Ceará

Ceará is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. Ceará has many beaches, which brings a lot of tourism. By people, it is the 8th largest state. By size, it is the 17th largest state.

 Geography 
Ceará has an area of 148,016 km², making it the 17th largest state by size. It shares borders on the east by the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, on the south by Pernambuco state, and on the west by Piauí. Its northern border is the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Fortaleza.

 History 
The land of Ceará was first lived in by different Indigenous peoples, such as the Tabajara, Potyguara, Anacés, Kariri, Inhamum, Jucá, Kanindé, Tremembé, Paicaú, and others. These groups traded with several European people, including the French, before the Portuguese decided to make the area part of Brazil.

The first Portuguese plan to settle Ceará was in 1534, but the early attempts failed. The first successful Portuguese settlement happened in 1603, near the mouth of the Ceará River, led by Pero Coelho de Sousa. He built the São Tiago fort, but one year later he and his family left Ceará because of a long drought. Droughts happen often in the region, and the Portuguese settlers were not prepared to deal with them.

Portugal wanted to form a military base in Ceará to support the Portuguese operations in the war against the French. The first attempt with Pero Coelho de Sousa, in 1603, was not successful, and the French continued operating from Maranhão and Ibiapaba, where they had established a base in 1590. The Indians and French formed political and military alliances. In 1607, two Jesuits, Francisco Pinto and Pereira Figueira, arrived in Ceará with a mission to spy in the area of Ibiapaba. In October, that year Francisco Pinto was killed by the Indians and Pereira Filgueira returned with more information about the area and the French and Indian alliance.

In 1612, the French were successfully expelled from Ceará and Maranhão by a military expedition under the command of Portuguese Martim Soares Moreno. In the same year he constructed the fortress of São Sebastião on the same site as São Tiago, and one year later he left Ceará for Portugal. It was only in 1618 that Martim Soares Moreno returned to Ceará, and it is from this time that the Portuguese presence dates. This was restricted at first to the area of the Ceará River: Martim Soares Moreno made an alliance with the Indians of the Potiguara tribe. In 1631, he left Ceará to help the Portuguese against the Dutch in Pernambuco and the fort of São Sebastião lost its importance.

Martim Soares Moreno came back to Ceará in 1618, and from that time the Portuguese presence became stronger. At first, it was limited to the area near the Ceará River. He made an alliance with the Potiguara Indigenous people. In 1631, he left Ceará to fight the Dutch in Pernambuco, and the São Sebastião fort lost its importance.

At this time, the land that is now Brazil was disputed by the Dutch and the Portuguese. The Dutch invaded Ceará twice, in 1637 and in 1649. In 1637, the Dutch and Indigenous people captured the Fort of São Sebastião and took control of Ceará. The Dutch increased their presence in the region and made alliances with different Indigenous tribes.

In 1639, Georg Marcgrave traveled through Ceará on an expedition. In 1644, Indigenous groups attacked the Dutch governor of Ceará, Gideon Morris. The Dutch soldiers were killed, and the Fort of São Sebastião was destroyed.

From 1644 to 1649, there were no Europeans in the region. In 1649, Matias Beck arrived in Ceará to look for silver in Maranguape. However, no good silver was found. During this time, the Dutch built another fort on the banks of the Pajeú River and called it Fort Schoonenborch, after one of their commanders.

In 1654, the Dutch were expelled from Brazil. The Portuguese took Fort Schoonenborch and changed its name to Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Fortress of Our Lady of the Assumption). The Indigenous tribes that had allied with the Dutch were forced to flee because of Portuguese persecution.

In 1661, the Netherlands officially gave their Brazilian lands to Portugal, ending the conflicts in the region. In 1680, Ceará became dependent on Pernambuco. This situation lasted until 1799, when Ceará became an independent captaincy.

The fight for Brazilian independence in 1822 was intense in Ceará. The region became a center of rebellion and suffered strong punishment from loyalist forces. In the same year, Ceará became a province under Dom Pedro I.

In 1824, a revolution took place. The president of the province was removed only fifteen days after arriving. A republic was declared, but internal conflicts started soon after. The new president was killed, and after a short period of violence, the province returned to loyalty to the empire.

Ceará was the first province in Brazil to end slavery, on March 25, 1884. This happened more than four years before slavery was abolished in the whole country in 1888 by Princess Isabel.

During the rule of Dom Pedro II, Ceará saw major improvements in infrastructure. Trade increased greatly, and gas street lighting became common in many areas.

The state of Ceará became a Roman Catholic bishopric in 1853. The bishop lived in the city of Fortaleza.

After the drought of 1877–1878, the national government built two railway lines from the coast to the interior. One line, called the Baturité line, went from Fortaleza to Senador Pompeu. The other, the Sobral line, went from the port of Camocim to Ipu. These railways were built to give work to starving refugees. Later, they were operated by private companies. Dams were also built to help with irrigation.

The population of Ceará was 805,687 in 1890 and 849,127 in 1900. In 1900, about five out of six people lived on large estates. Most of them owned no land, paid no taxes, and received little help from social and political institutions. Education was mostly limited to the upper classes, who produced many important figures in Brazilian politics and literature.

In the early 20th century, the sandy coastal area was almost barren. However, the higher land behind the coast, with sandy soil, could produce fruit and other tropical products when conditions were good. Natural plant products were important and included Ceará rubber, carnauba wax and fiber, cashew wine, and ipecacuanha.

The main farm products were cotton, coffee, sugar, manioc, and tropical fruits. Cotton production grew a lot with the development of the cotton industry in Brazil.

The higher plateau was used mainly for raising cattle, which was once the state’s main economic activity. However, frequent droughts made cattle farming difficult. Ceará exported large amounts of cattle, hides, and skins.

Since 1960, the Orós Dam has supplied much of Ceará’s water. It is similar in size to the Aswan Dam. In 1995, construction began on the large Castanhão Dam. It was completed in 2003 and can hold 6.5 cubic kilometers of water.

References

 Other websites 
 Official Government Site
 Tourism guide Ceará
 Fortaleza Tourism guide and maps