Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27
federative units of Brazil
The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which ...
and is situated in the eastern part of the
Northeast Region. It borders:
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 19 ...
(N and NW);
Sergipe
Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...
(S);
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
(SW); and 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's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
(E). Its capital is the city of
Maceió
Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form l ...
. It has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.8% of the Brazilian
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
. It is made up of 102
municipalities
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 ...
and its most populous cities are Maceió,
Arapiraca
Arapiraca is a municipality located in the center of the Brazilian state of Alagoas, some from the state capital, Maceió. It was founded in 1924. , it has a population of 214.006, IBGE – but IBGE estimated 233,047 inhabitants for 2020.
Ara ...
,
Palmeira dos Índios
Palmeira dos Índios is a municipality located in the western of the Brazilian state of Alagoas. , it has a population of around 70,000.
The city is situated in the interior of Alagoas. The Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos was its mayor in 1927. ...
,
Rio Largo,
Penedo
Penedo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Alagoas in Brazil. The population is 63,846 (2020 est.) in an area of . Penedo lies south-west of the state capital of Maceió.
History
Founded in 1614, Penedo has many importan ...
,
União dos Palmares
União dos Palmares is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population was 65,790 (2020) and its area is 428 km². Surrounding agricultural land is largely dedicated to sugar cane and cattle. At one time, when the ci ...
,
São Miguel dos Campos
São Miguel dos Campos-AL is a municipality located in the eastern half of the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population was 61,797 as of 2020 estimates and its area is 361 km².IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( ...
,
Santana do Ipanema,
Delmiro Gouveia,
Coruripe
Coruripe is a municipality located in the southern coast of the Brazilian state of Alagoas
Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and ...
,
Marechal Deodoro
Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (; 5 August 1827 – 23 August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a n ...
, and
Campo Alegre.
It is the second smallest Brazilian state in area (larger only than Sergipe) and it is
16th in population. It is also one of the largest producers of
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) 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 ...
and
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree 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, the seed, or the ...
s in the country, and has an economy based on cattle raising.
Land of the ''
sururu'' (or Charru Mussel), lagoon shellfish which serves as food for the coastal population, and of coconut water, Alagoas also possesses some of the country's richest
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
.
Initially, the territory of Alagoas constituted the southern part of the
Captaincy of Pernambuco
The Captaincy of Pernambuco or New Lusitania ( pt, Nova Lusitânia) was a hereditary land grant and administrative subdivision of northern Portuguese Brazil during the colonial period from the early sixteenth century until Brazilian independence. A ...
and only gained its autonomy in 1817. Its occupation pushed the expansion of the
captaincy's sugarcane farming, which required new areas of cultivation, southward. Thus arose
Porto Calvo
Porto Calvo is a municipality in Alagoas, Brazil. Its population was 27,249 in 2020 and its area is 260 km².IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the ag ...
, Alagoas (now Marechal Deodoro) and
Penedo
Penedo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Alagoas in Brazil. The population is 63,846 (2020 est.) in an area of . Penedo lies south-west of the state capital of Maceió.
History
Founded in 1614, Penedo has many importan ...
, nuclei which guided the colonization, economic, and social life of the region for a long time.
The
Dutch invasion in Pernambuco was extended to Alagoas in 1631. The invaders were expelled in 1645, after intense fighting in Porto Calvo, leaving the economy in ruins.
The escape of
African slaves during the Dutch invasion created a serious labour shortage problem on the
sugarcane plantations. Grouped in villages called
quilombo
A ''quilombo'' (; from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were maroons, a term for es ...
s, the Africans were only completely dominated at the end of the 17th century with the destruction of the most important quilombo,
Palmares.
During the
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
, the separatist and republican
Confederation of the Equator
The Confederation of the Equator ( pt, Confederação do Equador) 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 secessioni ...
received the support of noteworthy figures from Alagoas. Throughout the 1840s, political life was marked by the conflict between the ''lisos'' (lit. "straights", not the sexual orientation connotation),
conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, and the ''cabeludos'' (lit. "hairies"),
liberals.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the region's hinterland lived through the pioneering experience of Delmiro Gouveia, a entrepreneur from Pernambuco who installed the Estrela thread factory, which came to produce 200 spools daily. Delmiro Gouveia was killed in October 1917 in circumstances still unclarified, after being pressured, according to rumor, to sell his factory to competing foreign firms. After his death, his machines would be destroyed and thrown into
Paulo Afonso Falls
Paulo Afonso Falls (Portuguese: Cachoeira de Paulo Afonso) is a series of waterfalls on the São Francisco River in the north-east of Brazil adjacent to the city of Paulo Afonso.
