It is the second smallest Brazilian state in area (larger only than Sergipe) and it is16th in population. It is also one of the largest producers ofsugarcane,coconuts, andnatural gas in the country. Alagoas also hasoil exploration, mostly of onshore deposits.
Initially, the territory of Alagoas constituted the southern part of theCaptaincy of Pernambuco and only gained its autonomy in 1817. Its occupation pushed the expansion of thecaptaincy's sugarcane farming, which required new areas of cultivation, southward. Thus arosePorto Calvo, Alagoas (now Marechal Deodoro) andPenedo, nuclei which guided the colonization, economic, and social life of the region for a long time. TheDutch invasion in Pernambuco was extended to Alagoas in 1631. The invaders were expelled in 1645, after intense fighting in Porto Calvo, leaving the economy in ruins. The escape ofAfrican slaves during the Dutch invasion created a serious labour shortage problem on thesugarcane plantations. Grouped in villages calledquilombos, the Africans were only completely dominated at the end of the 17th century with the destruction of the most important quilombo,Palmares.
During theempire, the separatist and republicanConfederation of the Equator received the support of noteworthy figures from Alagoas. Throughout the 1840s, political life was marked by the conflict between thelisos (lit. "straights", not the sexual orientation connotation),conservatives, and thecabeludos (lit.'hairies'),liberals. At the beginning of the 20th century, the region's hinterland lived through the pioneering experience of Delmiro Gouveia, an entrepreneur from Pernambuco who installed the Estrela thread factory, which came to produce 200 spools daily. Delmiro Gouveia was killed in October 1917 in circumstances still unclarified, after being pressured, according to rumor, to sell his factory to competing foreign firms. After his death, his machines would be destroyed and thrown intoPaulo Afonso Falls.
TheLatinlacus, "reservoir, lake" is the origin, in the primitive vocabulary heritage, of thePortuguese, Spanish, andItalianlago,[4]Frenchlac,[5] one of its derivatives, theLatinlacuna, "pitfall, hole", "lack, want, neglect", explains theSpanish andItalianlaguna.[6][7] But the Portugueselagoa,[4] coincidentally with the Spanishlagona andMirandesellagona, suggests a change in suffix,[8] already documented in a 938 document fromValencia, under the spellinglacona,[4] and in another from 1094, inSahagún, under the spellinglagona.[4]
The Portugueselagoa under the spellinglagona (perhapslagõna), is documented in the 14th century,[4] and alternated with the other for a long time; theprosthesis is then explained by the introduction of the article, chiefly in locution (na lagoa,vindo da lagoa) (in the lake,coming from the lake),[4] and formorphologic regularization with the derivatives of the verbalagar (to inundate) (alagadiço,alagado,alagador,alagamento, etc.) (swampish, waterlogged, flooding, overflow, etc.).[4]
The name appears as a competitor with the names of the lagoons ofManguaba,a lagoa do sul ("the southern lagoon"), andMundaú,a lagoa do norte ("the northern lagoon"), already in the 16th century, when settlements were founded near the Alagoa do Norte and the Alagoa do Sul, the Alagoas, with the inclusion of the rest of the lagoons in the area.[9]
The state's name originates with the lakes along its coast near the city of Maceió. The coast is bordered by fringing reefs and many fine beaches. Behind the beaches, sometimes only hundreds of meters and defined by steep scarps, lies a stretch of green coastal hills having enough rainfall for considerable agriculture and scarce remnants of theAtlantic Forest that now is largely limited to steep hill tops or steep valley sides and bottoms. This is the area long dominated by sugar cane.
Still farther inland lies the Sertão of the Northeast region of the nation. The Sertão is a high dry region dominated by scrub that is often thorn-filled and sometimes toxic, thecaatinga. This area and its people are famed in legend and song. It is the land of the cowboy who is clad from head to toe (if he is lucky) with very thick leather to avoid the sharp vegetation.
During the first three centuries of its history, Alagoas was part of the captaincy of Pernambuco, only becoming an independent captaincy in 1817. As a reprisal against thePernambuco Revolution, the KingJohn VI ofPortugal ordered a vast portion of the territory of Pernambuco to be taken from it, most including its southern portion, one part was given to the captaincy ofBahia, the other portion was made independent, creating Alagoas as a new Brazilian captaincy.
Initially, in the first years of the 16th century, Alagoas settlement went on slowly, however helped by Africans turned into slaves whose work urged the local economy. In the period of the 16th and 17th centuries, French pirates invaded its territory attracted by the commerce ofbrazilwood.
Some time later,Duarte Coelho, owner of the captaincy of Pernambuco, gave the control of the region back to the Portuguese, running the territory as part of his captaincy. He increased the number of sugar cane plantations and built some sugar mills, as well as founding the cities of Penedo andAlagoas – this last one originally baptized by Portuguese as Santa Maria Madalena da Alagoa do Sul (Saint Mary Magdalene of the Southern Lake), currently the historic heritage town of Deodoro da Fonseca.
