Caicó, also known as the City of Prince, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Seridó Ocidental microrregion and Central Potiguar mesorregion, in

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", re ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. With a population of 80,726 inhabitants (2021), it is the seventh most populous city of Rio Grande do Norte and the second in the countryside of the state, after

Mossoró Mossoró () is the second most populous city in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and also the largest municipality of that state. It is equidistant (four hours' drive) from Natal (approximately 277 km or 172 miles), the state capi ...

. Located between the Seridó and Barra Nova rivers, in the eastern portion of Western Seridó, the city has the highest human development index of the Semi-arid Northeast Brazil. Founded in 1735 as Vila Nova do Príncipe, the city has evolved into a political and cultural centre of Rio Grande do Norte. The name ''Caicó'' is derived from the indigenous word ''Queicuó'', meaning 'Cuó river and mountain'.

History

The settlement was made initially by migrants of Pernambuco in search of land for cattle ranching, since the Royal Charter of 1701 prohibited cattle on the coast. Were awarded land grants as rewards for military shapes such as the expulsion of the Dutch and for priests, with the construction of the chapel in honor of St. Anne in 1695. In 1700 gave up the foundation of the Camp Queiquó by Manuel de Souza Forte. However the first families to settle fully took place from 1720, by Portuguese coming mainly from northern Portugal and the Azores.

Geography

Climate

Caicó has a hot semi-arid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BSh''), subject to variability, and the dry periods (droughts) may last more than one year. Rain falls between February and May, with an average annual precipitation of . There are about 3,000 hours of average sunshine annually. Beside

and Pau dos Ferros, both in Western Rio Grande do Norte, Caicó is one of the hottest cities in the state with temperatures reaching up to during the day. According to the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology, since 1995 the lowest temperature recorded in Caicó was on March 16, 2008, and the highest reached on January 18, 2003 and January 28, 2007. The highest cumulative

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

recorded in 24 hours was on January 22, 1996.

Demographics

The 2010 census had the municipality's population as 62,709, with a density of 53,9 persons per km². Caicó's median age of 27, as well as its percentage of seniors are above the state average and the national average, while those under 15 are below Brazilian percentages. Around 92% describe themselves as Christian, with Catholics account for 70,4% of the population and members of Protestant churches is 25,3%. The city is the seat of the Protestant Church of Brazil. Ethnically, 98% are white, 1% mixed, 0,78% black, and 0,22 % Asian.

References

External links

Official websiteCaicó in a RN road mapGetty Thesaurus entry for Caicó
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caico Municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte