Ilhéus () is a major city located in the southern coastal region of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...

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 ...

, 211 km south of

Salvador Salvador, meaning " salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, the state's capital. The city was founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the most important tourism centers of the northeast of Brazil.

Geography

As of 2020 Ilhéus had approximately 159,923 inhabitants, with an area of 1850 km sq, and its downtown is located 1 km away from 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 ...

Climate

Ilhéus has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

( Köppen: ''Af'').

Economy

The city was once one of the biggest exporters of

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully Fermentation, fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of non ...

s. The city's

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

is based mainly on

tourism 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 ...

, as a result of its beaches and cultural heritage that includes early Portuguese buildings, history and culinary distinctions, which bring to the city many Brazilian and foreign tourists.

Urban infrastructure

There is a proposal for the construction of a new deep water port which due to impact has been opposed by environmental activists but has been accepted by the government as important for the economy.

Transport

* Road: BR-101 connects it to

Itabuna Itabuna is a municipality in Bahia, Brazil. It is the 6th largest city in Bahia by population after Salvador, Feira de Santana, Camaçari, Vitória da Conquista, and Juazeiro. It had an estimated 214,123 residents in 2021. Itabuna covers a tota ...

and beyond. * Air:

Ilhéus Jorge Amado Airport Ilhéus/Bahia-Jorge Amado Airport , is the airport serving Ilhéus, Brazil. Since March 12, 2002 it is named after the writer Jorge Amado de Faria (1912–2001), who was born in the nearby city of Itabuna. It is administrated by Socicam. Histo ...

with daily flights of

Azul Brazilian Airlines Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A (''Azul Brazilian Airlines''; or simply Azul) is a Brazilian carrier based in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable air serv ...

, GOL and LATAM Brasil with destinations

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

Confins Confins is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2020 is estimated to be 6,800 people. The area of the municipality is 42.008 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizo ...

(CNF),

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

(VCP),

(SSA),

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

Congonhas Congonhas (Congonhas do Campo until 1948) is a historical Brazilian city located in the state of Minas Gerais. It is situated south from Belo Horizonte, the capital of state of Minas Gerais, by the highway BR-040. As of 2020, the city had a popul ...

(CGH) and

Guarulhos Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the las ...

(GRU). * Sea:

Port of Ilhéus A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Culture

Ilhéus is the hometown of

Jorge Amado Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...

, the best known writer in Brazil. He wrote over 25 novels, which were translated into 48 languages and stayed on bestseller lists in 52 countries. His novels like ''Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon'' and ''Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'' portray life and customs in the Northeastern region of Brazil. The plots of these and his other major works largely treat the lives of poor urban and rural black and mulatto communities of Bahia, as well as the land wars that raged in Ilhéus, where cocoa barons killed each other for power and cocoa plantations.

Conservation

The municipality contains a small part of the

Una Wildlife Refuge The Una Wildlife Refuge ( pt, Refúgio de Vida Silvestre de Una) is a wildlife refuge in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Location The Una Wildlife Refuge is in the municipalities of Una and Ilhéus, Bahia. It has an area of . The refuge almost comp ...

, which surrounds the

Una Biological Reserve Una Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica de Una) is a Biological reserve in Brazil. Location The Una Biological Reserve, which is in the Atlantic Forest biome and covers , was created on 10 December 1980. It became part of the Central At ...

in the neighboring municipality of Una. It contains 15% of the Serra do Conduru State Park, created in 1997. It contains part of the Lagoa Encantada e Rio Almada Environmental Protection Area, created in 1993. The APA is threatened by water pollution from sewage and garbage, since most of the communities have no sanitation. There are irregular settlements of squatters in the coastal area. Other threats include irregular fishing, deforestation, fires, hunting and the illegal trade in wild animals.

Sister city

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and ...

(2005)

Notable people

* George Santos Silva, footballer *

Ricardo Nascimento Ricardo Nuno Queirós Nascimento (born 19 April 1974) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 102 matches and 11 goals over seven seasons, in representation of Boavista, Varz ...

, footballer