Barbalha is a

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

in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

in the Northeast region of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Barbalha covers , and has a population of 61,228 with a population density of 100 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located at the south of the state, from the state capital of

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

. The eastern part of the Araripe-Apodi National Forest, established in 1946, is located in Barbalha. The city sits at the foot of the

Chapada do Araripe The Chapada do Araripe, also known as the Serra do Araripe, is a ''chapada'' (plateau) in northeastern Brazil. The chapada forms the boundary of Ceará and Pernambuco states, and forms the watershed between the Jaguaribe River of Ceará, which flo ...

, a large plateau on the border of Ceará and Pernambuco. The municipality of Barbalha is located in the microregion of the

Vale do Cariri A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipa ...

, in the south of the state of Ceará. It is bordered by the municipalities of Crato,

Juazeiro do Norte Juazeiro do Norte is a city in the state of Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. It is located 491 km south of the state capital Fortaleza in the semiarid sertão. The municipality has a population of 276,264 (2020 official estimate) and co ...

Porteiras Porteiras is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará Ceará (CE) is a state located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. According to the 2022 census conducted by the B ...

, Jardim, and

Missão Velha Missão Velha is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Ceará in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará References

Municipalities in Cea ...

. In the

Portuguese colonial The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

period the larger region of southern Ceará belonged to Francisco Magalhães Barreto (1816-1887), a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

landowner. The small settlement of Barbalha was elevated to parish (''freguesia'') status by Provincial Law No. 91 of August 30, 1838. On August 7, 1846, by Provincial Law no. 374, it was raised to village status and a judiciary seat was created there. Barbalha was then detached from the municipality of Crato. Barbalha was elevated to municipality status by Provincial Law no. 9740 on August 30, 1876. Barbalha is associated with significant events of history in Ceará in the 19th century. Residents of the town participated in the Pernambucan Revolt of 1817 and in the

Confederation of the Equator The Confederation of the Equator () was a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the northeastern region of the Empire of Brazil in 1824, in the early years of the country's independence from Portugal. The secessionist movement was led by libera ...

, a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the Northeastern region of Brazil in 1824. An important festival in Barbalha is the Festa do Pau-da-Bandeira de Santo Antonio (Feast of the Flagpole of Saint Anthony) in June. The municipality produces famous rapadura (

panela Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other names in Lati ...

) (unrefined

whole cane sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

) and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

flour. Other industries in the town produce marble, bricks, tiles, and Portland cement.

Former Town Hall

The former town hall of Barbalha (Casa de Câmara e Cadeia) was built during the great drought of 1877. Construction of the building was approved to create work for unemployed farmers. The square at the town hall is the location of Festa do Pau-da-Bandeira de Santo Antonio. The building, according to town residents, was renovated at the beginning of the 1930s. The town hall became a protected structure of the State of Ceará on March 3, 1995.

Climate

Barbalha experiences a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Aw'') with hot temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. The city experiences a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

from January to April. The

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

extends from June to November. Araguaína has hot conditions throughout the year. October and November are the hottest months, with average highs around .

Notable people

Hermes Carleial Hermes Carleial (30 March 1904 – 6 July 1954), was a Brazilian poet, lawyer, accountant and writer. Biography Hermes Carleial was born in the city of Barbalha, in the State of Ceará, in 1904. He was the second child in a family of seven broth ...

(1904–1954), Brazilian poet, lawyer, accountant and writer

References

{{Municipalities of Ceará Municipalities in Ceará Populated places established in 1846