Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the Brazilian states that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Its coastline is only 66 km long. The capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the northeast that is not on the coast. The reason for this is because, unlike the rest of the area, Piauí state was first colonised away from the coast and slowly expanded towards the ocean. The other states in the area started on the coast and grew inland.
The flag of Piaui was created on 24 July 1922. The blue canton and a star is for the state itself. The green and yellow stripes are for Brazil.
Cities in Piaui include:
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northeastern part of the country. It is on the edge of the South American continent.
Rio Grande do Norte has a large coastline. The state is well known for its beaches and sand dunes. The air is the cleanest in South America.
Because of a large mountain chain called Serra da Borborema, Rio Grande do Norte has two main climates. The area along most of the coastline is very tropical. Inland, much of the state is very dry.
The dry climate is not only because by the low amount of rainfall but also because of the fact that it rarely rains at all. Often years go by with no or very little rain. Most of the interior of the state is part of the "Polygon of Droughts". This is an area which gets special attention from the federal government.
Rocas Atoll belongs to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is in the Atlantic Ocean, 260 km Northeast of Natal.
The first European to come to the region may have been the Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. The northeastern tip of South America, cape São Roque, was first seen by European navigators in 1501. This was during a 1501-1502 Portuguese expedition led by Amerigo Vespucci. He named the spot after the saint of the day. The Vespucci expedition also named the Potengi river, "Rio Grande". The name is Portuguese for "Great River". The area and state were named after the river. For decades, no permanent European settlement was made in the area.
In the 16th century (between 1535 and 1598), the area was explored by French pirates. In 1598, the Portuguese built the "Forte dos Reis Magos". The next year, they created the city of Natal.
In 1633, the area was fought over between the Portuguese and the Dutch. In 1654, the Dutch were finally cast out.
During World War II, Rio Grande do Norte was used as an Allied airbase. The base was used to German-occupied North Africa.
In 1964, Latin America's first space launch site was built in Rio Grande do Norte; "Barreira do Inferno" (Hell's Barrier). It is often called the "Brazilian NASA".
Historically, the economy of Rio Grande do Norte has been based on sugar and cattle. In the 1980s, the state government has realised that tourism is a very good industry. Since then, more money is being used to build placed for tourists and repairing colonial buildings in major cities.
Fruit is also grown in Rio Grande do Norte. The state grows 70% of Brazil's melons. The state is famous for its mango and cashew fields. The world's largest cashew tree is there. It has a circumference of 500 metres and an area of 7,300m². It is 70 times the size of average cashew trees.
Natal is the capital and largest city in the state. Other cities include:
The flag was adopted on December 3 1957. It is based on a design by Luis de Camara Cascudo. In the middle of the flag is the coat of arms of the state. The coat of arms was adopted on July 1 1909. It shows a sailing boat at the coast in the middle. This is for the fishing and salt industries. Above this is a bar which shows two flowers on the sides and two cotton bolls in the center. To the sides of the shield are a coconut palm to the right and a carnauba palm to the left. The two palms are connected by two branches of sugar cane. The star above represents the state as part of Brazil.
Brazilian Federal District
The Brazilian Federal District or Distrito Federal is a part of Brazil, which is used to shelter Brasília, the federal capital. It is in the centre of the country.
The government of Brazil was moved to Distrito Federal on April 21, 1960. Before this, the Brazilian Federal District used to be the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Afterwards, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro became the Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara), from 1960 until 1975. In 1975, the State of Guanabara and the State of Rio de Janeiro merged, to be named the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Originally, most of the people were local workers (called "Candangos"), who built the capital, and federal government workers who were sent to the new capital, Brasília. The capital is a planned city. It had areas built for homes, business, schools and other uses. Originally built for up to one million people, the city now has many more than one million people. Because of how the city was built, it has been hard for the city to grow. This has caused many people to live in cities around Brasília. A large percentage of the people of the Distrito Federal live outside the city now.
The white color is for peace. The green and yellow colors in the middle refer to the national colors of Brazil. The four yellow arrows are for the native people of Brazil. The arrows pointing into the four cardinal directions of the compass stands for the power moving out from the center. The yellow arrows also form a cross. This is a symbol of the Southern Cross carried by the explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral.
The flag was created by the poet Guilherme de Almeida, and was adopted by decree no. 1090 on August 25, 1969.
Hiromu Shinozuka
Hiromu Shinozuka (, born 27 March 1979 in Fukuoka) is a Japanese manga artist. She writes in "Ciao". She came out with "Takkyu shoujo" in 1999.
Zvečan
Zvečan is a town in north Kosovo, Serbia, near Kosovska Mitrovica. , about 16,600 people lived there. The town was first mentioned at the time of border disputes between Serbia and the Byzantine Empire between 1091 and 1094.
Rosario
Rosario is a city in the center-east of Argentina, about NW from Buenos Aires. It is the main city of Santa Fe Province. As of 2008 Rosario metropolitan area has a population of around 1,300,000 inhabitants, making it Argentina's 3rd largest city. The city is on the well-known Argentine river of the Parana.
It's called Rosario because of 'Virgen del Rosario', which image remains at the cathedral, at the same place where the original chapel was.
Rosario is famous because of his nightlife, there are many discos that are open to very late, and the people are very friendly and kind. you can always find new friends
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport which involves doing exercises which need strength, flexibility, balance and control. This may include running, jumping, tumbling, somersaulting, flipping and balancing.
In women's gymnastics, there are four activities: floor, uneven bars, balance beam, and vault. In men's gymnastics, there are six activities: floor exercise, parallel bars, high bar, pommel horse, vault, and rings.
Gymnastics is a Summer Olympic sport.
Gymnastics is not just for girls, it can also be for boys as well.
Gymnastics began as a form of exercise in ancient Greece. It was one of the first sports in the Olympics.
There are several forms of gymnastics, including rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, acrobatics, trampolining, and wheel gymnastics and no handed gymnastics. In "artistic gymnastics", gymnasts perform short routines using different pieces of equipment. "Acrobatics" involves showing balance and performing flips on the floor or in the air. In "trampolining", gymnasts do routines using only the trampoline. "Wheel gymnasts" exercise in a large wheel called a German wheel.
In "rhythmic gymnastics", gymnasts perform with ribbons, rope, ball, hoop and clubs. Usually, only females do rhythmic gymnastics because they are more flexible than males.
Federation Internationale de Gymnastique
Atahualpa