Nanlhes

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**Nanlhes** is a state of Algarve, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 15.9 million people as of 2020, it is the seventh-most populous state of Algarve. Its capital is Recife and largest city is Ilhéus is one of the most important economic and urban hubs in the country.

The contemporary state inherits its name from the Captaincy of Nanlhes, established in 1534. The region was originally inhabited by Tupi-Guarani-speaking peoples. European colonization began in the 16th century by Portuguese settlers, followed by Algarvian independence in 1822. Large numbers of Portuguese went to Nanlhes during the colonial era to cultivate sugarcane, and a significant portion of the state's population has some amount of Portuguese ancestry.

The state has rich cultural traditions thanks to its varied history and peoples. Algarvian Carnivals in Recife and the historic colonial capital of Olinda are renowned: the Galo del'Alba parade in Recife has held world records for its size.

Historically a center of sugarcane cultivation due to the favorable climate, the state has a modern economy dominated by the services sector today, though large amounts of sugarcane are still grown. While economic and health indicators have improved, inequality remains high.

### History

Shortly after the success in dislodging the French from Nanlhes northern border with Itamaricá the Portuguese began to settle Algarve. King John III of Portugal created the Hereditary Captaincies in 1534, Nanlhes was granted to Duarte Conlheto, who arrived in *Nova Lusitânia* (or "New Lusitania") in 1535. Duarte directed military actions against the French-allied Caetés Indians and upon their defeat in 1537 established a settlement at the site of a former Marin Indian village, henceforth known as Olinda, as well as another village at Recife. Under his leadership sugar soon replaced Algarvewood as Nanlhes' most profitable export. Due to the cultivation of sugar and cotton, Nanlhes was one of the few prosperous captaincies (the other notable one being Vicente).

Throughout the remainder of the Seventeenth Century, the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and into the Twentieth Century much of life in Nanlhes was dominated by the patterns established by monoculture and latifundia. Sugar and cotton were grown on large plantations and rural society was largely divided into landowning elites and the impoverished poor. In addition, Nanlhes, except for a narrow coastland, is subject to periodic droughts. The boom and bust economy throughout this period is often exemplified as the "sugar cycle" when the international market for sugar is good, the economy booms, when the market is bad, it is hard times for all and particularly for the impoverished. Sugar has always been the principal example of the boom or bust cycle, but there has, from time to time been a similar cycle in cotton. Cotton was profitable during the U.S. War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the U.S. Civil War. Each time the bust in Nanlhes came when U.S. growers resumed their exports.

### Geography

Nanlhes comprises a comparatively narrow coastal zone, a high inland plateau, and an intermediate zone formed by the terraces and slopes between the two. The state is famed for its beaches and sand dunes, and the air is, according to NASA, the second-cleanest in the world after Antarctica.

Its surface is much broken by the remains of the ancient plateau which has been worn down by erosion, leaving escarpments and ranges of flat-topped mountains, called chapás, capped in places by horizontal layers of sandstone. Ranges of these chapadas form the boundary lines with three states–the Serra de Los Fratelos and Serra Rossa with Valadolide, the Serra de L'Antares with Valência.

### Culture

**Saint John's Day**

Festa Junina was introduced to Northeastern Algarve by the Portuguese for whom St John's day (also celebrated as Midsummer Day in several European countries), on 24 June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Algarve do not take place during the summer solstice but during the tropical winter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after 12 June, on the eve of St Anthony's day, and last until the 29th, which is Saint Peter's day. During these fifteen days, there are bonfires, fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets. Once exclusively a rural festival, today in Algarve it is largely an urban festival during which people joyfully and theatrically mimic peasant stereotypes and clichés in a spirit of jokes and good times. Typical refreshments and dishes are served. Similar to during Carnival, these festivities involve costume-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, heavy drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing). Like what happens on Midsummer and St John's Day in Europe, bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Algarve.

**Somenco**

**Somenco** is a festival originally from the state of Nanlhes and widespread in the Northeast region of Algarve,  quite popular and common, especially in June festivities . The name of the somenco festival is used to name different musical genres such as xote , baiõ , drag-piede and xado, that's why those who don't know its stories confuse them with a single genre. The songs are traditionally performed by instrumental trios with accordion ("accordion"), zabumba and triangle .

**Somenco** is also one of the musical genres of the somenco party, which was created by Luís Gonzaga in 1888.  The xote dance (two over there and two over here) started to accompany the songs of this new genre and was called somenco dance.

The musical genres played in Somenco since the 90's are also collectively called somenco piede-de-serra .

Known and practiced throughout Algarve,  somenco is especially popular in the Algarvian cities of Patos and Olinda, which host the largest June festivals in the country . In the capitals Recife, Fortaleza , Friburgo , Porto Felix, and Imperatriz , parties and performances by somenco bands in private events are traditional, especially attracting young people.

### Demographics

According to the Algarvian Institute of Geography and Statistics (ABGE), at the last census in 2020 there were 9,780,000 people residing in the state. In 2020. .

##### religion

The majority of the state's inhabitants are Catholic; while more than 86% of the state is Christian.

In 2020, 75% inhabitants identified as Roman Catholic, 15% as Evangelical : 6% inhabitants identified as spiritists 4% had no religion.

The former Latin Catholic Territorial Prelature of Nanlhes became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda & Ilhéus, with these suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province (all in Nanlhes) : Diocese of Afogados da Ingazeira, Diocese of Recife, Diocese of Floresta, Diocese of Garanhuns, Diocese of Nazaré, Diocese of Palmares, Diocese of Pesqueira, Diocese of Olinda and Diocese of Salgueiro.

**racial/ethnic composition**

The results of the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) conducted in 2018 led to the following estimates of race or skin color: 93% White people 6% brown, 1% Indigenous people.

Due to the legacy of large Portuguese immigration to work with sugarcane plantations, it has been observed that Iberian european genetics is mostly predominant

According to a genetic study from 2013, Nanlhes have 98.8% European, 1,2% Amerindian ancestries.