Petrolina
| Petrolina | |||
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 Location in Pernambuco |
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| Coordinates: 09°23′34″S 40°30′28″W / 9.39278°S 40.50778°WCoordinates: 09°23′34″S 40°30′28″W / 9.39278°S 40.50778°W | |||
| Country |
 Brazil
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| Region | Northeast | ||
| State |
 Pernambuco
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| Founded | 1870 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Miguel Coelho | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 4,756.8 km2 (1,836.6 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 376 m (1,234 ft) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| • Total | 281,851 | ||
| • Density | 59.25/km2 (153.5/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| HDI (2000) | 0.747 – medium | ||
Petrolina is a city located in the southernmost point of the state of Pernambuco, in Brazil. The population was 281.851 in 2009 in a total area of 4756.8 km², which makes it the largest municipality in the state by area.
Petrolina is situated on the left bank of the São Francisco River across from its twin city of Juazeiro, Bahia. The two cities, making up an urban area of almost 520.000 people, are connected by a modern bridge. Sobradinho Dam, enclosing Sobradinho Reservoir, the 12th largest reservoir (artificial lake) in the world, is located 26 kilometers upriver.
Road connections are made by BR-407, connecting Feira de Santana, near Salvador, and Picos located in the state of Piauí. There are railroad connections in Juazeiro made by the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica. The Petrolina Airport is mainly for regional flights (daily flights to the capital Recife and Salvador), plus the international exportation of fresh fruits produced by irrigation agro-poles.
The municipality was designated a priority area for conservation and sustainable use when the Caatinga Ecological Corridor was created in 2006.
The origin of the name "Petrolina" comes from the merging of the original name "Pedra Linda", or "Beautiful Rocks". The growth of Petrolina and its sister city Juazeiro is the result of the construction of the Sobradinho Dam and the abundant availability of water for irrigation in these otherwise desert soils. The region is perhaps the only one in the interior of the Northeast that has gained population through in-migration. While the population in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia as a whole increased by 50.1% between 1970 and 1990, it more than doubled in Petrolina-Juazeiro.
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Wikipedia