Recife

Recife ((IPA: [he'sifi]) (Portuguese for reef), 2005 population 1,501,000 (3,599,181 in the metropolitan area) is the third largest city in the Northeastern Region of Brazil, the largest metropolitan area and the most important cultural, economic, political and science-minded city in this Region. It is the 5th largest metropolitan area in Brazil and the capital of Pernambuco. Recife is also where the Beberibe River meets the Capibaribe River to flow into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a major port on the Atlantic Ocean. Recife is served by Guararapes International Airport.

Surrounded by rivers and crossed by bridges, Recife is full of islands and mangroves that magnify its geography. It is known as the Brazilian Venice, thanks to its fluvial resemblance with the european city, and is considered one of Brazil's cultural capitals.

Recife is the birthplace of poets and writers Manuel Bandeira, Carlos Pena Filho, Saulo Moreira, Sebastião Uchoa Leite, Nelson Rodrigues, Gilberto Freyre, Paulo Freire and João Cabral de Melo Neto; and of such composers as Lenine, Fred Zero Quatro, Otto, Pochyua Andrade, Don Tronxo, Valença Brothers, Antônio Nóbrega, Naná Vasconcelos, Jorge du Peixe, Paulo Diniz, Fernando Lobo, Antônio Maria and Chico Science. Canadian ice hockey player Robyn Regehr and footballers Rivaldo and Juninho Pernambucano were also born in Recife.

[edit] History

The area around Recife was one of the first in Brazil to be settled by the Portuguese Crown. In 1534, John III of Portugal divided Brazil into Hereditary Captaincies (Capitanias Hereditárias, in Portuguese); the Portuguese realized that they had no human or financial resources to invest in such a large and distant colony, and decided to assign this task to private entrepreneurs, called Donatários (this system had already been successful in the settlement of the Portuguese colonies in Africa).

Because of several problems (the most obvious being the lack of support from the Portuguese metropolis), most Captaincies failed. One of the few to prosper was the Captaincy of Pernambuco, which was assigned to Duarte Coelho Pereira (the man who founded Olinda and became famous for expressing his enchantment with the beauty of the place, giving the name to the city).

Pernambuco prospered from the sugarcane industry (beet sugar was not industrially produced in Europe until the beginning of the 19th century). At the time, in Europe, sugarcane plantations could be grown only in Andalusia and the Algarve; in the 1420s, sugarcane was carried to the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores; the sugar from Brazil was very appreciated in Europe. Duarte Coelho found in Pernambuco plenty of fertile land and an excellent climate for the cultivation of cane; all he needed was labor to work in the crops and to keep the "engenhos" (rustic wooden machinery) moving.

At first, the Portuguese tried to use the indigenous peoples of Brazil, but they soon realized that the indigenous culture was not compatible with the work in the engenhos. The solution was to import black slaves from Africa; from the 16th to the 19th century, Pernambuco received many slaves, making it one of the Brazilian States where black culture has the most visible traces (in dance, music, culinary, etc).

Alone, this mixture of Portuguese, Indians and black slaves would be enough to make Recife one of the most culturally diverse cities in Brazil. The Dutch added to the mix. From 1580 to 1640, the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were unified under the rule of the former. Spain was engaged in a war against the Netherlands, and determined that the Dutch, who were the main distributors of Brazilian sugar in Europe, would be prohibited from coming to Brazil.

The Dutch decided to invade several sugar producing cities in Brazil, including Salvador and Natal. From 1630 to 1654, they took control of Recife and Olinda. During this period, the first synagogue of the Americas was founded in the city, and for this brief time Recife became one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world. The inhabitants fought on their own to expel the Dutch, being helped by the involvement of the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War. This was known as the Insurreição Pernambucana (Pernambucan Insurrection). Most of the Jews fled to Amsterdam; others fled to North America, starting the first Jewish community of New Amsterdam (now known as New York City).

During the 18th century, riots spread throughout the city, in which the rich farmers of Olinda and the traders from Recife clashed. Recife had a clear advantage in relation to Olinda: Olinda has no harbour, while Recife's Harbor is one of the best on the Atlantic. Recife's victory asserted the supremacy of its bourgeoisie over the decadent sugar aristocrats of Olinda. This was a decisive factor for Recife's growth. Recife is now a large city whereas Olinda is a small historical town.