In 1570, a second expedition ordered by Duarte Coelho and led byCristóvão Lins, explored the north of Alagoas and founded the settlement of Porto Calvo and five sugar mills, which two of them still endure, Buenos Aires and Escurial.
In 1630, the territory was taken by the Dutch, whose interest was to manage the commerce of sugarcane in most parts of the northeastern region of Brazil. As part of one of the wealthiest Brazilian captaincies, Alagoas prospered along with thesugar trade. They builtFort Maurits in Penedo, on the river São Francisco. However, the Dutch colonizers abandoned the territory after being defeated in 1646.
Decades before Alagoas was formed in 1817, itssugar industry had 200 mills, and agriculture also involved cotton, tobacco and corn plantations. WithBrazilian independence from Portugal in 1822, Alagoas became aprovince. In 1839, the capital of the province was changed definitively fromthe town of Alagoas to Maceió, mainly due to the increasing growth of the city because of its port.
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. ButEnglish andSpanish are part of the officialhigh school curriculum.
Subsistence fishing is common in the regionSugarcane seedlings in the interior of the state
Alagoas is one of the poorest states of Brazil. It has the second worst HDI in the country, ahead only of the state ofMaranhão, though its indicators have improved in recent years.[15][16] Theservice sector is the largest component ofGDP at 55.8%, followed by theindustrial sector at 36.9%.Agriculture represents 7.3% of the state'sGDP (2004). Alagoas exports consist of:sugar 58.8%,alcohol 29.4%,chemicals 9%,tobacco 2.1% (2002).
The economy has beenagricultural, dependent largely on large sugarcane plantations with sometobacco farming that is concentrated around the city of Arapiraca. Sugar cane formed the basis for analcohol industry that is in decline. Small to medium-sized tanker ships took alcohol on board in Maceio's port with considerable frequency during the peak period. Such loads still take place with less frequency. Another local industry is based on chemical products frombrine pumped from deep wells on the outskirts of Maceió.
In the last twenty years thetourist industry has found the beaches and Maceió itself has changed from a rather sleepy little port with coconut palm plantations along its beaches to high-rise hotels. The northern coast, particularly around the towns Maragogi and Japaratinga is beginning to see some of this development in the form of resorts attracting people from the south and fromEurope. There is considerable European investment (as of 2007) in beach property north of Maceió with walled compounds of beach homes.
Alagoas gained a new airport complex,Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport, in the Maceió Metropolitan Area, designed by homegrown architect Mário Aloísio, which combines glass, metal and granite. It includes space for art exhibitions, a panoramic deck, chapel, seven escalators, nine elevators and four boarding bridges. The whole terminal was designed to permit access by the physically disabled, with ramps and special bathroom fixtures.[citation needed]
In the new terminal,Infraero also brings to Maceió "Aeroshopping" – a concept that is transforming the country's airports into centers for leisure and high-quality products and services. The entire building has a computerized air conditioning, with commercial spaces that will be occupied gradually. The parking area was more than tripled. Demand will be able to grow to 1.2 million passengers a year since the new passenger terminal has 24,000 square meters, the triple of its former size. The check-in counters were doubled and can reach higher numbers without any structural remodeling. The building is "intelligent", meaning controlled by a computerized system that regulates factors ranging from the lighting level to air temperature and even the speed of the escalators. This system also controls access to restricted areas and the fire protection system, among others.[citation needed]
The Port of Jaraguá is located in Maceió. The commercial and economic development of the Port of Jaraguá, on the margins of the Mundaú lagoon, was responsible for the emergence of an important settlement that received the name of Maceió and later became the present capital of Alagoas. The Port of Jaraguá is situated in a natural port area that facilitates the ships docking. During the colonial period, the most important products exported through the port were sugar, tobacco, coconut and spices.[citation needed]
Alagoas provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several football clubs based in the state, such as ASA de Arapiraca,CRB,CSA, Murici, Coruripe, CSE, Santa Rita, Penedense and Ipanema.
Maceió was one of the 18 candidates to host games of the2014 FIFA World Cup, for which Brazil was the selected host, but it did not make the final cut.
The coat of arms symbolizes the first Alagoan settlement of Porto Calvo. Some plantations, sugarcane, and cotton that provided wealth in the past are incorporated in the design. The colors red, white, and blue refer to theFrenchTricolore, symbolizing the ideals of theFrench Revolution (liberté, égalité, fraternité), while the five-pointed star refers to thecoat of arms of Brazil.
^abcdefghANDRADE, Fernando Moretzsohn de; GUIMARÃES, André Passos. ALAGOAS. In: Enciclopédia Mirador Internacional. São Paulo:Encyclopædia Britannica do Brasil Publicações, 1993. v. 2, p. 258.
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