Sertão Nordestino
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The ''sertão'' (, plural ''sertões'') is the "
hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...
" or "
backcountry In geography, a backcountry, back country or backwater is a geographical area that is remote, undeveloped, isolated, or difficult to access. These areas are typically rural or mountainous and sparsely populated. Terminology Backcountry ...
" of
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 ...
. The word refers both to one of the four sub-regions of the Northeast Region of Brazil or the hinterlands of the country in general (similar to the specific association of "
outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
" with Australia in English). Northeast Brazil is largely covered in a scrubby upland forest called ''
caatinga Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetat ...
s'', from the
Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...
, meaning white forest, since leaves fall during dry season, donning all vegetation, mainly bushes and small trees, now reduced to bare branches and trunks, in its characteristic very light grayish, or off-white, hues. Its borders are not precise. Due to lengthy and unpredictable droughts it is an economically poor region that is well known in Brazilian culture, with a rich history and folklore. The ''sertão'' is also detailed within the famous book of Brazilian literature ''
Os Sertões ''Os Sertões'' (, "the backlands"; 1902), translated as ''Rebellion in the Backlands'', is a book written by the Brazilian author Euclides da Cunha. Mixing science and literature, the author narrates the true story of a war that happened at th ...
'' (''The Backlands''), which was written by the Brazilian author
Euclides da Cunha Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions ...
. Originally the term referred to the vast hinterlands of Asia and South America that
Portuguese explorers Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...
encountered. In Brazil, it referred to backlands away from the Atlantic coastal regions where the Portuguese first settled in the early sixteenth century. A Brazilian historian once referred to colonial life in Brazil as a "civilization of crabs", as most settlers clung to the shoreline, with few trying to make inroads into the ''sertão''. In modern terms, "''sertão''" refers to a
semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...
region in
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 ...
, comprising parts of the states of
Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...
,
Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...
,
Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...
,
Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, 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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region along the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geogra ...
, and
Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...
. Geographically, the ''sertão'' consists mainly of low uplands that form part of the
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 ...
. Most parts of the ''sertão'' are between and above sea level, with higher elevations found on the eastern edge in the
Borborema Plateau The Borborema Plateau ( Portuguese ''Planalto da Borborema'', also known as the ''Serra da Borborema'') is a plateau in northeastern Brazil which extends across the states of Pernambuco, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte. The plateau is the northea ...
, where it merges into a sub-humid region known as
agreste The agreste (, "countryside") is a narrow zone of Brazil in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia between the coastal forest '' zona da mata'' and the semiarid ''sertão''. The agreste fades out afte ...
, in the
Serra da Ibiapaba The Serra de Ibiapaba (Ibiapaba mountain) also known as Serra Grande, Chapada da Ibiabapa e Cuesta da Ibiapaba, is an upland in northeastern Brazil, which lies on the boundary of Piauí and Ceará states. The range runs north and south, extending f ...
in western
Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...
and in the Serro do Periquito of central
Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...
. In the north, the ''sertão'' extends to the northern coastal plains of Rio Grande do Norte state, while to the south it ends gradually in the northern part of Minas Gerais. Two major rivers cross the ''sertão'', the Jaguaribe and further east the
Piranhas A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although o ...
, and to the south, the larger
São Francisco River The São Francisco River (, ) is a large Rivers of Brazil, river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon R ...
is in part in the ''sertão''. Smaller rivers dry up at the end of the rainy season. The term ''sertão'' is also used in Portuguese to refer to the Brazilian hinterland in general, regardless of region. It is this sense that corresponds to ''sertão'' music, ''
música sertaneja Sertanejo music (pronunced seʁtaˈneʒu in Brazilian portuguese, or seɹtaˈneʒɵ in Caipira dialect), is a term used to refer to a musical style of Brazil. For some, it is the folk music of São Paulo, which emerged during the Brazilian co ...
'', roughly "
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
". To avoid ambiguity, the region in the northeast is sometimes called the ''sertão nordestino'', while the Brazilian hinterland may also be called the ''sertânia'', the land of ''sertões''.


Etymology

There are a number of hypotheses about the origin of the word Sertão, most of which place its appearance during the colonization of Brazil by the Portuguese. The most widespread of these holds that, when they left the Brazilian coast and moved inland, the Lusitanian settlers noticed a big difference in the climate of this
semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...
region and referred to it as "desertão" (big desert), due to its hot, dry climate. Therefore, this name would have been understood as "de sertão" (of the sertão), leaving only the word Sertão. The hypothesis of a corruption of "desertão" is challenged on the basis of
phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...
, which reaffirms the impossibility of sertão being a corruption of the Latin ''desertanu'' due to the inversion that this path would mean from the point of view of the law of least effort, implying a sonorization of the occlusive as opposed to deafening, which would be the most natural progression. The immortal of the
Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tuesday, ...
Gustavo Barroso also rejected this hypothesis and argued that the origin of the word was in the term ''muchitum'', from the Mbunda language of
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, which means "place in the interior". The term would have been adopted by the Portuguese colonizers in the form of "mulcetão", later reduced to "celtão" and "certão", and then spread throughout the Lusitanian overseas empire during the first centuries of its expansion. It is also possible that, on the contrary, the Angolan term arose from contact with the Portuguese, given that the town of
Sertã Sertã (), officially Sertã Town (), is a municipality in Castelo Branco District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 15,880, in an area of 446.73 km2. The present mayor is José Farinha Nunes, elected by the PSD. The municipal holida ...
, in Portuguese lands, dates back to long before the time of the great navigations. According to local legend, the town was founded in
74 BC __NOTOC__ Year 74 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Cotta (or, less frequently, year 680 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 74 BC for this ye ...
by the Roman general
Quintus Sertorius Quintus Sertorius ( – 73 or 72 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian Peninsula. Defying the regime of Sulla, Sertorius became the independent ruler of Hispania for m ...
under the name "Sertaga", corrupted to "Sartão". On one occasion when enemy troops attacked the settlement, a woman defended herself from the soldiers with a large sertãa, a square
frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It typically ranges from in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small ...
, saving the village. The popularization of the legend and its phonetic similarity to the name of the place would have meant that this word was also used, by extension, to characterize the surroundings of this settlement, one of the most inland lands in the continental Portuguese territory, and later became a synonym for inland lands throughout the nascent Portuguese empire.


Climate and vegetation

Because the ''sertão'' lies just south of the
equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
, temperatures are nearly uniform throughout the year and are typically tropical, often extremely hot in the west. However, the ''sertão'' is distinctive in its low rainfall compared to other areas of Brazil. Because of the relatively cool temperatures in the
South 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
Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...
remains north of the region for most of the year, so that most of the year is very dry. Although annual rainfall averages between and over most of the ''sertão'' and on the northern coast at
Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...
, it is confined to a short rainy season. This season extends from January to April in the west, but in the eastern ''sertão'' it generally occurs from March to June. However, rainfall is extremely erratic and in some years the rains are minimal, leading to catastrophic
drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
, while in others rains are extremely heavy and floods occur. This variability has caused extreme famines among subsistence farmers in the region, exacerbated by the extreme imbalance of land ownership throughout the ''sertão''. The worst of these famines, between 1877 and 1879, was said to have killed over half the region's population. In its natural state, the ''sertão'' was covered by a distinctive scrubby
caatinga Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetat ...
vegetation, consisting generally of low thorny bushes adapted to the extreme climate. Several species of tree in the caatinga, such as the
cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...
, have become valuable horticultural plants. Most of the ''sertão'' vegetation is now substantially degraded as a result of centuries of cattle ranching or clearing for
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 ...
farming. Parts of the ''sertão'' are recognized as a
biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
hot-spot because of its unique flora. File:Grande Sertao Veredas 4.jpg, Sertão in the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park File:Rainbow at Brazilian Sertão (desert).JPG, Rainbow at Brazilian Sertão (desert). Cícero Dantas, Bahia, Brazil. File:2003SertaoNordestino.jpg, The Sertão (desert) of Brazil


See also

*
Agreste The agreste (, "countryside") is a narrow zone of Brazil in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia between the coastal forest '' zona da mata'' and the semiarid ''sertão''. The agreste fades out afte ...
*
Brazil Socio-Geographic Division The Brazil socio-geographic division is a slightly different division than the Regions of Brazil, Brazilian division by regions. It separates the country into three different and distinctive regions: *Amazônia Legal *Centro-Sul *Nordeste (soci ...
* Brazilian literature *
Caatinga Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetat ...
*
Drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
*
History of Brazil Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over and settled by diverse tribes. Thus, the history of Brazil begins with the indigenous people in Brazil. The Portuguese arrived to the land tha ...
* ''
Os Sertões ''Os Sertões'' (, "the backlands"; 1902), translated as ''Rebellion in the Backlands'', is a book written by the Brazilian author Euclides da Cunha. Mixing science and literature, the author narrates the true story of a war that happened at th ...
'', a classic book about the ''sertão''. * ''
Tieta do Agreste ''Tieta'' ( Portuguese: ''Tieta do Agreste'', lit. "''Tieta from Agreste''") is a novel written by the Brazilian author Jorge Amado, published on August 17, 1977. Set in the 1970s, it narrates the return of Tieta to the remote village of Santa ...
'', a Brazilian novel and film *'' Grande Sertão: Veredas'', João Guimarães Rosa novel


References


Sources


Nonfiction

* Michael H. Glantz; ''Currents of Change: El Niño's Impact on Climate and Society''; published 1996 by Cambridge University Press. . * Michael H. Glantz (ed.); ''Drought Follows The Plow: Cultivating Marginal Areas''; published 1994 by Cambridge University Press. . * Fagan, Brian; ''Floods, Famines, and Emperors: El Niño and the Fate of Civilizations''; published 2000 by Basic Books. . * Nicholas G. Arons; ''Waiting for Rain: The Politics and Poetry of Drought in Northeast Brazil''; published 2004 by University of Arizona Press. . *
Euclides da Cunha Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions ...
, ''Rebellion in the Backlands'' (''Os Sertões''), 1902


Fiction

*
Graciliano Ramos Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira (; October 27, 1892 – March 20, 1953) was a Brazilian modernist writer, politician and journalist. He is known worldwide for his portrayal of the precarious situation of the poor inhabitants of the Brazilian '' ser ...
, ''
Vidas Secas ''Vidas secas'' (1st edition spelling: ''Vidas sêcas'', literally "Dry Lives"; translated into English as ''Barren Lives'') is a novel by twentieth-century Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos, written in 1938. It tells the cyclical story of a fami ...
'' ("Barren Lives"), novel {{DEFAULTSORT:Sertao Brazilian literature Climate of Brazil Droughts Northeast Region, Brazil