Baía Formosa (lit. "beautiful bay") is the easternmost municipality in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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", refe ...

and the first coastal city (going south–north) of that state, lying near the border with

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

. With an area of , of which is urban, it is located 72 km from

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 ( ...

, the state capital, and 1,748 km from

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, the federal capital. Its population in the 2022 demographic census was 8,825 inhabitants, according to the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

(IBGE), ranking as the 78th most populous municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Geography

The territory of Baía Formosa covers , of which constitutes the urban area. It sits at an average altitude of 4 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. Bordered to the east by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, the municipality has just over 23 km of coastline and borders two municipalities: Canguaretama to the north and west, and Mataraca, in

, to the south. The city is located 72 km from the state capital Natal, and 1,748 km from the federal capital

. Under the territorial division established in 2017 by the

(IBGE), the municipality belongs to the immediate geographical region of Canguaretama, within the intermediate region of Natal. RELATORIO_DTB_BRASIL_2024_MUNICIPIOS.ods within zip file. Previously, under the

microregion Microregion is a designation for territorial entities. Austria Brazil Klaus Roth and Ulf Brunnbauer A microregion is a geographic region of a size between that of a community and that of a district.p. 18, "What's in a Region? Southeast Europ ...

and mesoregion divisions, it was part of the microregion of Litoral Sul in the mesoregion of Leste Potiguar. The municipality contains the Mata da Estrela Private Natural Heritage Reserve.

Demographics

In the 2022 census, the municipality had a population of 8,825 inhabitants and ranked only 78th in the state that year (out of 167 municipalities), with 50.89% male and 49.11% female, resulting in a sex ratio of 103.62 (10,362 men for every 10,000 women), compared to 8,573 inhabitants in the 2010 census (83.14% living in the urban area), when it held the 77th state position. Between the 2010 and 2022 censuses, the population of Baía Formosa changed at an annual geometric growth rate of 0.24%. Regarding

age group A demographic profile is a form of demographic analysis in which information is gathered about a group to better understand the group's composition or behaviors for the purpose of providing more relevant services. In business, a demographic pro ...

in the 2022 census, 69.64% of the inhabitants were between 15 and 64 years old, 21.19% were under fifteen, and 9.17% were 65 or older. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

in 2022 was 35.66 inhabitants per square kilometer, with an average of 3.17 inhabitants per household. The municipality's

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

(HDI-M) is considered medium, according to data from the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

. According to the 2010 report published in 2013, its value was 0.609, ranking seventh in the state and 2,386th nationally (out of 5,565 municipalities), and the

Gini coefficient In economics, the Gini coefficient ( ), also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio, is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income distribution, income inequality, the wealth distribution, wealth inequality, or the ...

rose from 0.36 in 2003 to 0.48 in 2010. Considering only the longevity index, its value is 0.718, the income index is 0.59, and the education index is 0.534.

Notable people

Ítalo Ferreira Ítalo Ferreira da Costa (born 6 May 1994) is a Brazilian professional surfer hailing from a small community of Baía Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Early life Ferreira learned to surf on a three-foot-lo ...

, world champion surfer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baia Formosa Populated places established in 1958 Populated coastal places in Rio Grande do Norte 1958 establishments in Brazil Municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte