dutch and the Portuguese.

The area was invaded twice by the Dutch, in 1644 and in 1654. Both times the settlers repelled them. Before being defeated, however, the Dutch founded what is today Fortaleza. In 1661, the Netherlands formally ceded their Brazilian territories to the Portuguese crown, ending conflict in the region.

The fight for Brazilian independence in 1822 was fierce in Ceará, with the area being a rebel stronghold that incurred vicious retribution from loyalists.

The reign of Dom Pedro II (see Empire of Brazil) saw great advances in infrastructure in Ceará, with the number of telephones increasing by a large amount, and with gas lighting becoming almost ubiquitous.

In 1960, the Orós Dam, comparable in size to the Aswan Dam has supplied Ceará with much of its water, and in 1995 construction began on the enormous Castanhão Dam, which, when completed, will be able to hold 6.5 km³ of water.

On July 17, 2006, the state of Ceara became the second state after Sao Paulo to ratify a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide

Flag

The flag of Ceará is identical to that of the federal Brazilian flag, however, the blue hemisphere in the Brazilian flag is replaced by the Ceará state coat of arms.

Economy

Traditionally an agriculture based state, Ceará began an industrialisation programme in the military regime, and the industrial sector continues to expand annually. In 1999, industry accounted for 39.3% of the state's GDP. Tourism also plays a large role in Ceará's economy, with the state's many waterfalls, beaches and rainforests. On average, Fortaleza alone receives half a million tourists annually.

Tourism

The state has several tourist attractions but is famous for its eco-tourism capabilities with hundreds of nearly deserted beaches and sand dunes.

Fortaleza's international airport (named Pinto Martins airport) is well served by international flights from North and Central America as well as Europe.

Main Tourist Attractions

Canoa Quebrada Beach (in Aracati)
Jericoacoara Beach (profiled on the E Network's Wild On series, 2000)

Notes

External links

States of Brazil | Ceará

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