Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main tourist destinations in

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 ...

. The state capital is the city of Fortaleza, the country's fourth most populous city. The state has 4.3% of the Brazilian population and produces 2.1% of the Brazilian GDP. Literally, the name ''Ceará'' means "sings the jandaia". According to José de Alencar, one of the most important writers of Brazil and an authority in Tupi Guaraní, ''Ceará'' means turquoise or green waters. The state is best known for its extensive coastline, with of sand. There are also mountains and valleys producing tropical fruits. To the south, on the border of Paraíba,

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...

and

Piauí Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66 ...

, is the National

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Araripe Araripe is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Ceará (CE), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Cear� ...

Geography

Ceará has an area of . It is bounded on the north by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

, on the east by the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, on the south by

state, and on the west by

. Ceará lies partly upon the northeast slope of the

Brazilian Highlands The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau ( pt, Planalto Brasileiro) are an extensive geography, geographical region, covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all approximately half of the country's land area, ...

, and partly upon the sandy coastal plain. Its surface is a succession of great terraces, facing north and northeast, formed by the denudation of the ancient sandstone plateau which once covered this part of the continent; the terraces are seamed by watercourses, and their valleys are broken by hills and ranges of highlands. The latter are the remains of the ancient plateau, capped with horizontal strata of sandstone, with a uniform altitude of . The flat top of such a range is called a '' chapada'' or ''taboleira'', and its width in places is from . The boundary line with Piauí follows one of these ranges, the Serra de Ibiapaba, which unites with another range on the southern boundary of the state, known as the

Serra 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 fl ...

. Another range, or escarpment, crosses the state from east to west, but is broken into two principal divisions, each having several local names. These ranges are not continuous, the breaking down of the ancient plateau having been irregular and uneven. The rivers of the state are small and, with one or two exceptions, become completely dry in the dry season. The largest is the

Jaguaribe Jaguaribe is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. The municipality contains part of the reservoir of the Castanhão Dam, the largest in the state. Notable people The English author Henry Koster (1793–1820) ...

, which flows entirely across the state in a northeast direction. Ceará has a varied environment, with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

s, ''

caatinga Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...

'',

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

, scrubland and tropical

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. The higher ranges intercept considerable moisture from the prevailing trade winds, and their flanks and valleys are covered with a

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fo ...

which is typical of the region, gathering species from tropical forests,

and cerrado. The less elevated areas of the plateaus are either thinly wooded or open campo. Most of the region at the lower altitudes is characterized by scrubby forests called ''caatingas'', which is an endemic Brazilian vegetation. The sandy, coastal plain, with a width of , is nearly bare of vegetation, although the coast has many enclaves of '' restingas'' (coastal forests) and mangroves. The soil is, in general, thin and porous and does not retain moisture; consequently, the long dry season turns the country into a barren desert, relieved only by vegetation along the riverways and mountain ranges, and by the hardy, widely distributed

Carnauba Palm ''Copernicia prunifera'' or the carnaúba palm or carnaubeira palm () is a species of palm tree native to northeastern Brazil (mainly the states of Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia). Known by many as 'tree of life' becaus ...

''(Copernicia cerifera),'' which in places forms groves of considerable extent. Some areas in the higher ranges of Serra da Ibiapaba, Serra do Araripe and others are more appropriate for agriculture, as their soil and vegetation are less affected by the dry seasons. The beaches of the state are a major tourist attraction. Ceará has several famous beaches such as Canoa Quebrada, Jericoacoara, Morro Branco, Taíba and

Flexeiras Flexeiras is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population is 12,807 (2020) and its area is 316 km². The municipality contains 38% of the Murici Ecological Station, cr ...

. The beaches are divided into two groups (in relation to the capital Fortaleza): Sunset Coast (''Costa do Sol poente'') and Sunrise Coast (''Costa do Sol nascente''). Ceará lies in one of the few regions of the country that experiences

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s. In 1980 an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck near Quixeramobim in the center of the state, rattling the city of Fortaleza but causing no injuries.