Structure
The falls consist of a series of tiered cascades that d ...
.
Nicknamed the ''Land of the Marshals'' (''Terra dos Marechais''), for being the birthplace of
Deodoro da Fonseca
Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (; 5 August 1827 – 23 August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a n ...
and
Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Vieira Peixoto ( 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895), born in Ipioca (today a district of the city of Maceió in the State of Alagoas), nicknamed the "Iron Marshal", was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the Paraguay ...
, the first two
presidents of Brazil
The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...
, Alagoas gave the country numerous illustrious Brazilians among whom are the anthropologist Arthur Ramos, the maestro Hekel Tavares, the philologist
Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, the musicians
Djavan and
Hermeto Pascoal
Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orches ...
the poet
Jorge de Lima, the jurists
Pontes de Miranda
Francisco Cavalcanti Pontes de Miranda (April 23, 1892 – December 22, 1979) was a prominent Brazilian jurist, judge, diplomat and professor of Law at the Federal University of Pernambuco. He occupied the 7th chair of the Brazilian Academy o ...
and Marcos Bernardes de Mello, besides the writers
Lêdo Ivo
Lêdo Ivo (18 February 1924 – 23 December 2012) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, essayist and journalist. He was member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, elected in 1986.
Biography
Lêdo Ivo was born in 1924 in Maceió, capital of Alagoas ...
and
Graciliano Ramos
Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira () (October 27, 1892 – March 20, 1953) was a Brazilian modernist writer, politician and journalist. He is known worldwide for his portrayal of the precarious situation of the poor inhabitants of the Brazilian ''sert ...
.
Etymology
![Maceió, Ponta Verde](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Macei%C3%B3%2C_Ponta_Verde..jpg)
The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''lacus'', "reservoir, lake" is the origin, in the primitive vocabulary heritage, of the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, Spanish, and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
''lago'',
[ANDRADE, Fernando Moretzsohn de; GUIMARÃES, André Passos. ALAGOAS. In: Enciclopédia Mirador Internacional. São Paulo: ]Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
do Brasil Publicações, 1993. v. 2, p. 258. French ''lac'',
[Verbete "Lac"](_blank)
Linternaute.com. Page visited on August 16, 2011. one of its derivatives, the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''lacuna'', "pitfall, hole", "lack, want, neglect", explains the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
''laguna''.
[Entry "Laguna"](_blank)
Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Page visited on August 16, 2011.[Entry "Laguna"](_blank)
. Dizionario Italiano. Page visited on August 16, 2011. But the Portuguese ''lagoa'',
coincidentally with the Spanish ''lagona'' and
Mirandese ''llagona'', suggests a change in suffix,
[Entry "Lhagona"](_blank)
Dicionário da Língua Mirandesa. Page visited on August 16, 2011. already documented in a 938 document from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, under the spelling ''lacona'',
and in another from 1094, in
Sahagún
Sahagún () is a town and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León and the province of León. It is the main populated place in the Leonese part of the Tierra de Campos natural region.
Sahagún contains some ...
, under the spelling ''lagona''.
The Portuguese ''lagoa'' under the spelling ''lagona'' (perhaps ''lagõna''), is documented in the 14th century,
and alternated with the other for a long time; the
prosthesis is then explained by the introduction of the article, chiefly in locution (''na lagoa'', ''vindo da lagoa'') (''in the lake'', ''coming from the lake''),
and for
morphologic regularization with the derivatives of the verb ''alagar'' (''to inundate'') (''alagadiço, alagado, alagador, alagamento,'' etc.) (''swampish, waterlogged, flooding, overflow'', etc.).
The name appears as a competitor with the names of the lagoons of
Manguaba, ''a lagoa do sul'' ("the southern lagoon"), and
Mundaú, ''a lagoa do norte'' ("the northern lagoon"), already in the 16th century, when settlements were founded near the Alagoa do Norte and the Alagoa do Sul, the Alagoas, with the inclusion of the rest of the lagoons in the area.
[Why Alagoas?](_blank)
Official site of the Civil Cabinet of the State of Alagoas. Pageg visited on August 16, 2011.
The suffix ''-ano'' is characteristic of Brazil:
''paraibano'',
''pernambucano'', ''alagoano'',
''sergipano'',
''baiano'',
''goiano'', and later
''acriano''.
Geography
The state's name originates with the lakes along its coast near the city of Maceió. The coast is bordered by fringing reefs and many fine beaches. Behind the beaches, sometimes only hundreds of meters and defined by steep scarps, lies a stretch of green coastal hills having enough rainfall for considerable agriculture and scarce remnants of the
Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
that now is largely limited to steep hill tops or steep valley sides and bottoms. This is the area long dominated by sugar cane.
Still farther inland lies the Sertão of the Northeast region of the nation. The Sertão is a high dry region dominated by scrub that is often thorn-filled and sometimes toxic, 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 ...
. This area and its people are famed in legend and song. It is the land of the cowboy who is clad from head to toe (if he is lucky) with very thick leather to avoid the sharp vegetation.
History
During the first three centuries of its history, Alagoas was part of the captaincy of Pernambuco, only becoming an independent captaincy in 1817. As a reprisal against the
Pernambuco Revolution, the King
John VI of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
ordered a vast portion of the territory of Pernambuco to be taken from it, most including its southern portion, one part was given to the captaincy of
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
, the other portion was made independent, creating Alagoas as a new Brazilian captaincy.
Initially, in the first years of the 16th century, Alagoas settlement went on slowly, however helped by Africans turned into slaves whose work urged the local economy. In the period of the 16th and 17th centuries, French pirates invaded its territory attracted by the commerce of
brazilwood.
Some time later,
Duarte Coelho, owner of the captaincy of Pernambuco, gave the control of the region back to the Portuguese, running the territory as part of his captaincy. He increased the number of sugar cane plantations and built some sugar mills, as well as founding the cities of Penedo and
Alagoas
Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. ...
– this last one originally baptized by Portuguese as Santa Maria Madalena da Alagoa do Sul (Saint Mary Magdalene of the Southern Lake), currently the historic heritage town of Deodoro da Fonseca.
In 1570, a second expedition ordered by Duarte Coelho and led by
Cristóvão Lins, explored the north of Alagoas and founded the settlement of Porto Calvo and five sugar mills, which two of them still endure, Buenos Aires and Escurial.
In 1630, the territory was taken by the Dutch, whose interest was to manage the commerce of sugarcane in most parts of the northeastern region of Brazil. As part of one of the wealthiest Brazilian captaincies, Alagoas prospered along with the
sugar trade. They built ''Fort Maurits'' in Penedo, on the river São Francisco. However, the Dutch colonizers abandoned the territory after being defeated in 1646.
Decades before Alagoas was formed in 1817, its sugar industry had 200 mills, and agriculture also involved cotton, tobacco and corn plantations. With
Brazilian independence
The Independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Brazilian Empire. Most of the events occurre ...
from Portugal in 1822, Alagoas became a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
. In 1839, the capital of the province was changed definitively from
the town of Alagoas to Maceió, mainly due to the increasing growth of the city because of its port.
Demographics
According to the
IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information ...
of 2008, there were 3,173,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 109.9 inhabitants/km
2.
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 ...
: 67.4% (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 ...
: 1.3% (1991–2000);
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
s: 779,000 (2006).
The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 2,100,000
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...
(
Multiracial
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
) people (66.18%), 964,000
White
White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
people (30.39%), 96,000
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 ...
people (3.02%), 11,000
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
people (0.35%).
According to a genetic study from 2013, Brazilians in Alagoas have 53.7% European, 26.6% African and 18.7% Amerindian ancestries, respectively.
Largest cities
Statistics
*
Vehicles
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...
: 287,018 (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 calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s: 1.4 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 e ...
s: 302,000 (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 ...
: 102 (2007).
*
Homicides
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
: 60 per 100,000 inhabitants
Education
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
are part of the official
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
curriculum.
Educational institutions
*
Universidade Federal de Alagoas
Located in the city of Maceió, the Federal University of Alagoas ( pt, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, UFAL or Ufal) is the major university in coastal state Alagoas and one of the main research centers in Brazilian north eastern region (one o ...
(UFAL) (Federal University of Alagoas);
* Universidade Estadual de Alagoas (Uneal) (State University of Alagoas);
* Universidade de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas (Uncisal) (University of Sciences of the Health of Alagoas);
* Instituto Federal de Alagoas (IFAL);
* Centro de Ensino Superior de Maceió (CESMAC) (Center of Higher Education of Maceió);
* Faculdade de Alagoas (FAL) (College of Alagoas);
* and many others.
Economy
Alagoas is one of the poorest states of Brazil and its HDI is the country's worst.
List of Brazilian states by Human Development Index
Introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990, the Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of education, income and longevity indices, calculated in order to measure social and economic development within co ...
The
service sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
is the largest component of
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
at 55.8%, followed by the
industrial sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction ...
at 36.9%.
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 people to ...
represents 7.3%, of
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
(2004). Alagoas exports:
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
58.8%,
alcohol 29.4%,
chemicals
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
9%,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
2.1% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 0.7% (2004).
The economy has been
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
, dependent largely on large sugarcane plantations with some
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
farming that is concentrated around the city of Arapiraca. Sugar cane formed the basis for an
alcohol industry that is in decline. Small to medium-sized tanker ships took alcohol on board in Maceio's port with considerable frequency during the peak period. Such loads still take place with less frequency. Another local industry is based on chemical products from
brine pumped from deep wells on the outskirts of Maceió.
![Maragogi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Maragogi.jpg)
In the last twenty years the
tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
industry has found the beaches and Maceió itself has changed from a rather sleepy little port with coconut palm plantations along its beaches to high-rise hotels. The northern coast, particularly around the towns Maragogi and Japaratinga is beginning to see some of this development in the form of resorts attracting people from the south and from
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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. There is considerable European investment (as of 2007) in beach property north of Maceió with walled compounds of beach homes.
Infrastructure
International Airport
Alagoas gained a new airport complex,
Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport
Maceió/Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport , formerly called Campo dos Palmares Airport, is the airport serving Maceió, Brazil. Since 16 December 1999 the airport is named after Zumbi dos Palmares (1645–1695) one of the pioneers of resi ...
, in the Maceió Metropolitan Area, designed by homegrown architect Mário Aloísio, which combines glass, metal and granite. It includes space for art exhibitions, a panoramic deck, chapel, seven escalators, nine elevators and four boarding bridges. The whole terminal was designed to permit access by the physically disabled, with ramps and special bathroom fixtures.
In the new terminal,
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 ...
also brings to Maceió "Aeroshopping" – a concept that is transforming the country's airports into centers for leisure and high-quality products and services. The entire building has a computerized air conditioning, with commercial spaces that will be occupied gradually. The parking area was more than tripled. Demand will be able to grow to 1.2 million passengers a year since the new passenger terminal has 24,000 square meters, the triple of its former size. The check-in counters were doubled and can reach higher numbers without any structural remodeling. The building is "intelligent", meaning controlled by a computerized system that regulates factors ranging from the lighting level to air temperature and even the speed of the escalators. This system also controls access to restricted areas and the fire protection system, among others.
Highways
*
BR-101
The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.[BR-104
BR-104 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 672.3 kilometre road connects Macau to Maceió
Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an ...](_blank)
*
BR-110
BR-110 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 1091 kilometre road connects Areia Branca to Catu.
The highway passes through the driest area and one of the poorest in the country. In Mossoró, however, there is the largest production of melon in th ...
*
BR-316
The BR-316 is a Brazilian federal highway that connects the cities of Belém, in the state of Pará, and Maceió in Alagoas. It has a total length of 2,054 km.
The section between Belém and Santa Maria do Pará is a designated part of the Belé ...
*BR-423
*BR-424
Port
The Port of Jaraguá is located in Maceió. The commercial and economic development of the Port of Jaraguá, on the margins of the Mundaú lagoon, was responsible for the emergence of an important settlement that received the name of Maceió and later became the present capital of Alagoas. The Port of Jaraguá is situated in a natural port area that facilitates the ships docking. During the colonial period, the most important products exported through the port were sugar, tobacco, coconut and spices.
Culture
Festa Junina (Saint John Festival)
Festa Junina
''Festas Juninas'' (, ''June Festivals'', "festivities that occur in the month of June"), also known as ''festas de São João'' for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24), are the annual Brazilian celebrations ...
was introduced to Northeastern Brazil by the Portuguese for whom St. John's day (also celebrated as
Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...
Day in several European countries), on 24 June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during the
summer solstice but during the tropical
winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...
. The festivities traditionally begin after the 12th of June, on the eve of St. Anthony's day, and last until the 29th, which is Saint Peter's day. During these fifteen days, there are
bonfires,
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
, and folk dancing in the streets (step names are in French, which shows the mutual influences between court life and peasant culture in the 17th, 18th, and 19th-century Europe). Once exclusively a rural festivity, today it is largely a city festival during which people joyfully and theatrically mimic peasant stereotypes and cliches in a spirit of joke and good time. Typical dishes and drinks are served. Like during
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
, these festivities involve costumes-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing). Like what happens on Midsummer and St. John's Day in Europe, bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Brazil.
