Maranhão () is a

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 ...

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 ...

. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it borders on 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 ...

for 2,243 km and the states of

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

and

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent within the common

Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, R ...

ian dialect. Maranhão is described in literary works such as '' Exile Song'' by

Gonçalves Dias Antônio Gonçalves Dias (; August 10, 1823 – November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic poet, playwright, ethnographer, lawyer and linguist. A major exponent of Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as " Indianism", he ...

and ''Casa de Pensão'' by

Aluísio Azevedo Aluísio Tancredo Gonçalves de Azevedo (; 14 April 1857 – 21 January 1913) was a Brazilian novelist, caricaturist, diplomat, playwright and short story writer. Initially a Romantic writer, he would later adhere to the Naturalist movement. He ...

. The

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s of

Lençóis Lençóis is a municipality in the state of Bahia in Brazil. The population is 11,499 (2020 est.) in an area of 1277 km2. The town has a well-preserved colonial atmosphere and is the starting point for treks into Chapada Diamantina. Transp ...

are an important area of environmental preservation. Also of interest is the state capital of São Luís, which is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Another important conservation area is the

Parnaíba River The Parnaíba River ( ) is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. Its main course is long and the Parnaíba River Basin covers .Ramos, T.P.A.; Ramos, R.T.C.; and Ramos, S.A.Q.A. (2014). Ichthyofaun ...

delta, between the states of Maranhão and Piauí, with its

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

s, desert dunes and deserted beaches or islands, such as Caju island, which shelters rare birds.

Geography

The northern portion of the state is a heavily forested plain traversed by numerous rivers, occupied by the eastern extension of the tropical moist forests of

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses , of which are covered by the rainf ...

. The Tocantins–Araguaia–Maranhão moist forests occupy the northwestern portion of the state, extending from the

Pindaré River The Pindaré River is a river in Maranhão state of north-central Brazil. The Pindaré rises in the low hills which separate its basin from that of the Tocantins River to the south. In its lower reaches it is called the Pindaré-Mirim. It is a lef ...

west into neighboring Pará state. The north-central and northeastern portion of the state, extending eastward into northern Piauí, is home to the

Maranhão Babaçu forests The Maranhão Babaçu forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of north-central Brazil. The forests form a transition between the equatorial forests of the Amazon biome to the west, the drier Cerrado savannas to the south and Caati ...

, a tropical moist forest ecoregion dominated by the Babaçu palm. The Babaçu palm produces

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

which is extracted commercially and used for a variety of purposes including food and beauty products. The southern portion of the state belong to the lower terraces of the great

Brazilian Highlands The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau () is an extensive geographical region covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all some 4,500,000 km2 (1,930,511 sq mi) or approximately half of the country's la ...

, occupied by the

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

savannas. Several plateau

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s, including the Chapada das Mangabeiras, Serra do Tiracambu, and Serra das Alpercatas, mark the state's northern margin and the outlines of river valleys. The climate is hot, and the year is divided into a wet and dry season. Extreme humidity characterizes the wet season. The heat, however, is greatly modified on the coast by the south-east trade winds. The rivers of the state all flow northward to the Atlantic and a majority have navigable channels. The

Gurupí River The Gurupi River is a river in north-central Brazil that forms the boundary between Maranhão and Pará states. The Gurupi rises in the low hills that separate its basin from that of the Tocantins River to the south, and flows north into the Atlant ...

forms the northwestern boundary of the state, separating Maranhão from neighboring Pará. The

Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...

forms part the state's southwestern boundary with

state. The

forms the eastern boundary of Maranhão, but it has one large tributary, the Balsas, entirely within the state. Other rivers in the state include the Turiassu (or Turiaçu) which runs just east of the Gurupi, emptying into the Baía de Turiassu; the Mearim, Pindaré, and Grajaú, which empty into the

Baía de São Marcos The Baía de São Marcos is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Maranhão state of northeastern Brazil. The bay is an estuary approximately long and up to wide. It receives several rivers, including the Grajaú, Mearim, and Pindaré. The Mearim ...