Climate

The climate of Ceará is hot almost all year. The temperature in the state varies from . The coast is hot and humid, tempered by the cool trade winds; in the more elevated, semi-arid regions it is very hot and dry (often above , but seldom above ), although the nights are cool. In the higher ranges (Serra da Ibiapaba, Chapada do Araripe and several smaller highlands) the temperatures are cooler and vary from about . The record minimum temperature registered in Ceará was , recorded in Jardim, a small city in Chapada do Araripe. The year is divided into a rainy and dry season, the rains beginning in January to March and lasting until June. The dry season, July to December, is sometimes broken by slight showers in September and October, but these are of slight importance. Sometimes the rains fail altogether, and then a drought (''seca'') ensues, causing famine and pestilence throughout the entire region. The most destructive droughts recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries were those of 1711, 1723, 1777–1778, 1790, 1825, 1844–1845, and 1877–1880, the last-mentioned (known by local people as ''a

Grande Seca The ''Grande Seca'' (English: Great Drought), or the Brazilian drought of 1877–1878, was the largest and most devastating drought in Brazilian history.Açude Castanhão. Because of the dams, the

Jaguaribe River The Jaguaribe River is a highly seasonal river in Ceará state of northeastern Brazil. Two large dams were constructed across the Jaguaribe, the Orós Dam, completed in 1960, and the Castanhão Dam, completed in 2003. The Castanhão Dam flooded th ...

no longer dries up completely.

History

The territory of Ceará was originally inhabited by different Indian peoples, such as the Tabajara, Potyguara, Anacés, Kariri, Inhamum, Jucá, Kanindé, Tremembé, Paicaú and others, who had commercial relations with various European people, including the French, before the Portuguese decided to include the area in Brazil. The first Portuguese plan for settling in Ceará dated from 1534, but the first attempts to settle the territory failed, and the earliest Portuguese settlement was made near the mouth of the Ceará River in 1603, by Pero Coelho de Sousa. He established the fort of São Tiago, but one year later he and his family abandoned Ceará because of a period of drought, a natural phenomenon that periodically afflicts the province, which the Portuguese settlers were ill-equipped to endure. Portugal wanted to form a military base in Ceará to support the Portuguese operations in the war against the French. The first attempt with

Pero Coelho de Sousa Pero may refer to: * Pero (mythology), several personages in Greek mythology ** Pero (princess), daughter of Neleus * Pero (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname Pero * Pero language, a language of Nigeria * Pero, Lombardy, ...

, in 1603, was not successful, and the French continued operating from Maranhão and Ibiapaba, where they had established a base in 1590. The Indians and French formed political and military alliances. In 1607, two Jesuits, Francisco Pinto and Pereira Figueira, arrived in Ceará with a mission to spy in the area of Ibiapaba. In October, that year Francisco Pinto was killed by the Indians and Pereira Filgueira returned with more information about the area and the French and Indian alliance. In 1612, the French were successfully expelled from Ceará and Maranhão by a military expedition under the command of Portuguese Martim Soares Moreno. In the same year he constructed the fortress of São Sebastião on the same site as São Tiago, and one year later he left Ceará for Portugal. It was only in 1618 that Martim Soares Moreno returned to Ceará, and it is from this time that the Portuguese presence dates. This was restricted at first to the area of the Ceará River: Martim Soares Moreno made an alliance with the Indians of the Potiguara tribe. In 1631, he left Ceará to help the Portuguese against the Dutch in Pernambuco and the fort of São Sebastião lost its importance. At this time, what is today Brazil was hotly disputed by the Dutch and the Portuguese. The area was invaded twice by the Dutch, in 1637 and in 1649. In 1637, the Dutch and the Indians took the Fort of São Sebastião and dominated Ceará. The Dutch expanded their presence in Ceará and made alliances with different Indian tribes. In 1639,

Georg Marcgrave Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" "Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mod ...

made an expedition in Ceará, but in 1644 the Indians attacked the Dutch Governor of Ceará, Gideon Morris, the Dutch soldiers were killed, and São Sebastião was destroyed. There were no Europeans in the region between 1644 and 1649, but in 1649, before negotiations with the different Indian tribes,

Matias Beck Matias is a form of the given name Matthew. In German-speaking Europe it is most often written as Matthias. It appears in this form in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Alternate spellings are: Mathias, Mattias, Mattis, Mats and Matti. Matias ...