Carnival
The four-day period before Lent leading up to Ash Wednesday is carnival time in Brazil. People of diverse origins or social classes forget their cares as they party in the streets.
Warrior
This is a typical Alagoas revelry that resulted from the union of Reisado (an Epiphany celebration), Auto dos Caboclinhos (Caboclinhos’ Play), Chegança (public folk play depicting a naval battle) and Pastoril (outdoor folk play). Its captivating choreography and costumes with colored ribbons and beads reproduce the cathedral’s façades on the monumental hats covered with mirrors.
Fandango
This is a dramatic dance motivated by the sea. It tells the sea adventures of the first navigators in its songs accompanied by guitar and ukulele.
Carnival Bull
Boi do Carnaval is a popular culture display derived from Bumba-Meu-Boi. It is always presented together with La Ursa (The Bear), Vaqueiro (Cowboy) and a percussion band whose rhythms captivate all who hear them.
Sports
![Rei Pelé](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Rei_Pel%C3%A9.jpg)
Alagoas provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several football clubs based in the state, such as ASA de Arapiraca,
CRB,
CSA
CSA may refer to:
Arts and media
* Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
* Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics
* Crime Syndicate of Amer ...
, Murici, Coruripe, CSE, Santa Rita, Penedense and Ipanema.
Maceió was one of the 18 candidates to host games 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 ri ...
, for which Brazil is the selected host, but it did not make the final cut.
Notable people
*
Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira
Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira (May 3, 1910 – February 28, 1989) was a Brazilian lexicographer, philologist, translator, and writer, best known for editing the ''Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa'', a major dictionary of the Portugues ...
- Lexicographer, philologist, translator, and writer
*
Renan Calheiros
José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros (; born 16 September 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former President of the Senate of Brazil. He has represented the state of Alagoas in the senate as a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party si ...
-
PMDB
The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a "big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, ...
politician and president of the
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate ( pt, Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lords of the British Parliament, but since the Proclamation ...
*
Djavan - Singer/songwriter
*
Deodoro da Fonseca
Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (; 5 August 1827 – 23 August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a n ...
(1827-1892) - First president of
Federative Republic of 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 an ...
, 1889-1891.
*
Anilda Leão (1923-2012) poet, writer, feminist, actress and singer
*
Marta - Women's football striker
*
Nise da Silveira
Nise da Silveira (February 15, 1905 – October 30, 1999) was a Brazilian psychiatrist and a student of Carl Jung. She devoted her life to psychiatry and challenged the conventional orthodoxies of her era, which insisted on using institutionaliz ...
- Psychiatrist
*
Hermeto Pascoal
Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orches ...
- Composer and multi-instrumentalist
*
Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Vieira Peixoto ( 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895), born in Ipioca (today a district of the city of Maceió in the State of Alagoas), nicknamed the "Iron Marshal", was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the Paraguay ...
- Second President of Brazil
*
Graciliano Ramos
Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira () (October 27, 1892 – March 20, 1953) was a Brazilian modernist writer, politician and journalist. He is known worldwide for his portrayal of the precarious situation of the poor inhabitants of the Brazilian ''sert ...
- Writer
*
Bruna Tenório - Top Model
*
Mário Zagallo
Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (; born 9 August 1931) is a Brazilian former professional football player, coordinator and manager, who played as a forward.
Zagallo holds the record for World Cup titles in general with four titles in total. He was ...
- Football player and manager
*
Jorge de Lima - Poet and writer
*
Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira (born 2 October 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for club Liverpool and the Brazil national team.
After starting his career with Figueirense in ...
- Liverpool FC football player
Flag
The coat of arms symbolizes the first Alagoan settlement of Porto Calvo. Some plantations, sugarcane, and cotton that provided wealth in the past are incorporated in the design. The colors red, white, and blue refer to the
French ''Tricolore'', symbolizing the ideals of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
(''
liberté, égalité, fraternité
''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, i ...
''), while the five-pointed star refers to the
coat of arms of Brazil
The coat of arms of Brazil ( pt, Brasão de Armas do Brasil) was created on 19 November 1889, four days after Brazil became a republic. It consists of the central emblem surrounded by coffee ('' Coffea arabica'', at the left) and tobacco (''Nic ...
.
References
External links
Official WebsiteBrazilian Tourism PortalVisit Alagoas*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040203153811/http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=340&offset=4 Brazilian Embassy in London: São Francisco River
{{Authority control
States of Brazil
*
States and territories established in 1817
1817 establishments in Brazil