Crateús is a Brazilian city in the northwest of the state of

Ceará 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 th ...

Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises n ...

with an estimated 75,159 inhabitants, and one of the most important and oldest cities in the county. Popularly known as the Capital of the West, it is a city with significant regional importance, standing out in the traditional function of marketing rural products, resulting from the development of family agriculture, with emphasis on the large production of corn and beans, at the foot of the rich valleys in the region, geographically cut by the Poti River and Serra Grande. It was once one of the largest biofuel producers in the Northeast, with a production capacity of 118,800 m3 of biodiesel per year according to the company. Crateús also hosts a Brazilian Army unit. It is located in a wealthy part of the state, close to the western border. Crateús is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Crateús. It was established by Portuguese explorers in the 17th century in uplands originally inhabited by indigenous peoples. The municipality contains part of the

Serra das Almas Private Natural Heritage Reserve Serra das Almas Private Natural Heritage Reserve ( pt, RPPN Reserva Natural Serra das Almas) is a private natural heritage reserve in the states of Ceará and Piauí, Brazil. Origins The reserve has its origins in a trip made by Herbert Fisk Joh ...

, which preserves an area of the

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 ...

biome. The city is served by Dr. Lúcio Lima Airport.

References

Municipalities in Ceará {{Ceará-geo-stub

See also

References