Ceará

Ceará is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is located in the northeast of the country and has the capital Fortaleza.

Geography

Ceará is bordered to the north and north- east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, on the south by Pernambuco and on the west by Piauí.

Ceará with a length of 573 km one of the longest coastlines in Brazil, where dunes, mangroves and freshwater lagoons called Restinga prevail. This is followed, in the hinterland of the Caatinga, a semi-desert with thorn bush vegetation. The largest river is the Rio Jaguaribe with more than 600 km in length, whose catchment area covers more than half of the national territory.

The state is home to two national parks. Particularly worth mentioning is the Parque Nacional de Jericoacoara, which has an area of ​​62.95 km ². It was established on 23 September 2002 to protect the unique shifting sand dunes of Jericoacoara and Cruz, and their fauna and flora.

From the capital, Fortaleza is located 351 km away is the smallest with 563 acres of National Park of Brazil, the National Park Ubajara. He looks like a green island in the Caatinga semi-desert. The main attraction of this nature reserve is a stalactite cave.

Cities

The largest cities by population figures (as of 1 July 2004):

• Fortaleza - 2332657
• Caucaia - 294 284
• Juazeiro do Norte - 231 920
• Maracanaú - 191 317
• Sobral - 169 532
• Crato - 111 894
• Itapipoca - 103 145
• Maranguape - 96 565
• Iguatu - 90 728
• Quixada - 73 863
• Caninde - 73,590
• Crateus - 73 076
• Aquiraz - 67,736
• Morada Nova - 67 216
• Aracati - 66 384
• Tiangua - 65 285
• Ico - 63 575
• Russa - 62 837
• Cascavel - 62 076

See also: List of municipalities in Ceará

History

There is a report of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón ( captain of the caravel Niña, from the fleet of Christopher Columbus ), which was anchored in the bay of Jericoacoara 1499. But he stayed at that time because of the Treaty of Tordesillas unofficially, because after the contract had Spain not entitled to this area.

At the coral reef off the coast of Ceará in 1620 the galleon Aires to be there shattered Cunha. Because today is reminiscent of the name Canoa Quebrada ( German: Shattered boat).

In 1649 the Dutch occupied the coast and built on the territory of present center of Fortaleza a fort called Schoonenborch. Five years later, the Portuguese expelled the Dutch again and built a stone fortress names Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora.