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Ceará

Ceará is one of Brazil's major tourist destinations. The cearense sea-side, along its 573 km, is one of its main attractions. Old fishmen villages, such as Canoa Quebrada, known for its beautiful red falésias, brooks, high dunes, lagoons and reefs, and Jericoacoara, with its immense white dunes that reach almost 30 m high, a quiet sea, lagoons, reefs and natural sculptures, both recognized all over the world, attracting visitors from everywhere, mainly the United States and Europe. The capital, Fortaleza, has famous beaches, such as Mucuripe, Iracema and Futuro beach, and it is the headquarter to discover other beautiful and uncommon beaches with nice landscapes and visions of the cearense coast, such as Água Belas, Prainha, Redondas, Ponta Grossa, Retirinho, Lagoa do Mato, Esteves, Barreiras, Porto das Dunas, Camocim, Morro Branco, Praia das Fontes, Iguape, Icapuí, Lagoinha, Flexeiras, Mundaú, Cumbuco, Bitupitá, Icaraí, Caponga, Pontal das Almas, and countless very beautiful and impressing landscapes of Ceara's sea-side.

The territory goes along for extensions of mountains and sertões, with special formations, such as the Chapada de Ibiapaba (Ibiapaba Highlands), where is situated the Gruta de Ubajara (a cavern with more than a kilometer of extension), in the Parque Nacional de Ubajara and with a lot of falls almost reaching 60 meters high. To the west stand out the serra of Meruoca and the Maciço de Baturité. To the east range the Chapadas de Apodi and Araripe highlands, the last one having about 220 km of extension, whose valleys produce tropical fruits. To the south of the State, at the border with Piauí, Paraíba and Pernambuco, is situated the Floresta Nacional do Araripe, where we can find the world's major fossile concentration of the Cretaceous Period (between 140 and 65 millions years ago).
The resources from Sudene (Superintendência de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste) from the 60's on and the fiscal incitations of the 70's are important for the growing of textile and food industries. Transformation industries appear relying in the growing production of sugar-cane and carnaúba, mamona and oiticica oil.

Portuguese colons, relied on military expeditions, begin to occupy Ceará during 1610. The goal is to protect the capitaincy, created in 1534, from French, Ducth and English attacks. The settlement of the hinterland and a growing cattle raising and agriculture goes on when landlords from Pernambuco, Paraíba and Alagoas come to the region fleeing Dutch invasion in the XVIIth century and install in the Northeastern littoral.

In the begining of the XIXth century, the cearenses participate of the Pernambucana Revolt of 1817, of the struggle for Independence and of the Confederation of Ecuador of 1824, in Pernambuco. During the Imperial period, Ceara take part in the struggles for freeing slaves and for republican regime. Ceará, together with Amazonas, are the first brazilian provinces to declare officially the end of slavery in 1884. The republican regime contributed to strengthen the power of big fazendeiros and coronéis that control all the State.