Toritama is a municipality in the

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 ...

ian state of

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 ...

, in the mesoregion of Agreste Pernambucano. It is located at an altitude of 349 m, and it is 153 km west of the capital Recife. In 2020 it has an estimated population of 46,164 and an area of 25.7 km², which makes it the smallest municipality of Pernambuco, if

Fernando de Noronha Fernando de Noronha () is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and located off the Brazilian coast. It consists of 21 islands and islets, extending over an area of . Only the eponymous main island is inha ...

is not taken into account. Toritama is best knowns for its production and sale of

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s, in particular

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

History

In the middle of the 19th century, Toritama was a

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 mal ...

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

on the left bank of the

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 Th ...

. The name Toritama comes from the indigenous words ''tori'' ("stone") and ''tama'' ("region"), in allusion to the 30-m tall stones that give the impression of a tower on the right bank of the Capibaribe. The area became a municipality on December 29, 1953; before that it consisted of the districts of Vertentes and Taquaritinga do Norte. The municipality had as its first provisional administrators Joaquim Aurélio Correia de Araújo and Antônio Manoel da Silva. The first elected mayor was José Jota de Araújo, three and a half years after the municipality's creation.

Tourism

Toritama has also made an effort to increase its tourism potential. Outside of the market square, 70 percent of the vehicles have license plates from another city in Brazil.

Economy

The city's location on a seasonal river which doesn't provide sufficient water for irrigation compelled the population to make a living in industrial activities. The municipality became a significant center of

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

manufacture in the 1970s. However, thereafter the industry declined due to strong competition from major footwear producers, which resulted in the factories producing leather shoes entering a period of decline and rapidly going bankrupt. The population then moved into the manufacture of

. The industry grew rapidly, and now 15 percent of the jeans produced in Brazil are made in Toritama. Attracted by their quality and low price, consumers from all over Brazil come to Toritama to buy and resell the jeans. The Parque das Feiras (market square) is where the city's commerce is concentrated and the majority of the town's clothing stores are located. Located on the BR 104, it has an area of nine hectares divided into stalls, plus restaurants and a parking lot with space for 2000 vehicles. It was opened in September 2001, with 875 stalls of three square meters each, but the endeavor was so successful that it was subsequently enlarged by 1518 stalls. :''This article, is based until hear on a translation of the corresponding article on the

Portuguese Wikipedia The Portuguese Wikipedia ( pt, Wikipédia em português) is the Portuguese language edition of Wikipedia (written Wikipédia, in Portuguese), the free encyclopedia. It was started on 11 May 2001. In addition to being the sixth most accessed web ...

Economic Indicators

Economy by Sector 2006

Health Indicators

Largest Jeans Producers

* Truppe Jeans, Tavernit Jeans, Zigurat Jeans, Rota do Mar, Ofir and Karenkiss.

References

{{Municipalities of Pernambuco Populated places established in 1953 Municipalities in Pernambuco