Northeast Region, Brazil

The Northeast Region of Brazil (Portuguese: Região Nordeste do Brasil) is one of the five geographical regions of Brazil defined by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 1969. It is the third largest region, corresponding to 18% of the national territory, and the second in population.

Northeast Region Região Nordeste
Region
Coordinates: 12°58′S 38°31′W
Country	Brazil
Largest cities	Salvador (by city proper) Recife (by metro pop.) Fortaleza (by pop. density)
States	List  Alagoas  Bahia  Ceará  Maranhão  Paraíba  Pernambuco  Piauí  Rio Grande do Norte  Sergipe
Area
• Region	1,558,196 km2 (601,623 sq mi)
• Rank	3rd
Population
• Region	57,374,243
• Rank	2nd
• Density	37/km2 (95/sq mi)
• Rank	3rd
• Urban	71%
GDP
• Year	2014 estimate
• Total	R$805,099,000,000 (3rd)
• Per capita	R$14,329.13 (5th)
HDI
• Year	2014
• Category	0.710 – high (5th)
• Life expectancy	69 years (5th)
• Infant mortality	33.2 per 1,000 (1st)
• Literacy	85,2% (5th)
Time zones	UTC−02:00 (FNT)
	UTC−03:00 (BRT)

Geography

The Northeast Region has an area of 1,554,291.31 km² (600,115.23 sq mi). It is the region of the country with the longest coastline.

The climate in the region is very hot all the year long; tropical near the coast and semi-arid in the interior; semi-equatorial in the far west of the region. The vegetation mainly desert-like, with tropical forests along the coast and in the west and savanna-like vegetation, known as the Cerrado. in the southwest.

The Northeast Region is between 01° 02' 30" of latitude north and 18° 20' 07" of latitude south and between 34° 47' 30" and 48° 45' 24" of longitude west. It borders to the north and east with the Atlantic Ocean; to the south with the Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states; and to west with the Pará, Tocantins and Goiás states.

The main rivers in the region are the São Francisco and the Parnaíba rivers; they have many tributaries.

Mountains

The highest point in the Northeast Region is Pico do Barbado (13°17′47″S 41°54′28″W) at 2,033 m (6,670 ft). Pico do Barbado is the highest summit of the larger Serra do Barbado, in the Chapada Diamantina, in Bahia.^[1]

The highest point of the different states of the North Region are:^[2]

Department	Mountain	Elevation
Alagoas	Pico 844 (Serra Santa Cruz)	844 m (2,769 ft)
Bahia	Pico do Barbado (Serra do Barbado)	2,033 m (6,670 ft)
Ceará	Pico Serra Branca	1,154 m (3,786 ft)
Maranhão	Pico 804 (Chapada das Mangabeiras)	804 m (2,638 ft)
Paraíba	Pico do Jabre	1,197 m (3,927 ft)
Pernambuco	Pico 1195 (Serra da Boa Vista)	1,195 m (3,921 ft)
Piauí	Pico 865 (Serra Grande)	865 m (2,838 ft)
Rio Grande do Norte	Pico 868 (Serra do Coqueiro)	868 m (2,848 ft)
Sergipe	Pico 742 (Serra Negra)	742 m (2,434 ft)

States

This region is formed of nine states: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe.

States in the Northeast Region of Brazil

Code	State	Capital	Municipalities	Population[3] (2016)	Area[4] (km2)	Density (inh./km2)
BR-AL	Alagoas	Maceió	102	3,358,963	27,848.16	120.6
BR-BA	Bahia	Salvador	63	15,276,566	564,732.64	27.1
BR-CE	Ceará	Fortaleza	184	8,963,663	148,887.63	60.2
BR-MA	Maranhão	São Luís	217	6,954,036	331,936.96	20.9
BR-PB	Paraíba	João Pessoa	223	3,999,415	56,468.43	70.8
BR-PE	Pernambuco	Recife	185	9,410,336	98,076.00	95.9
BR-PI	Piauí	Teresina	224	3,212,180	251,611.93	12.8
BR-RN	Rio Grande do Norte	Natal	167	3,474,998	52,811.11	65.8
BR-SE	Sergipe	Aracaju	75	2,265,779	21,918.45	103.4
Total			1,440	56,915,936	1,554,291.31	36.6

Population

As of 1 July 2016^[update], the Northeast region had a population of 56,915,936,^[3] for a population density of 36.6 inhabitants/km².

The most important municipalities of the North Region are:

Main municipalities in the North Region of Brazil^[3]

Rank	Municipality	State	Population	Rank	City	State	Population
1	Salvador	Bahia	2,938,092	11	Feira de Santana	Bahia	622,639
2	Fortaleza	Ceará	2,609,716	12	Campina Grande	Paraíba	407,754
3	Recife	Pernambuco	1,625,583	13	Olinda	Pernambuco	390,144
4	São Luís	Maranhão	1,082,935	14	Caucaia	Ceará	358,164
5	Maceió	Alagoas	1,021,709	15	Caruaru	Pernambuco	351,686
6	Natal	Rio Grande do Norte	877,662	16	Vitória da Conquista	Bahia	346,069
7	Teresina	Piauí	847,430	17	Petrolina	Pernambuco	337,683
8	João Pessoa	Paraíba	801,718	18	Paulista	Pernambuco	325,590
9	Jaboatão dos Guararapes	Pernambuco	691,125	19	Camaçari	Bahia	292,074
10	Aracaju	Sergipe	641,523	20	Mossoró	Rio Grande do Norte	291,937

• 
  Salvador
• 
  Fortaleza
• 
  Recife
• 
  São Luís