[edit] Photos

River Capibaribe's bridges viewed through Paço Alfândega's mirror.	River Capibaribe meeting the Atlantic Ocean, viewed through Paço Alfândega's mirror.	Boa Viagem seen from the beach	Paço Alfândega, perspective
Cais de Santa Rita viewed from the Casa de Banhos Restaurant	Instituto Ricardo Brennand	A rainy day in old Recife	Boa Viagem Beach, Piedade on the far end

[edit] Geography

[edit] Climate

Recife has a typical tropical climate, with warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity all throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures and pleasant trade winds blowing from the ocean. January is the warmest month, with mean maxima of 31°C and minima of 22°C; July experiences the coolest temperatures, with means of 26°C and 17°C.

[edit] Vegetation

Recife has a Tropical forest. Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 2,000 mm (about 78 inches or 2 meters) and 1700 mm (about 67 inches). The soil can be poor because high rainfall tends to leach out soluble nutrients. There are several common characteristics of tropical rainforest trees. Tropical rainforest species frequently possess one or more attributes not commonly seen in trees of higher latitudes or trees in drier conditions on the same latitude.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2005, the population was 1,501,008, 43% of population of Metropolitan Area. The population density was 64,78/km². According to the 2005 census, the racial makeup of the city was majority White and Mixed; minority Black or Afro-Brazilian. People of Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian descent form the largest ethnic groups in the city.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Tourism and recreation

Boa Viagem Beach, Recife

Tamandaré Beach.

Among Recife's main tourist attractions are:

Churches and historical monuments, including 17th and 18th Century constructions from Portuguese and Dutch colonizers
Francisco Brennand's atelier of ceramic art
Ricardo Brennand Institute: cultural institute with museun, pinacotec and library.
Ancient Recife buildings: Forte Orange (which is really located in Itamaracá island, some 40 km from Recife)
Boa Viagem Beach (the city's most important beach)
Olinda (neighbor city) - a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Casa da Cultura: souvenir shops in an ancient prision building
The Carnival at Recife Antigo

There are many beaches surrounding Recife, such as:

Porto de Galinhas, Ipojuca, Pernambuco (60 km to the south) --> The most popular nearby tourist destination attracts tourists from around the world and boasts a thriving tourism industry. High end hotels and restaurants compete with more popular options and lie within the budget of most travelers.
Maracaípe, Ipojuca, Pernambuco (65 km to the south)
Serrambi, Ipojuca, Pernambuco (70 km to the south)
Tamandaré, Barreiros, Pernambuco (110 km to the south)
Itamaracá, Pernambuco (40 km to the north)

[edit] Education

[edit] Colleges and universities

Recife has a Universidade Federal de Pernambuco(UFPE), Universidade Católica de Pernambuco(Unicap), Universidade de Pernambuco(UPE), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco(UFRPE), Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Pernambuco(Cefet-PE), Faculdade de Tecnologia de Pernambuco(Fatec-PE), and others.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Cinema

Multiplex Tacaruna, Multiplex Guararapes, Cinema do Parque and Cine São Luiz.

[edit] Theatre

Theatre Apolo, Theatre Hermilo Borba Filho, Theatre of Park, Theatre de Santa Isabel.

[edit] Museum

Instituto Ricardo Brennand, Memorial da Justiça, MISPE - Museu da Imagem e do Som de Pernambuco, Museu da Abolição, Museu da Aeronáutica, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Pernambuco, Museu de Arte Moderna Aluísio Magalhães, Museu de Arte Sacra de Pernambuco, Museu da Cidade do Recife, Museu de Ciências Naturais, Museu do Estado de Pernambuco, Museu do Homem do Nordeste, Museu Murillo La Greca, Centro Cultural Benfica and Fundação Gilberto Freyre.

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] International airport

Guararapes International Airport. The new Recife/Guararapes – Gilberto Freyre International Airport has been open since July 2004 and has 52 thousand square meters of area. The largest airport in the North and Northeast regions, Guararapes had its capacity expanded from 1.5 million to 5 million passengers a year. Now there are 64 check-in counters, versus the former terminal’s 24. The shopping and leisure area was also totally remodeled, within the “Aeroshopping” concept, which transforms an airport into a center for business, comfort and high-quality products and services. The commercial spaces will be occupied in steps and the final total will be 142 shops. Since 2000, Recife has had the longest runway in the Northeast, at 3,305 meters. Its extension permits operations with jumbo jets, such as the Boeing 747-400, which can carry 290 passengers and 62 tons of cargo, with endurance to fly nonstop to anywhere in South and Central America, Africa and parts of Europe, the United States and Canada. Current domestic destinations include most major cities in Brazil, and there are also international flights to Paris (France) and Lisbon (Portugal).

