Northeastern Brazil
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Northeast Region Região Nordeste |
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|---|---|
| Region | |
 Location of Northeast Region in Brazil |
|
| Coordinates: 12°58′S 38°31′W / 12.967°S 38.517°WCoordinates: 12°58′S 38°31′W / 12.967°S 38.517°W | |
| Country | Brazil |
| Largest cities |
Recife (by metro pop.) Salvador (by city proper) Fortaleza (by pop. density) |
| States | Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe |
| Area | |
| • Region | 1,558,196 km2 (601,623 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 3rd |
| Population (2005 census) | |
| • Region | 53,081,950 |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| • Density | 34/km2 (88/sq mi) |
| • Density rank | 3rd |
| • Urban | 71.5% |
| GDP | |
| • Year | 2007 estimate |
| • Total | R$347,797,041,000 (3rd) |
| • Per capita | R$6,749 (5th) |
| HDI | |
| • Year | 2005/2006 |
| • Category | 0.720 – medium (5th) |
| • Life expectancy | 69 years (5th) |
| • Infant mortality | 36.9 per 1,000 (1st) |
| • Literacy | 79.3% (5th) |
| Time zone | BRT (UTC-03) |
| • Summer (DST) | BRST (UTC-02) |
The Northeast Region of Brazil (Portuguese: Região Nordeste do Brasil) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. For the socio-geographic area see Nordeste (socio-geographic division). Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, along with the Fernando de Noronha archipelago (formerly a separate territory, now part of Pernambuco).
Chiefly known as Nordeste ("Northeast") in Brazil, this region was the first to be discovered and colonized by the Portuguese and other European peoples, playing a crucial role in the country's history. Nordeste's dialects and rich culture, including its folklore, cuisines, music and literature, became the most easily distinguishable across the country. To this day, Nordeste is widely recognized for its history and culture, as well as for its beautiful natural sights and its hot weather.
Nordeste stretches from the Atlantic seaboard in the northeast and southeast, northwest and west to the Amazon Basin and south through the Espinhaço highlands in southern Bahia. It encloses the São Francisco River and drainage basin, which were instrumental in the exploration, settlement and economic development of the region. The region lies entirely within the earth's tropical zone and encompasses Caatinga, Atlantic Forest and part of the Cerrado ecoregions. The climate is hot and semi-arid, varying from xeric in Caatinga, to mesic in Cerrado and hydric in the Atlantic Forest.
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