; and the Itapecuru and Munim which discharge into the Baía de São José. Like the Amazon, the Mearim has a ''

pororoca The Pororoca (, ) is a tidal bore, with waves up to high that travel as much as inland upstream on the Amazon River and adjacent rivers. Its name might come from the indigenous Tupi language, where it could translate into "great roar". It could ...

'' or

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

in its lower channel, which greatly interferes with navigation. The western coastline has many small indentations, which are usually masked by islands or shoals. The largest of these are the Baía de Turiassu, facing which is São João Island, and the contiguous bays of São Marcos and São José, between which is the large island of São Luís. This indented shoreline is home to the Maranhão mangroves, the tallest mangrove forests in the world. The coastline east of Baía de São José is less indented and characterized by sand dunes, including the stark dune fields of the

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (''Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses'') is a national park in Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected on June 2, 1981, the park includes of coastline, ...

, as well as

restinga Restingas () are a distinct type of coastal tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest in eastern Brazil. They form on sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, and are characterized by medium-sized trees and shrubs adapted to the drier and n ...

forests that form on stabilized dunes.

Highest point

Chapada das Mangabeiras 804 m, at 10º 15' 45" S, 46º 00' 15" W.

History

The etymology of Maranhão is uncertain; the name probably originates from Portuguese settlers from Maranhão in Avis in the province of Alentejo. The word was first used to refer to the Amazon River, which is today used to refer to the Peruvian part of the river ( Marañón). The first known European to explore Maranhão was the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

explorer

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón Vicente Yáñez Pinzón () (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón (''c.'' 1441 – ''c.'' 1493), who captained the '' Pinta'', he ...

in 1500, but it was granted to

João de Barros João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. Early y ...

in 1534 as a Portuguese hereditary captaincy. The first European settlement, however, was made by a French trading expedition under Jacques Riffault, of

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

, in 1594, who lost two of his three vessels in the vicinity of

São Luís Island São Luís Island also known as Upaon-açu Island (officially) or Maranhão Island is an island in the state of Maranhão, Brazil with an area of 1,412.4 km2 (545 sq mi), located between the Baía de São Marcos and the Baía de São José. ...

, and left a part of his men on that island when he returned home. Subsequently, Daniel de La Touche, Seigneur de La Rividière was sent to report on the place, and was then commissioned by the French crown to found a colony on the island (

Equinoctial France Equinoctial France ( French: ''France équinoxiale'') was the contemporary name given to the colonization efforts of France in the 17th century in South America, around the line of the equator, before "tropical" had fully gained its modern meani ...

); this was done in 1612. The French were expelled by the Portuguese in 1615, and the Dutch held the island from 1641 to 1644. In 1621 Ceará, Maranhão and Pará were united and called the "Estado do Maranhao", which was separated from the southern captaincies. Very successful Indian missions were soon begun by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who were temporarily expelled as a result of a civil war in 1684 for their opposition to the enslavement of the Indians. Ceará was subsequently detached, but the State of Maranhão remained separate until 1774, when it again became subject to the colonial administration of Brazil. In the late 18th century, there was a great influx of enslaved peoples into the region, which corresponded to the increased cultivation of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. According to the historian Sven Beckert, the region's cotton exports "doubled between 1770 and 1780, nearly doubled again by 1790, and nearly tripled once more by 1800." Maranhão did not join in the Brazilian declaration of independence of 1822, but in the following year the Portuguese were driven out by British sailor and liberator Admiral Lord Cochrane and it became part of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

. For this achievement Lord Cochrane became 1st Marques of Maranhão and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Maranhão Province. São Luís is the Brazilian state capital which most closely resembles a Portuguese city. By the early 20th century São Luís had about 30,000 inhabitants, and contained several convents, charitable institutes, the episcopal palace, a fine Carmelite church, and an ecclesiastical seminary. The historic city center was declared a

in 1997.

