Goiana () is a city in

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 ...

in the northeast of the state of

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, roughly 65 km north of the city of

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

, 51 km from the capital of

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

and 2,187 km from

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

. Its historic center was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1938. It also has the easternmost continental point in its state, at Ponta do Funil in the coastal district of

Ponta de Pedras Ponta de Pedras is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Pará. Its population as of 2020 is estimated to be 31,549 people. The area of the municipality is 3,365.126 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion Marajó and to the micror ...

Geography

Goiana is built on a fertile plain between the

Tracunhaém River The Tracunhaém River is a river of Pernambuco state in eastern Brazil. Its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean lies in the Acaú-Goiana Extractive Reserve, a sustainable use conservation unit created in 2007. See also *List of rivers of Pernambuco R ...

and

Capibaribe River The Capibaribe River () is a river located in Pernambuco state, Brazil, with a length of 240 kilometers. The Capibaribe originates in the Serra do Jacarará, in the municipality of Poção, and flows to the Atlantic Ocean at Recife. Etymology ...

near their confluence, where they merge to form the

Goiana River The Goiana River is a river in Pernambuco state of northeastern Brazil. It is formed by the confluence of the Tracunhaém and Capibaribe Mirim rivers, and drains eastward into the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ...

. The town is around is 25 km from the coast. It is also the easternmost city in Pernambuco. The town is the commercial centre for one of the richest agricultural districts of the state, which produces sugar, rum, coffee, tobacco, cotton, cattle, hides and

castor oil Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans, the seeds of the plant ''Ricinus communis''. The seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its den ...

. Goiana is one of the oldest towns in the state, and was occupied by the Dutch from 1636 to 1654. The municipality contains most of the

Acaú-Goiana Extractive Reserve The Acaú-Goiana Extractive Reserve () is an extractive reserve in the states of Paraíba and Pernambuco, Brazil. Location The Acaú-Goiana Extractive Reserve covers . It is in the municipalities of Caaporã (5.07%) and Pitimbu (1.16%) in Para ...

, a sustainable use conservation unit created in 2007.

History

Originally occupied by

Brazilian Indians Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 distric ...

Caeté Caeté is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. Geography The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte. The municipality contains a small part of the S ...

s and

Potiguara The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto, Paraíba, Rio Tinto. Th ...

s, the village became a parish in 1568 when

Portuguese explorer Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...

Diogo Dias Diogo Dias, also known as Diogo Gomes, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer. He was the brother of Bartolomeu Dias and discovered some of the Cape Verde islands together with António Noli. Serving with da Gama In 1497 on the first Portugue ...

bought ten thousand fathoms of land near the present city, then the

Captaincy of Itamaracá The Captaincy of Itamaracá ( Portuguese: ''Capitania de Itamaracá)'' was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the colonial period of Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditar ...

, establishing a fortified ingenuity in the valley of the Tracunhaém River. In 1574, the Potiguara population attacked the Tracunhaém sugar plantation, exterminating its entire population. This incident caused the end of the captaincy of Itamaracá and the creation of captaincy of Nova Paraíba. On April 24, 1646, fitted with sticks, stones, pots, pepper and boiling water, the women of Tejucupapo, a small district of the city, won against the Dutch, who had threatened their land and families. Goiana became a town on January 15, 1685 and earned forums on May 5, 1840.

Beaches

;Carne de Vaca Carne de Vaca (English: ''beef meat'') is the first beach off the north coast of Pernambuco. It has a narrow sand strip, small waves and banks of sand before the natural reefs during the low

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

. It is located in a small village with a few homes. To the north there is the mouth of the

, and to the south there is the small Doce River. ;Pontas de Pedras The Pontas de Pedras Beach has weak waves, fine sand and a lot of algae. It is located at the core of the village, where several fishing boats are always anchored. Together with Carne de Vaca, this beach is one of the most popular beaches in Goiana. ;Barra de Catuama This beach still retains some native Atlantic forest vegetation. ;Catuama Beach The Catuama Beach has clear water, reefs and wet sand. At low tide, there are sand banks, stones and

natural pools Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

. It is located close to the village center, where there is also a church. ;Atapuz Beach The Atapuz Beach is close to the intersection between the Itapessoca River and Santa Cruz channel. Nearby, there is a chapel dedicated to

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

. ;Tabatinga Beach The Tabatinga Beach has palm trees,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

and holiday summer houses. It is located on a private farm.

Economy

The main economic activities in Goiana are based around the automotive,

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

and

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

industries, with the city hosting three important plants in these segments. The city hosts the most modern assembly plant of the

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA), now part of Stellantis, was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of Car, automobiles, commercial vehicles, List of auto parts, auto parts and production systems. ...

( FCA Group), which is responsible for the production of the

Jeep Renegade The Jeep Renegade is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by Stellantis under their Jeep marque. It was first shown to the public in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show#2014, Geneva Motor Show and production started in late August of that year. T ...

and

Fiat Toro The Fiat Toro is a pickup truck made by Fiat Automobiles, Fiat in Brazil. It is derived from the Fiat FCC4 Concept and is based on the GM Fiat Small platform, Small Wide 4×4 architecture shared with the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass, and the Fiat 5 ...

. Goiana is also the land of Vivix, one of the biggest float glass industries in

as well as Hemobrás, which produces blood derivatives and coagulation factor products. Goiana has an important

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

sector, especially related to the farming and trading of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

, and plantations of

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 ...

and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

s. The city is one of the biggest national producers of sugarcane, with an estimated production of over 1.1 million tons in 2007.

Economic Indicators

Economy by Sector 2006

Health Indicators

PE State site - City by city profile
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Historic structures

The historic center of Goiana received provisional status as a national monument by the

National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage The National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (, IPHAN) is a heritage register of the federal government of Brazil. It is responsible for the preservation of buildings, monuments, structures, objects and sites, as well as the register an ...

(IPHAN) in 2001. Nine religious structures were designated as national monuments of Brazil in 1938: *The Church and Convent of Our Lady of Solitude (''Convento e Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Soledade'') *The Convento e Igreja de Santo Alberto de Sicília * Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel (''Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo'') *The Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição *The Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia * Church of Our Lady of Protection (''Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Amparo'') *The Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos *The Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosário *The Capela de Santo Antônio - Engenho Novo

References

* Video Goiana of the future

{{Authority control Populated places established in 1892 Populated coastal places in Pernambuco Municipalities in Pernambuco