Maranhão
Maranhão is a state in northeastern Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. Maranhão has 6,574,789 inhabitants ( census 2010) and an area of 331,983 km ². Thus, the population density is 20 inhabitants per km ². The capital of Maranhão São Luís is.
Geography
Maranhão is characterized by the abrupt transition of vegetation types: mangroves and sand dunes on the coast and steppe in the Sertão.
Cities and landscapes
The coast of Maranhão
São Luís is the capital of Maranhão, an important industrial city as a port of the terminus of the line from the mining district Karajá, and has a colonial old town, which is being restored as a World Heritage Site by little.
Alcântara is on the other side of the Baía de São Marcos. The city offers an extreme contrast of decaying former colonial size and high-tech in the form of the Brazilian Space Station.
Just a few kilometers south of São Luís begins the almost impassable Baixada Maranhense to the mouth of the Rio Mearim. Hundreds of lakes, such as the Lagoa Cajari or Lagoa do Viana form the largest area of natural lakes in northeastern Brazil.
Further west, the barely accessible nature reserve Reentrâncias Maranhenses lies with extensive mangrove forests on hundreds of islands and peninsulas with pronounced tides.
In the northeast of National Park of Lençóis Maranhenses (sheets of Maranhão ) includes a 100 km long and 70 km wide area of sand dunes with embedded small lakes. In the vicinity of the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian desert is surprising. The new road to Barreirinhas the Lençóis are easily accessible and are experiencing a large influx of tourists. With boats to reach Atins with access to the dunes and Caburé where you wander away from urban hustle and bustle of the sea or river and can swim.
20 km east and only accessible via the beach is at the edge of the small bed sheet ( Pequenos Lençóis ) Paulino Neves. Another quiet place on the coast is Tutóia, the western starting point for boat trips to and through the island-studded Parnaíba Delta.
The hinterland of Maranhão
Caxias in the eastern hinterland of Maranhão is called the princess of the Sertão. It lives on rice cultivation and products of Carnaúba, Buriti and babaçu palms.
Santa Inês and Açailândia are regional centers along the road to the Rio Tocantins Imperatriz. It was only after construction of the road from Brasilia to Belém to become the second most important city of Maranhão.
Carolina, a little further south on the Rio Tocantins, the city, over which one can the new National Park Chapada reach the mesas. There is water in amounts in numerous waterfalls as the Cachoeira da Pedra Caída.
Cities
The largest cities with their population figures of 2009 are:
- São Luís - 997 098
- Imperatriz - 236 691
- Timon - 150 635
- Caxias - 148 072
- São José de Ribamar - 139 473
- Codó - 113 937
- Açailândia - 101 139
- Bacabal - 98 489
- Paço do Lumiar - 93 796
- Santa Inês - 85 701
- Balsas - 83 617
- Barra do Corda - 81 329
- Pinheiro - 77 182
- Santa Luzia - 71,455
- Chapadinha - 70 537
- Buriticupu - 64.685
- Coroata - 63 081
- Itapecuru Mirim - 56 810
- Grajaú - 56 633
- Zé Doca - 46 265
See also: List of municipalities in Maranhão
Climate
The climate is tropical humid. The mean minimum temperature is 21 °, the average maximum at 32 °. There are 1200-2000 mm of rainfall per year, humid in the west, semiarid in the east. In the north there is the influence of the Amazon, to the south by the Sertão.
History
The area of Maranhão has been inhabited for several thousand years. The first Europeans have applied to the coast of Maranhão, according to Mário Meirelles even before the official "discovery" of Brazil by Cabral and driven trade. Are called Diogo de Teive ( 1452 ), Gonçalo and João Taveira Vogado ( 1453), João Coelho ( 1493 ), Alonso de Ojeda, Juan de la Cosa and Americo vespucio ( 1497 ) and Juan Garcia Vergara and Ocampo ( 1499/1500 ).
The Portuguese King Dom João III awarded 1534 Capitanía do Maranhão to João de Barros and Fernão Álvares de Andrade, spice merchants of the crown, the da Cunha sent Aires in 1535 with 10 ships and 900 men on an expedition. They suffered shipwreck, as well as the next expedition of Luis de Melo e Silva in 1554. Thus ending the Portuguese colonization attempts. In 1594 French settled until 1612, 500 men under Daniel de la Touche go ashore and founded the city of Saint Louis. 1615 defeated Portuguese troops of Jerônimo de Albuquerque the French. 1641 the bloodthirsty governor Bento Maciel Parentes of 18 ships and their Dutch crew was taken by surprise. The Dutch hold the city of São Luís to 1644th main products at the time were sugarcane, cocoa and tobacco.
In the 17th century, Jesuits bring the Christian message in the Sertão, where they found 20 Indian villages. 1760 they will not be sent for the first time out of the country.
Economy
Most important source of income is mining. The iron ore from Karajá (Pará ) is a railway line and the port of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce ( CVRD ) in São Luís exported about 50 million tons annually.
Crops are soy, rice, corn, Cajú, cassava.
Opposite of São Luís is located in the colonial city of Alcântara, the Brazilian space center Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara.
Traffic
The main railway line runs in the 892 km distant Erzgebiet Karajá. It belongs to the Brazilian mining giant CVRD. A branch leading from Açailândia to Imperatriz, the extension to Estreito is under construction, it should go to Balsas. São Luís is connected with Timon and thus to the rail network Northeast of Brazil.
In addition to the port of Itaqui there are private ports in the CVRD and Alumar, the aluminum melt. 2003 68.5 million tonnes with 991 ships and exported.
There are airports in São Luís and Imperatriz.
Culture
Popularized in the cities of reggae. In addition to the typical carnival festival Bumba -Meu -Boi is in June. It is African - Indian origin, and told in a critical- satirical form the story of a slave who instructed her husband to kill the most beautiful bull, so it can eat the tongue so as to become pregnant. The landowner commissioned Indians to catch him. A doctor needs to revive the bull. Everything will be fine and ends at a major party. Typical dances are Tambor Tambor de Mina de Crioula and. Handicrafts is made from the fibers of the Buriti palm.
Sons and daughters of the town
- António José da Serra Gomes Marques de Penafiel (1819-1891), Portuguese diplomat