Açailândia () is a Brazilian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the western part of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

State, at an elevation of . Its population in 2020 was estimated to be 113,121, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The name of the city means "land of the açaí." The city is an important center of

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 w ...

, the area having the largest cattle stock in Maranhão. The production of

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with sil ...

is the municipality's biggest single economic activity. Açailândia is part of the Carajas Development Corridor and the city houses many of the workers who produce charcoal in the area. The city has one of the most important railway stations on the

Carajás Railway The Carajás Railway (; EFC or EF-315) is a railway line linking the cities of Parauapebas, Pará and São Luís, Maranhão, in Brazil. The line is one of the few in Brazil to carry passengers as well as cargo. It is one of the largest passenge ...

line. Açailândia's origins are recent, lying in the construction of the Belém-Brasília highway in 1958, when the fertile lands in the vicinity of the Açailândia Creek came to the attention of those engaged in building the highway. For some time, Açailândia was considered a district of the city of

Imperatriz Imperatriz is the second most populated city in the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city extends along the right bank of the Tocantins River and is crossed by the Belém-Brasília Highway, standing on the border with the state of ...

, the second largest city in the state of Maranhão.

References

External links

* Municipalities in Maranhão {{Maranhão-geo-stub