arrived in Ceará to explore silver mines of Maranguape. Good-quality silver was not found however. In this period the Dutch built another fort, by the banks of river Pajeú, and named it Fort Schoonenborch after one of their commanders. In 1654, the Dutch were expelled from Brazil; the Portuguese took Schoonenborch, changed its name to Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora de Assunção (The Fortress of Our Lady of the Assumption), and the different Indian tribes that had made alliance with the Dutch had to flee from Portuguese persecution. In 1661, the Netherlands formally ceded their Brazilian territories to the Portuguese crown, ending conflict in the region. Ceará became a dependency of

in 1680; this relationship lasted until 1799, when the Captaincy of Ceará was made independent. The fight for Brazilian independence in 1822 was fierce in Ceará, with the area being a rebel stronghold that incurred vicious retribution from loyalists. The captaincy became a province in 1822 under Dom Pedro I. A revolution followed in 1824, the president of the province was deposed fifteen days after his arrival, and a republic was proclaimed. Internal dissensions immediately broke out, the new president was assassinated, and after a brief reign of terror the province resumed its allegiance to the empire. Ceará became the first province of Brazil to abolish slavery, on March 25, 1884, more than four years before the 1888 national law of abolition, passed by Princess Isabel. The reign of Dom Pedro II (see Empire of Brazil) saw great advances in infrastructure in Ceará, with the commerce increasing by a large amount, and with gas lighting becoming almost ubiquitous. The state of Ceará became a bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in 1853, the bishop residing at Fortaleza. Two railway lines running inland from the coast (the Baturité line from Fortaleza to Senador Pompeu, , and the Sobral line from the port of Camocim to Ipu, 134 miles), were built by the national government after the drought of 1877–1878 to give work to the starving refugees, and were later operated under leases. Dams were also built for irrigation purposes. The population numbered 805,687 in 1890, and 849,127 in 1900. In 1900, approximately five-sixths of the population lived on estates, owned no property, paid no taxes, and derived few benefits from the social and political institutions about them. Education was then confined almost exclusively to the upper classes, from which came some of the most prominent men in Brazilian politics and literature. In the early 20th century the sandy zone along the coast was nearly barren, but the more elevated region behind the coast with broken surfaces and sandy soil produced fruit and most tropical products when conditions were favourable. The natural vegetable production was important, and included manigoba or Ceará rubber, carnahuba wax and fibre, cashew wine and ipecacuanha. The principal agricultural products were cotton, coffee, sugar, manioc and tropical fruits. The production of cotton increased largely with the development of cotton manufacture in Brazil. The higher plateau was devoted almost exclusively to cattle raising, once the principal industry of the state, although recurring droughts created an obstacle to its profitable development. The state exported considerable amounts of cattle, hides and skins. Since 1960, the Orós Dam, comparable in size to the Aswan Dam has supplied Ceará with much of its water, and in 1995 construction began on the enormous Castanhão Dam, completed in 2003, which is able to hold 6.5 km³ of water.

Politics and government

Ceará is governed by the

Governor of Ceará A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, currently Camilo Santana since 2015, and the Legislative Assembly of Ceará.

Demographics

According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 8,472,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 55.2 inhabitants/km².

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

: 76.4% (2006);

Population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

: 1.7% (1991–2000); Houses: 2,181,000 (2006). The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 5,370,000 Brown ( Multiracial) people (63.39%), 2,800,000

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

people (33.05%), 257,000

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

people (3.03%), 28,000 Asian people (0.33%), 12,000 Amerindian people (0.14%).

Largest cities

Religion

Religion is very important in the culture of Ceará, being an extremely important factor in the construction of the identity of the people.

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

is the hegemony religion in Ceará and is the Christian confession that left most marks in Ceara's culture. It was the only one recognized by the government until 1883, when the Presbyterian Church of Fortaleza was founded in the state capital. Roman Catholicism in Ceará presents several influences of indigenous beliefs. A large portion of traditional Christian manifestations in Ceará are strongly influenced by religious syncretism. Throughout the 20th century, several churches were installed in the State and at the end of that century there was a considerable increase in people from other religions. However, Ceará is still the third Brazilian state with the highest proportion of Roman Catholics, 78.8% of the population, according to data from 2010 census. Evangelicals are 14.6%, Spiritists, 0.6%, members of other religions, 2.0%, and those without religion, 4.0%.

Statistics

Vehicles: 1,084,991 (March/2007);

Mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...

s: 3.5 million (April/2007);

Telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

s: 908 thousand (April/2007);

Cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

: 184 (2007).

Education

There are more than 53 higher education institutions in the state of Ceará

Higher education institutions

* Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB) (University of International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony) * Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) (Federal University of Ceará); *

Universidade Estadual do Ceará The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

(UECE) (State University of Ceará); *

Universidade Federal do Cariri The Federal University of Cariri (in Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Cariri, UFCA) is a Brazilian federal public higher education institution, created in 2013 and based in the city of Juazeiro do Norte, in the state of Ceará. It has campus in ...

(UFCA); * (FA7); * (IFCE); * (UNIFOR) (University of Fortaleza); * (Uva) (University of Acaraú Valley); * (URCA) (Regional University of Cariri); * Instituto Teológico Jeová Rafá; * Universidade Nacional de Teologia do Brasil (UTEB) File:Símbolo da UNILAB.png, UNILAB File:Brasao ufc.svg, UFC File:Brasão da Universidade Estadual do Ceará.png, UECE

Economy

The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 56.7%, followed by the industrial sector at 37.9%.

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

represents 5.4% of GDP (2004). Ceará exports:

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and ho ...

footwear 20.3%,

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

s 17.6%, woven of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

16.9%, cashew 14.7%,

13.1%,

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such ...

s and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

5.4% (2002). It is one of only three Brazilian states which together produce the world's entire supply of carnauba wax. Share of the Brazilian economy: 2,04% (2010). According to the data from IPECE and IBGE, the GDP growth of the State of Ceará in 2014 was of 4.36%, while Brazil's overall GDP grew only 0.1% in the same year. Traditionally an

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

-based state, Ceará began an

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econ ...

program under the military regime (1964–1985), and the industrial sector continues to expand annually. In 1999, industry accounted for 39.3% of the state's GDP. Tourism also plays a large role in Ceará's economy, with the state's many waterfalls, beaches and

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

s. On average, Fortaleza alone receives half a million tourists annually. In agriculture, the state stands out in the production of cashew nuts, coconut,

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

, melon and

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes t ...

The production of cashew in Brazil is carried out almost exclusively in the Northeast. The area occupied by cashew trees in Brazil in 2017 was estimated at 505,500 ha; of this total, 99.5% is located in the Northeast. The main producers in this region are Ceará (61.6% of the national area), Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí. However, Brazil, which in 2011 was the fifth largest world producer of cashew nuts, in 2016, fell to 14th position, with 1.5% of the total volume of nuts produced in the world. Vietnam, Nigeria, India and Côte d'Ivoire were the world's largest cashew nut producers in 2016, with 70.6% of global production. In recent years, there has been increased competition with some African countries, where government programs have driven the expansion of culture and processing capacity. It is estimated that at 295 thousand tons per year the installed capacity for processing cashew nuts in the Northeast, however, the Region only managed to produce around a quarter of that quantity. Among the main world producers, Brazil has the lowest productivity. Several factors are pointed out as the cause of the low productivity and the fall in the Brazilian production of cashew nuts. One reason is that most orchards are in a phase of natural decline in production. In addition, the giant cashew trees, which are the majority in the Region, are exploited in an almost extractive manner, with low use of technology. In 2017, the Northeast Region was the largest producer of coconut in the country, with 74.0% of national production. Bahia produced 351 million fruits, Sergipe, 234 million, and Ceará 187 million. However, the sector has been suffering strong competition and losing market to Indonesia, the Philippines and India, the world's largest producers, who even export coconut water to Brazil. In addition to climatic problems, the low productivity of coconut palms in the Northeast Region is the result of factors related to the variety of coconut harvested and the technological level used in coastal regions. In these areas, the semi-extractive cultivation system still prevails, with low fertility and without the adoption of cultural management practices. The three states that have the largest production, Bahia, Sergipe and Ceará, present a yield three times lower than that of Pernambuco, which is in 5th place in the national production. This is because most of the coconut trees in these three states are located in coastal areas and cultivated in semi-extractivist systems. In 2018, the South Region was the main producer of

with 26.4% of the total, followed by the Midwest (25.4%), Southeast Region (25.1%), Northeast (20.6%) and North (2.5%). The largest producers in the Northeast were Ceará and Bahia.Feijão – Análise da Conjuntura Agropecuária
/ref>Produção de grãos cresce 14% e Piauí se consolida como 3º maior produtor do Nordeste
/ref> In

