Ceará
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| Flag of Ceará | ||
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| See other Brazilian States | ||
| Capital | Fortaleza | |
| Largest City | Fortaleza | |
| Area | 148,016 km² | |
| Population - Total - Density |
6,500,000 43.9 inh./km² |
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| Governor | Cid Gomes(PSB) | |
| Demonym | Cearense | |
| HDI (2000) | 0.700 – medium | |
| Timezone | GMT-3 | |
| ISO 3166-2 | BR-CE | |
Ceará (pron. IPA: [sɛ.a.'ɾa] [1]) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast.
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[edit] Geography
Ceará has an area of 148,016 km². It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, on the south by Pernambuco state, and on the west by Piauí.
Ceará lies partly upon the northeast slope of the Brazilian Highlands, and partly upon the sandy coastal plain. Its surface is a succession of great terraces, facing north and northeast, formed by the denudation of the ancient sandstone plateau which once covered this part of the continent; the terraces are seamed by watercourses, and their valleys are broken by hills and ranges of highlands. The latter are the remains of the ancient plateau, capped with horizontal strata of sandstone, and having a remarkably uniform altitude of 2000 to 2400 ft. The flat top of such a range is called a chapada or taboleira, and its width in places is from 32 to 56 miles. The boundary line with Piauí follows one of these ranges, the Serra de Ibiapaba, which unites with another range on the southern boundary of the state, known as the Serra do Araripe. Another range, or escarpment, crosses the state from east to west, but is broken into two principal divisions, each having several local names. These ranges are not continuous, the breaking down of the ancient plateau having been irregular and uneven.
The rivers of the state are small and, with one or two exceptions, become completely dry in the dry season. The largest is the Jaguaribe, which flows entirely across the state in a northeast direction.
Ceará has a varied environment, with mangroves, caatinga, jungle, scrubland and tropical forest. The higher ranges intercept considerable moisture from the prevailing trade winds, and their flanks and valleys are covered with forest, but the plateaus are either thinly wooded or open campo.
These upland forests are of a scrubby character and are called caatingas. The sandy, coastal plain, with a width of 12 to 18 miles, is nearly bare of vegetation, although the coast has enclaves of restingas forests and mangroves.
The soil is thin and porous and does not retain moisture, consequently the long, dry season turns the country into a barren desert, relieved only by vegetation along the river courses and mountain ranges, and by the hardy, widely distributed Carnauba Palm (Copernicia cerifera), which in places forms groves of considerable extent.
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).
[edit] Climate
The climate is hot and humid on the coast, tempered by the cool trade winds; but in the more elevated regions it is very hot and dry, although the nights are cool. The year is divided into a rainy and dry season, the rains beginning in January to March and lasting until June. The dry season, July to December, is sometimes broken by slight showers in September and October, but these are of very slight importance. This environment and temperature attracts many tourists, especially ecotourists. The climate is hot almost all year round. 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.
Sometimes the rains fail altogether, and then a drought (secca) ensues, causing famine and pestilence throughout the entire region. The most destructive droughts recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries were those of 1711, 1723, 1777-1778, 1790, 1825, 1844-1845, and 1877-1878, the last-mentioned destroying nearly all the livestock in the state, and causing the death through starvation and pestilence of nearly half a million people, or over half the population.
[edit] History
The territory of Ceará includes three of the capitanias originally granted by the Portuguese crown in 1534. The first attempts to settle the territory failed, and the earliest Portuguese settlement was made near the mouth of the Rio Camocim in 1604. Ceará was first successfully 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. Ceará became a dependency of Pernambuco in 1680; this relationship lasted until 1799, when the capitania of Ceará was made independent.
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 capitania became a province in 1822 under Dom Pedro I. A revolution followed in 1824, the president of the province was deposed fifteen days after his arrival, and a republic was proclaimed. Internal dissensions immediately broke out, the new president was assassinated, and after a brief reign of terror the province resumed its allegiance to the empire. Ceara was one of the first provinces of Brazil to abolish slavery.
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.
The state of Ceara became a bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in 1853, the bishop residing at Fortaleza.
Two railway lines running inland from the coast (the Baturite line from Fortaleza to Senador Pompeu, 179 miles, and the Sobral line from the port of Camocim to Ipu, 134 miles) by the national government after the drought of 1877-1878 to give work to the starving refugees, and were later operated under leases. Dams were also begun for irrigation purposes.
The population numbered 805,687 in 1890, and 849,127 in 1900. In 1900 approximately five-sixths of the population lived on estates, owned no property, paid no taxes, and derived few benefits from the social and political institutions about them. Education was then confined almost exclusively to the upper classes, from which came some of the most prominent men in Brazilian politics and literature.
In the early 20th century the sandy zone along the coast was nearly barren, but the more elevated region behind the coast with broken surfaces and sandy soil produced fruit and most tropical products when conditions are favourable. The natural vegetable production was important, and included manigoba or Ceara rubber, carnahuba wax and fibre, caju wine and ipecacuanha. The principal agricultural products were cotton, coffee, sugar, mandioca and tropical fruits. The production of cotton increased largely with the development of cotton manufactures in Brazil.
The higher plateau was devoted almost exclusively to cattleraising, once the principal industry of the state, although recurring droughts created an obstacle to its profitable development. The state exported considerable amounts of cattle, hides and skins.
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 São Paulo to ratify a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Main Tourist Attractions
- Canoa Quebrada Beach (in Aracati)
- Jericoacoara Beach (profiled on the E Network's Wild On series, 2000)
[edit] Notes
- ^ The presented pronunciation is in Brazilian Portuguese variant spoken in Ceará. The European Portuguese pronunciation is: /si.ɐ.'ɾa/.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] External links
- Info Fortaleza - English
- Official Government Site
- Tourism guide Ceará
- Fortaleza Tourism guide and maps
- 3000 pictures and videos of Ceara
- Fortaleza, Ceara
- Ceará Photos
- Jericoacoara Interactive Tour