Demographics

According to the

IBGE 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 ...

, there were 6,776,699 people residing in the state in 2022. The population density was 20.6 inhabitants/km².

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

: 68.1% (2004);

Population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

: 1.5% (1991–2000);

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s: 1,442,500 (2005). The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 4,499,018

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

(

Multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

) people (66.4%), 1,361,865

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

people (20.1%), 854,424

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

people (12.6%), 54,682

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

people (0.8%), 6,541 Asian people (0.1%). According to a DNA study from 2005, the average ancestral composition of São Luís, the biggest city in Maranhão, is 42% European, 39% native American and 19% African.

Largest cities

Religion

According to the 2010 Brazilian Census, most of the population (74.5%) is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, other religious groups include Protestants or evangelicals (17.2%), Spiritists (0.2%), Nones 6.3%, and people with other religions (1.8).

Education

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. English and

are part of the official

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

curriculum.

Educational institutions

Educational institutions in Maranhão include: *

Universidade Federal do Maranhão The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

(UFMA) (Federal University of Maranhão) * Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (UEMA) (State University of Maranhão) * Universidade Estadual da Região Tocantina do Maranhão (UEMASUL) (State University of the Tocantina Region of Maranhão) * Centro Universitário do Maranhão (UNICEUMA) (University Center of Maranhão) * Unidade de Ensino Superior do Sul do Maranhão (UNISULMA) * Unidade de Ensino Superior Dom Bosco (UNDB) * Instituto Federal do Maranhão (IFMA) *Instituto Estadual do Maranhão (IEMA) * Instituto de Teologia Logos (ITL) (Logos Institute of Theology) * Colégio Militar Tiradentes (CMT)

Economy

Maranhão is one of the poorest states of Brazil. The state has 3.4% of the Brazilian population and produces only 1.3% of the Brazilian

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

. The

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

is the largest component of

at 70%, followed by the

industrial sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

at 19.6%.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

represents 10.4% of GDP (2015). Maranhão is the fourth-largest economy in the Northeast region and the 17th-largest in Brazil. Maranhão exports:

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

50%,

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

23.7%,

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

13.1% (2002). Share of the Brazilian economy: 0.9% (2004). Maranhão is also known as the land of the palm trees, as the various species of this tree provide its major source of income. The most important of them, from an economic point of view, is the

babassu ''Attalea speciosa'', the babassu, babassu palm, ''babaçu, or cusi'', is a palm native to the Amazon Rainforest region in South America. The babassu palm is the predominant species in the Maranhão Babaçu forests of Maranhão and Piauí states. ...

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 ...

, the

and

alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

transformation industries, the

pulp industry Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * ...

, natural gas production, and the food and timber industries complement the state economy. The Maranhão agricultural sector stands out in the production of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(fifth-largest rice production in the country, and highest in the Northeast),

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

(second-largest planted area in the Northeast),

(in both cases second-largest producer in the Northeast),

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

. Agriculture benefits from the infrastructure of railroads ( Ferrovia Carajás and Ferrovia Norte-Sul) and ports (Itaqui and Ponta da Madeira) and the proximity to the European and American markets. Maranhão has the second largest cattle herd in the Northeast and the 12th largest in the country, with 7.6 million animals. The state also produces

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

in the Parnaíba basin, with a production of 8.4 million m³ per day, used in

thermal power station A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

s. Maranhão is the 6th largest producer in the country. Maranhão also has a hydroelectric plant (Estreito Hydroelectric Plant), a wind farm (in Lençóis Maranhenses), and a thermoelectric plant ( Suzano Maranhão Thermal Power Plant). Itaqui Port annually moves millions of tons of cargo, being an important logistics corridor for the Center-West of the country. It is the second deepest port in the world. Among the main products handled in 2017 are soybeans (6,152,909 tons), corn (1,642,944 tons), fertilizers (1,536,697 tons), copper (836,062 tons), coal (636,254 tons), pig iron (505,733 t) clinker + slag (225,796 t), manganese (147,063 t), rice (89,833 t), imported liquid bulk (3,881,635 t), caustic soda (86,542 t),

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

and LPG (150,753 t), totaling an annual turnover of 17,140,470 tons. The port of Ponta da Madeira, belonging to the Vale do Rio Doce is mainly destined for the export of iron ore brought from the

Serra dos Carajás Serra (Latin for "saw") may refer to: People and fictional characters * Serra (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (footballer), Portuguese footballer José ...

