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PERNAMBUCO

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 178 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PERNAMBUCO , a See also:

north-eastern See also:state of See also:Brazil, bounded N. by See also:Ceara and See also:Parahyba, E. by the See also:Atlantic, S. by See also:Alagoas and See also:Bahia, and W. by See also:Piauhy. See also:Area, 49,573 sq. m.; pop. (1900), 1,178,150. It comprises a comparatively narrow coastal See also:zone, a high inland See also:plateau, and an intermediate zone formed by the terraces and slopes between the two. Its See also:surface is much broken by the remains of the See also:ancient plateau which has been worn down by erosion, leaving escarpments and ranges of See also:flat-topped mountains, called chapadas, capped in places by See also:horizontal layers of See also:sandstone. Ranges of these chapadas See also:form the boundary lines with three states—the Serras dos Irmaos and Vermelha with Piauhy, the Serra do Araripe with Ceara, and the Serra dos Cariris Velhos with Parahyba. The coastal zone is See also:low, well-wooded and fertile. It has a hot, humid See also:climate, relieved to some extent by the See also:south-See also:east See also:trade winds. This region is locally known as the mattas (forests). The See also:middle zone, called the caatinga or agreste region, has a drier climate and lighter vegetation. The inland region, called the sertao, is high, stony, and dry, and frequently devastated by prolonged droughts (seccas). The climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights, and is considered healthy, though the daily See also:change tends to provoke bronchial, catarrhal and inflammatory diseases.

There are two clearly defined seasons, a See also:

rainy See also:season from See also:March to See also:June, and a dry season for the remaining months. The See also:rivers of the state include a number of small plateau streams flowing southward to the Sao Francisco See also:River, and several large streams in the eastern See also:part flowing eastward to the Atlantic. The former are the Moxoto, Ema, Pajehil, Terra Nova, Brigida, See also:Boa Vista and Pontal, and are dry channels the greater part of the See also:year. The largest of the coastal rivers are the See also:Goyanna, which is formed by the confluence of the Tracunhaem and Capibaribe-mirim, and drains a See also:rich agricultural region in the north-east part of the state; the Capibaribe, which has its source in the Serra de Jacarara and flows eastward to the Atlantic at See also:Recife with a course of nearly 300 m.; the Ipojuca, which rises in the Serra de Aldeia Velha and reaches the See also:coast south of Recife; the Serinhaen and the Una. A large tributary of the last—the Rio Jacuhipe, forms part of the boundary See also:line with Alagoas. Pernambuco is chiefly agricultural, the lowlands being devoted to See also:sugar and See also:fruit, with See also:coffee in some of the more elevated localities, the agreste region to See also:cotton, See also:tobacco, See also:Indian See also:corn, beans and stock, and the sertao to grazing and in some localities to cotton. Sugar, See also:molasses, See also:rum (aguardente or cachaca), tobacco and fruit are largely exported. Coco-nuts, cacao, bananas, mangoes and other tropical fruits are produced in profusion, but the See also:production of foodstuffs (beans, Indian corn, mandioca, &c.) is not sufficient for See also:local See also:consumption. Mangabeira See also:rubber is collected to a limited extent, and piassava fibre is an See also:article of export. See also:Orchids are also collected for export in the districts of Garanhuns and Timbauba. Cotton-See also:weaving and See also:cigar-making are the See also:principal manufacturing See also:industries, after the large engenhos devoted to the manufacture of sugar and rum. The See also:railways of the state are the Recife and Sao Francisco (77 m.), Central de Pernambuco (132 M.) and Sul de Pernambuco (120 m.) —all See also:government properties leased to the See also:Great Western of Brazil Railway Co., Ltd., since 19o1.

Besides these there are the line from Recife to Limoeiro and Timbauba (112 m.), with anextension from Timbauba to Pilar (24 M.)! All these lines concentrate at the See also:

port of Recife. The See also:capital of the state is Recife, commonly known among foreigners as Pernambuco. There are a number of large towns in the state, but the See also:census returns include their populations in those of the municipios (communes) to which they belong. The most important are: Bezerros (17,484), See also:Born Jardim (40,160), Brejo da Madre de See also:Deus (13,655), a See also:town of the higher agreste region, Cabo (13,337), Caruaru (17,844), Escada (9331), Garanhuns (32,788, covering six towns and villages), Gloria de Goyta (24,554), Goyanna, Limoeiro (21,576), Olinda (8o8o), the old colonial capital and episcopal see, Rio See also:Formosa (6o8o), Timbauba (9514) and See also:Victoria (32,422). Pernambuco was first settled in 1526 by Christovao Jacques who founded a See also:settlement on the Rio Iguarassil that was after-wards abandoned. The first permanent settlement was made by Duarte Coelho Pereira at Olinda in 1530, and four years later he was granted a capitania of 50 leagues extending from the mouth of the Sao Francisco northward to that of the Iguarassil. Adjacent to this See also:grant on the north was the capitania of Itamaraca, granted to Pero See also:Lopes de Souza, which covered the See also:remainder of the See also:present state. The capitania of Pernambuco was ably governed and took an active part in the See also:expulsion of the See also:French from the trading posts established along the coast northward to See also:Maranhao, and in establishing Portuguese colonies in their places. In 1630 Pernambuco was occupied by the Dutch and continued under their See also:rule until 1654. Although an active See also:guerrilla warfare was waged against the Dutch during a large part of that See also:period, they did much to promote the agricultural and commercial interests of the See also:colony, especially under the See also:wise See also:administration of See also:Maurice of See also:Nassau. In 1817 Pernambuco was the See also:scene of a revolutionary outbreak, which resulted in the separation of the present states of Alagoas and Rio Grande do Norte, Ceara and Parahyba having been detached in 1799.

There was another insurrection in 1822 when the Portuguese See also:

captain-See also:general, Luiz de Rego, and his See also:garrison was expelled, and in 1824 dissatisfaction with the arbitrary proceedings of Dom Pedro I. at Rio de Janeiro led to a separatist revolution for the formation of a new state, to be called the Federacao do Equador. There was another outbreak in 1831 and frequent disorders down to 1848, when they culminated in another unsuccessful revolution. The See also:population of the Pernambuco sertao has always been noted for its turbulent, lawless See also:character, due partly to distance from the coast where the bulk of the population is concentrated, partly to difficult means of communication, and partly to the fact that this remote region has See also:long been the See also:refuge of criminals from the coast towns.

End of Article: PERNAMBUCO

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