Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...

( en, Great River of the North) is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in the Northeast Region 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 ...

. According to the 2010 Census conducted by the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics 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 ...

(IBGE), Rio Grande do Norte has a population of 3,168,133 inhabitants over , which makes it the 16th largest state by population and the 22nd largest by area, out of 26 states. It is home to cities such as

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Mossoró Mossoró () is the second most populous city in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and also the largest municipality of that state. It is equidistant (four hours' drive) from Natal (approximately 277 km or 172 miles), the state capit ...

, and São Gonçalo do Amarante. The land that became Rio Grande do Norte was a

donatário A ' (Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The king exempted these titleholders from ...

to João de Barros, the

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

of the House of India and Mina, from

John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious (Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the thi ...

in 1535; prior to that, the

Portuguese Crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the nea ...

owned the land. The French, who trafficked

Brazil wood ''Paubrasilia echinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood ( pt, pau-de-pernambuco, ; ...

in the area, had a foothold on the land until the Portuguese expelled them in 1598. The Dutch took the land in 1634 as a part of

Dutch Brazil Dutch Brazil ( nl, Nederlands-Brazilië), also known as New Holland ( nl, Nieuw-Holland), was a colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during Dutch colonization of the America ...

and reigned until 1654, when they were defeated by the Portuguese. In 1701, Rio Grande do Norte joined 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 became a province in 1822 and a state of Brazil in 1889. Rio Grande do Norte is divided into 167

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 ...

, which are grouped into four mesoregions and 23 microregions. Of the 167 municipalities, Natal has the highest population, with 803,811 inhabitants, while Viçosa, with 1,618 inhabitants, has the lowest. The largest municipality by area is Mossoró, with an area of ; the smallest is

Senador Georgino Avelino Senador Georgino Avelino is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeast region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South Amer ...

, named after the former

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and Rio Grande do Norte Governor José Georgino Avelino, which covers an area of .

Municipalities

File:Acari, RN, Brasil.jpg,

Acari Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

File:Pico-do-Cabugi.jpg,

Pico do Cabugi The Pico do Cabugi, also known as the Serra do Cabuji or Serrote da Itaretama, is the only extinct volcano in Brazil which preserves its original form. It is 590 meters high and is located in the Cabugi Ecological State Park in the municipality ...

, an extinct volcano in Angicos File:Rio Piranhas-Açu - RN.jpg, The

Piranhas River The Piranhas River ( pt, Rio Piranhas-Açu), also known as the Açu River, is a river of northeastern Brazil. It originates in southeastern Paraíba state, near the border with Ceará, and flows north-northeast through Paraíba and Rio Grande do ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

File:Praia de Ponta Negra Natal - RN.jpg,

, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte File:Parelhas2010.jpg,

Parelhas Parelhas is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeast region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin A ...

celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding File:Calcanhar Lighthouse.jpg, The Calcanhar Lighthouse, the largest traditional lighthouse in Brazil, located in

Touros Touros (lit. "bulls") is a municipality in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is known as "Brazil's Corner" because it is located at the northeast corner of the country, being the closest South American city to Africa (2,841 km from Kabrousse in ...

, alt=A black-and-white striped lighthouse, with the sea in the background

References

{{featured list

Municipalities

See also

References