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

production, Brazil produced a total of 17.6 million tons in 2018. Maranhão was the 7th largest producer in the country, with 681 thousand tons. Ceará was 9th, with 622 thousand tons. In total, the northeast produced 3,5 million tons. Rio Grande do Norte is the largest producer of melon in the country. In 2017 it produced 354 thousand tons. The Northeast region accounted for 95.8% of the country's production in 2007. In addition to Rio Grande do Norte, which in 2005 produced 45.4% of the country's total, the other 3 largest in the country were Ceará, Bahia and Pernambuco. In the production of

, in 2018 Bahia was the 2nd largest producer state in Brazil, almost equaling with Espírito Santo. Ceará was in 3rd place and Rio Grande do Norte in 4th place.Produção brasileira de mamão em 2018
/ref> In the production of

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry (botany), berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, Cooking banana, bananas used for ...

, in 2018 Ceará was the 8th largest national producer, with 408 thousand tons. The state stands out nationally in raising goats and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...

. In 2016, Ceará had the fourth largest herd of goats in the country, with 1.13 million heads. The state occupied the same position in the herd of sheep, with 2.31 million animals. Ceará's

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

herd is small compared to other states in Brazil. In 2019, it had 2.4 million heads.

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

production was 705 million liters this year. In 2017, the Northeast was the largest

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

producer in the country. National production was 41 thousand tons. Rio Grande do Norte (37.7%) and Ceará (28.9%) were the largest producers. Aracati, in Ceara, was the municipality with the highest participation. J Macedo-sede

About industry, Ceará had in 2017 an industrial GDP of R$ 22.2 billion, equivalent to 1.9% of the national industry. It employs 296,734 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: Construction (26.2%), Industrial Public Utility Services, such as Electricity and Water (22.5%), Food (11.0%), Leather and footwear (10.5%) and Clothing (5.5%). These 5 sectors concentrate 75.7% of the state's industry. The main sectors of the Ceará industry are clothing, food, metallurgy, textiles, chemicals and footwear. Most of the industries are installed in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, where the Industrial District of Maracanaú is located. In São Gonçalo do Amarante, a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fi ...

is installed, Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém, which in 2018 produced 2.9 million tons of crude steel, of the 35.4 million produced in the country. Some of the large companies in Ceará with national reach are: Aço Cearense (steel), Companhia de Alimentos do Nordeste (food),

Grendene Grendene is a Brazilian company that is the world's largest manufacturer of sandals. It was founded by Alexandre Grendene Bartelle and his twin brother Pedro Grendene Bartelle. History In 1971, the Bartelle brothers, Alexandre and Pedro, began ...

(footwear), Café Santa Clara (coffee), Grande Moinho Cearense (mill), Edson Queiroz Group (business conglomerate, works with gas, mineral water, household appliances, communications, education, among others), Naval Industry of Ceará,

J. Macêdo ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

M. Dias Branco M. Dias Branco S.A. is a Brazilian multinational company that manufactures, markets and distributes biscuit, pasta, cakes, snacks, wheat flour, margarine and vegetable shortening throughout Brazil, headquartered in the city of Eusébio, Ceará. ...

(food company that manufactures, markets and distributes cookies, pasta, cakes, snacks, wheat flour, margarine and vegetable fats) and Ypióca. The state is generally poor. According to 2013 data, 396,370 people live in slums in Fortaleza. Fortaleza has the 2nd largest population in a slum among cities in the Northeast. 31.6% of residents have income per capita up to half the minimum wage. The state's productivity is small.

Tourism and recreation

Fortaleza's international airport (

Pinto Martins airport Fortaleza-Pinto Martins International Airport is the international airport serving Fortaleza, Brazil. It is named after ''Euclides Pinto Martins'' (1892–1924) a Ceará-born aviator, who in 1922 was one of the pioneers of the air-link between ...

) is served by international flights from

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

as well as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. The beach of Cumbuco, located in the municipality of Caucaia (neighbour to Fortaleza), is considered one of the best places in the world for the practicing of kitesurfing. Jericoacoara National Park is a windswept region, with local fisherman mixing it with travellers keen to get off the beaten track – and provides a local relaxed atmosphere, incredible forro dancing and music and

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th centur ...

with famous kite and windsurfing adventures, sand buggy tours to the stunning Lagoa Azul nearby, and interesting opportunities available including following the shamans path into the experiences of Ayahuasca – often viewed as one of the most effective tools of enlightenment.