[edit] Port

Suape port. Suape serves ships 365 days a year without any restrictions in regards to tide schedules. To assist in the docking operation of the ships, the port offers a monitoring system and laser ship docking system that enables effective, secure control and upholds the same technical standards as the most important ports across the globe. The port moves over 5 million tons of cargo a year. The liquid granary (petroleum by-products, chemical products, alcohols, vegetable oils, etc.) constitutes more than 80% of the movement. The port can serve ships of up to 170,000 tpb and operational draft of 14.50m. With 27km² of backport, the internal and external ports offer the necessary conditions for serving large ships. The access canal has 5,000m of extension, 300m in width and 16.5m in length.

[edit] Districts

Aflitos
Ilha do Leite
Afogados Ilha do Retiro
Água Fria Ilha Joana Bezerra
Alto do Mandu Imbiribeira
Alto José Bonifácio Ipsep
Alto José do Pinho Iputinga
Alto Santa Teresinha Jaqueira
Apipucos Jardim São Paulo
Areias Jiquiá
Arruda Jordão
Bairro do Recife
Linha do Tiro
Barro Macaxeira
Beberibe Madalena
Boa Viagem Mangabeira
Boa Vista Mangueira
Bomba do Hemetério Monteiro
Bongi Morro da Conceição
Brasília Teimosa Mustardinha
Brejo da Guabiraba Nova Descoberta
Brejo de Beberibe Paissandu
Cabanga
Parnamirim
Caçote Passarinho
Cajueiro Pau Ferro
Campina do Barreto Peixinhos
Campo Grande Pina
Casa Amarela Poço da Panela
Casa Forte Ponto de Parada
Caxangá Porto da Madeira
Cidade Universitária Prado
Coelhos Rosarinho
Cohab San Martin
Coqueiral Sancho
Cordeiro Santana
Córrego do Jenipapo Santo Amaro
Curado Santo Antônio
Derby
São José
Dois Irmãos Sítio dos Pintos
Dois Unidos Soledade
Encruzilhada Tamarineira
Engenho do Meio Tejipió
Espinheiro Torre
Estância Torreão
Fundão Torrões
Graças Totó
Guabiraba Várzea
Hipódromo Vasco da Gama
Ibura Zumbi

[edit] Main Neighborhoods

Torre
Ipsep
Boa Viagem
Boa Vista
Bongi
Brasília Teimosa
Cidade Universitária
Cordeiro
Aflitos
Casa Forte
Derby
Tamarineira
Espinheiro
Graças
Ibura
Ilha do Leite
Iputinga
Pina
Recife Antigo
Santo Amaro
Santo Antônio
Setúbal
Várzea
Beberibe
Casa Amarela
Afogados
Imbiribeira
Estância

[edit] Sports

Recife provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several soccer clubs based in Recife, such as Sport (1987 national soccer champion and 35 times state champion), Santa Cruz FC (24 times state champion), and Náutico (21 times state champion).

[edit] Crime

Recife is known nation-wide for being the most dangerous major city in the country. Its metropolitan area has a rate of 69.4 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, which is bigger than in much larger Brazilian cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and more than twice the national average.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Shark Attacks

In recent years, the number of shark attacks on the beaches of Recife has dramatically increased.^{[citation needed]} Surfing has recently been outlawed on the urban beaches (Pina, Boa Viagem, Piedade, Candeias) because of the risk the sport poses.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Recife

(Portuguese) Recife Official Site
http://www.recifeguide.com/ Commercial site with touristic info about Recife.

Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: -8.0845° -34.919°
- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia

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Capitals of Brazilian states

Aracaju · Belo Horizonte · Belém · Boa Vista · Campo Grande · Cuiabá · Curitiba · Florianópolis · Fortaleza · Goiânia · João Pessoa · Macapá · Maceió · Manaus · Natal · Palmas · Porto Alegre · Porto Velho · Recife · Rio Branco · Rio de Janeiro · Salvador · São Paulo · São Luís · Teresina · Vitória

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