, in Pará. Between January and November 2017, 153.466 million tons were transported, and it is the national champion in moving loads. The Alumar Consortium Port transported 13.720 million tons between January and November 2017, mainly alumina.

Infrastructure

Airports

Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport is located from the center of São Luís. It began handling international flights in October 2004. It has a covered area of and a capacity of one million passengers per year. Renato Moreira Airport is a national airport located in

Imperatriz Imperatriz is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Maranhão. The city extends along the northeastern bank of the Tocantins River and is crossed by the Belém-Brasília Highway, standing on the border with the state of Tocantins (state), Tocant ...

Infraero Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária (abr. Infraero) is a Brazilian government corporation founded in 1973, authorized by Law 5,862, that is responsible for operating the main List of the busiest airports in Brazil, Brazilian com ...

has administered the airport since November 3, 1980, one year before it was officially opened. The passenger terminal was modified and expanded in 1998, giving it new arrival and departure areas, an expanded main concourse, and air conditioning of the entire terminal.

Highways

The main highways in Maranhão are BR-010, BR-135, BR-316, BR-222 and BR-226. The state has a weak road infrastructure in the southern part of the state, and was identified, in 2022, as one of the worst road networks in the country.

Railroads

Ferrovia Carajás Ferrovia Norte-Sul Ferrovia São Luís-Teresina

Telecommunications

The telephone area codes (named DDD in Brazil) for Maranhão are 98 and 99.

Flag

The flag of Maranhão was designed by the poet Joaquim de Souza Andrade, and was adopted by decree nr. 6, of December 21, 1889. The colored strips (red, white and black) symbolize the different ethnic groups which make up the population, and their mixing and living together. The white star in the upper left corner symbolizes Maranhão itself, and is supposed to be

Beta Scorpii Beta Scorpii is a Star system, multiple star system in the southern zodiac constellation of Scorpius. It bore the traditional proper name of Acrab , though the International Astronomical Union now regards that name as applying only to t ...

, as the constellation

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation whose recognition pred ...

is also depicted on the national flag of Brazil. The flag has a ratio of 2:3.

Portrayals in film

Andrucha Waddington Andrew "Andrucha" Waddington (born 20 January 1970) is a Brazilian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Career His several film credits include '' Me You Them'' (2000), Mention spéciale of Un Certain Regard in Cannes, an Official Select ...

's '' The House of Sand'' (Casa de Areia, 2005) prominently features the sand dunes of Maranhão. * Carla Camurati's '' Carlota Joaquina, Princess of Brazil'' (1995) was filmed in the historical center of São Luís, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. * The song " Kadhal Anukkal" from the film '' Endhiran'' (Tamil, 2010) featuring Aishwarya Rai and Rajnikanth was filmed at the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park sand dunes.

References

Sources

* *This article incorporates text from the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'', a publication now in the public domain.

External links

* Freguesia de Maranhão em Portugal - https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maranh%C3%A3o_(Avis)
Official website

Relação Sumária das Cousas do Maranhão, by Simão Estácio da Silveira
, a contemporary account of the early Portuguese colonization of Maranhão, published in Lisbon in 1624 by a leading coloniser
History of the Commerce of Maranhão (1612 - 1895), by Jerônimo de Viveiros
(PDF)
Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 1909, Tomo LXXII - Parte I, Chronicle of the Jesuits in Maranhão, by João Felipe Bettendorf
(PDF)
Historical geographical dictionary of Maranhão, by César Marques
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maranhao Federative units of Brazil * Former Portuguese colonies