Main tourist attractions

* Guaramiranga Mountains * Canoa Quebrada Beach (in Aracati) * Morro Branco * Praia Do Futuro * Jericoacoara Beach (profiled on E! Network's '' Wild On!'' series in 2000)

Infrastructure

International airport

The Pinto Martins International Airport is situated in Fortaleza. The passenger terminal is air conditioned and has four levels. The basement level has parking for 1,000 cars as well as automatic teller machines and a stop for regular city buses. The ground level has 31 check-in counters, airline offices, car rental agencies, special tourist information, a juvenile court bureau to facilitate travel of minors, a

National Civil Aviation Agency A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles ...

(ANAC) office, information counter, passenger arrival area and access to two taxi stops. The second level contains shops, a food court and domestic and international boarding lounges. The top floor has a beer garden and panoramic deck overlooking the maneuvering apron with a view of the Fortaleza skyline. The apron is 152,857 square meters and can accommodate 14 aircraft at once in pre-established positions ("boxes"). The scheduled airlines operating out of Fortaleza are Cabo Verde Airlines, TAP, Delta Air Lines, Gol, TAM, Webjet, OceanAir and TAF. The airport also frequently receives domestic and international charter flights. The passenger terminal, opened in 1998, was designed to have a useful life of 50 years. The former terminal, called the General Aviation Terminal, is now used for general aviation and the fire brigade. The

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

is located alongside. Construction of a cargo terminal is the next big step planned by

Infraero Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária (abr. Infraero) is a Brazilian government corporation founded in 1973, authorized by Law 5,862,INFRAERO: 40 ANOS SERVINDO PESSOAS, EMPRESAS E O BRASIL. Retrieved 01/10/2014linha%5D/ref> being ...

. The new terminal will have roughly eight thousand square meters, boosting the cargo storage and handling capacity fourfold. Plans then call for the new terminal to be integrated with highway and railroad links.

Highways

Highways in Ceará include: *BR-020 *BR-116 *BR-122 *BR-222 *BR-226 *BR-230 *BR-304 *BR-402 *BR-403 *BR-404 *CE-004 *CE-040 *CE-060

Ports

The Port of Fortaleza is located in the inlet of the Mucuripe and is a man-made port, including an oil platform. The quay stretches 1,054 meters. There are 6,000 square meters of warehouses and more than 100,000 square meters of dock for containers. There are still two wheat mills, interconnected to the railway system by an extensive maneuvering dock. The Port of Pecem is the other big port facility in the state, located in the municipality of São Gonçalo do Amarante, about 60 kilometers from Fortaleza.

Sports

Fortaleza provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. The most popular sport there, as well as in the remainder of

, is football. The Championship of Ceará has its main games in Fortaleza. There are several football clubs, such as

Ceará SC Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

Fortaleza EC Fortaleza Esporte Clube, usually known as Fortaleza, is primarily a football club, but is active in other sports such as futsal, handball and basketball. Fortaleza Esporte Clube is based in Fortaleza, capital of the State of Ceará, Brazil. The ...

and Ferroviário AC. Strong winds make the Praia do Futuro an excellent place for nautical sports, and Fortaleza hosts world competitions of surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing. Fortaleza has produced high-level athletes in combat sports, as evidenced by several Fortalezans' success in mixed martial arts. Fortaleza was one of the host cities of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

Flag

The state flag of Ceará, is one of the national symbols. The background is identical to the

Brazil flag The national flag of Brazil ( pt, bandeira do Brasil), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "''Ordem e Progresso''" ("Order and Progress"), within a y ...

, with the real difference in its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

; has a polonium shield, which represents the strength and endurance of the state and the protective function. However, it is not only that, but also reveals the geography, fauna and flora, the example is the coast, the backlands, birds, the carnaúbas. It also has anthropological and cultural elements, such as the Mucuripe Lighthouse, the Golden Fortress, which shows not only the militarized past but also the people; the rafts, a kind of boat used by fishermen. Represents the four elements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceara States of Brazil * Former Portuguese colonies 1799 establishments in the Portuguese Empire