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CEARA

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 592 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CEARA , a See also:

northern maritime See also:state of See also:Brazil, bounded N. by the See also:Atlantic, E. by the Atlantic and the states of Rio Grande do Norte and See also:Parahyba, S. by See also:Pernambuco, and W. by See also:Piauhy; and having an See also:area of 40,253 sq. m. It lies partly upon the See also:north-See also:east slope of the See also:great Brazilian See also:plateau, and partly upon the sandy coastal See also:plain. Its See also:surface is a See also:succession of great ter-races, facing north and north-east, formed by the denudation of the See also:ancient See also:sandstone plateau which once covered this See also:part of the See also:continent; the terraces are seamed by watercourses, and their valleys are broken by hills and ranges of See also:highlands. The latter are usually described as See also:mountain ranges, but they are, in fact, only the remains of the ancient plateau, capped with See also:horizontal strata of sandstone, and having a remarkably See also:uniform See also:altitude of 2000 to 2400 ft. The See also:flat See also:top of such a range is called a chapada or taboleira, and its width in places is from 32 to 56 m. The boundary See also:line with Piauhy follows one of these ranges, the Serra de Ibiapaba, which unites with another range on the See also:southern boundary of the state, known as the Serra do, Araripe. Another range, or escarpment, crosses the state from east to See also:west, but is broken into two See also:principal divisions, each having several See also:local names. These ranges are not continuous, the breaking down of the ancient plateau having been irregular and uneven. The higher ranges intercept considerable moisture from the prevailing See also:trade winds, and their flanks and valleys are covered with See also:forest, but the plateaus are either thinly wooded or open campo. These upland forests are of a scrubby See also:character and are called catingas. The sandy, coastal plain, with a width of 12 to 18 m., is nearly See also:bare of vegetation. The See also:rivers of the state are small and, with one or two exceptions, become completely dry in the dry See also:season.

The largest is the Jaguaribe, which flows entirely across the state in a north-east direction with an estimated length of 210 to 465 M. The See also:

year is divided into a See also:rainy and dry season, the rains beginning in See also:January to See also:March and lasting until See also:June. The dry season, See also:July to See also:December, is sometimes broken by slight showers in See also:September and See also:October, but these are of very slight importance. The See also:soil is thin and porous and does not retain moisture, consequently the See also:long, dry season turns the See also:country into a barren See also:desert, relieved only by vegetation along the See also:river courses and mountain ranges, and by the See also:hardy, widely-distributed carnahuba See also:palm (Copernicia cerifera),which in places forms groves of considerable extent. Sometimes the rains fail altogether, and then a drought (seecca) ensues, causing See also:famine and pestilence throughout the entire region. The most destructive droughts recorded are those of 1711, 1723, 1777-1778, 1790, 1825, 1844-1845, and 1877-1878, the last-mentioned destroying nearly all the live-stock in the state, and causing the See also:death through See also:starvation and pestilence of nearly See also:half-a-million See also:people, or over half the See also:population. The See also:climate, which is generally de-scribed as healthful, is hot and humid on the See also:coast, tempered by the cool trade winds; but in the more elevated regions it is very hot and dry, although the nights are cool. The sandy See also:zone along the coast is nearly barren, but behind this is a more elevated region with broken surfaces and sandy soil which is amenable to cultivation and produces See also:fruit and most tropical products when conditions are favourable. The higher plateau is devoted almost exclusively to See also:cattle-raising, once the principal See also:industry of the state, though recurring seccas have been an insuperable obstacle to its profitable development. There is still a considerable export of cattle, hides and skins, but no effort is made to develop the See also:production of jerked See also:beef on a large See also:scale. Horses are raised to a limited extent; also goats, See also:sheep and See also:swine. The principal agricultural products are See also:cotton, See also:coffee, See also:sugar, mandioca and tropical fruits.

The production of cotton has increased largely since the development of cotton manufactures in Brazil. The natural See also:

vegetable productions are important, and include manicoba or Ceara See also:rubber, carnahuba See also:wax and fibre, caju See also:wine and See also:ipecacuanha. There are two lines of railway See also:running inland from the coast: the Baturite line from See also:Fortaleza to Senador Pompeu, 179 m., and the Sobral line from Camocim (a small See also:port) to Ipu, 134 M. These See also:railways were built by the See also:national See also:government after the drought of 1877—1878 to give See also:work to the starving refugees, and are now operated under leases. Great dams were also begun for See also:irrigation purposes. The misfortunes and poverty of the people have hindered their material development to a large extent, but another obstacle is to be found in their racial and social See also:composition. Only a very small percentage of the population which numbered 805,687 in 189o, and 849,127 in 1900, is of pure See also:European origin, the great See also:majority being of the coloured races and their mixtures with the whites. The number of landed proprietors, professional men, merchants, &c., is comparatively small (about one-See also:sixth), and a part of these are of mixed See also:blood; the remaining five-sixths own no See also:property, pay no taxes, and derive no benefits from the social and See also:political institutions about them beyond the See also:protection of the proprietors upon whose estates they live, the nominal protection of the state, and an occasional See also:day's wage. See also:Education has made no impression upon such people, and is confined almost exclusively to the upper classes, from which some of the most prominent men in Brazilian politics and literature have come. The state of Ceara has formed a bishopric of the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church since 1853, the See also:bishop having his See also:residence at Fortaleza. The state is represented in the national See also:congress by three senators and ten deputies. Its local government is vested in a See also:president and legislative See also:assembly of one chamber elected for a See also:period of four years.

Three See also:

vice-presidents are elected at the same See also:time who succeed to the See also:presidency in See also:case of a vacancy according to the number of votes received. The judicial organization consists of the tribunal da Relaga6 at the state See also:capital and sub-See also:ordinate courts in the comarcas and termos. The See also:judges of the higher courts are appointed for See also:life. The capital of the state is Fortaleza, sometimes called Ceara, which is also the principal commercial centre and See also:shipping port. The principal towns are See also:Aracaty, Baturite, Acarahfi, Crato, Maranguape and Sobral. The territory of Ceara includes three of the capitanias originally granted by the Portuguese See also:crown in 1534. The first attempts to See also:settle the territory failed, and the earliest Portuguese See also:settlement was made near the mouth of the Rio Camocim in 1604. The See also:French were already established on' the coast, with their headquarters at See also:Saint See also:Louis, now See also:Maranhao. Ceara was occupied by the Dutch from 1637 to 1654, and became a dependency of Pernambuco in 168o; this relationship lasted until 1799, when the capitania of Ceara was made See also:independent. The capitania became a See also:province in 1822 under Dom Pedro I. A revolution followed in 1824, the president of the province was deposed fifteen days after his arrival, and a See also:republic was proclaimed. See also:Internal dissensions immediately See also:broke out, the new president was assassinated, and after a brief reign of terror the province resumed its See also:allegiance to the See also:empire.

Ceara was one of the first provinces of Brazil to abolish See also:

slavery. See Rodolpho Theophilo, Historic da Secca do Ceara, 1877 a 188o (Fortaleza, 1883) ; See also:Professor and Mrs Louis See also:Agassiz, A See also:Journey in Brazil (See also:Boston, 1869); See also:George See also:Gardiner, Travels in the Interior of Brazil (See also:London, 1846) ; C. F. Hartt, See also:Geology and See also:Physical See also:Geography of Brazil (Boston, 187o) and H. H. See also:Smith, Brazil: the See also:Amazon and the Coast (New See also:York, 1879).

End of Article: CEARA

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