The state is divided into 167 municipalities and the capital and largest city isNatal. The state has 410 km (254 mi) ofsandybeaches and containsRocas Atoll, the onlyatoll in the SouthAtlantic Ocean. The main economic activity is tourism, followed by theextraction of petroleum (the second largest producer in the country), agriculture, fruit growing and extraction of minerals, including considerable production ofseasalt, among other economic activities.[6] The state is home to 1.7% of the Brazilian population and produces 1% of the country'sGDP. In 2017, themurder rate rose by 655%, making Rio Grande do Norte the state with the highest murder rate in Brazil: 63.9 per 100,000.[7] But since then, it has experienced a gradual decline, dropping 6 percentage points in 2023 to 21.65.[8]
Rio Grande do Norte is dominated by its coastline. The state is famed for its beaches andsand dunes, and the air is, according toNASA, the second-cleanest in the world afterAntarctica.[citation needed]
Two climates predominate: humid tropical, in the orientallittoral, and semi-arid, in the remaining (most part) of the State (including the North coast).The rainforest which once covered most of Brazil's coast had its northern end in the south of Rio Grande do Norte; the area north of Natal, the capital, is under dunes, a kind of formation associated with semi-arid climate. The semi-arid climate is characterized not only by the low level but also the irregularity of rainfall; some years can go by with no or very little rain; most of the interior of the State is part of the Polygon of Droughts (an area which receives special attention from the federal government). There are also manymangroves in the state, and the interior is dominated byrainforest.Rocas Atoll in the Atlantic Ocean, 260 km Northeast ofNatal, also belongs to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is contained in the fully protectedAtol das Rocas Biological Reserve.
The first European to reach the region may have been theSpaniardAlonso de Ojeda in 1499. The northeastern tip of South America,Cape São Roque, 20 miles (32 km) to the north of Natal, was first officially visited by European navigators in 1501, in the 1501–1502 Portuguese expedition led byAmerigo Vespucci, who named the spot after thesaint of the day. The Vespucci expedition also named thePotengi (Tupi for "River of Shrimps") river, whose considerably large mouth contrasted with the nearby bodies of water, "Rio Grande" (Portuguese for "Great River"), after which theCaptaincy, Province, and State were named. For decades thereafter, no permanent European settlement was established in the area, inhabited by thePotiguar tribe.
Column Capitolina was donated to the state by Mussolini.
In the 16th century (between 1535 and 1598), it was explored by French pirates in search forbrazilwood. In 1598, thePortuguese built theForte dos Reis Magos and, in the following year, founded the city ofNatal. Raising cattle and sugarcane plantation lifted the local development and economy.[17]
In 1633, the area became a battleground between the expansionist Portuguese, seeking to take more land for their Brazilian territories, and the Dutch, who gained a foothold in South America.
After a short period of peace and prosperity inOlinda andRecife, the sugar prices went down in the market of Amsterdam and the region entered into a serious economic crisis. The economic problems led the Portuguese settlers and native Brazilians to revolt against the Dutch in what is known today as the massacres ofCunhaú andUruaçu.
Rampa, one of the American air bases used during World War II.
The religious confrontations (the Portuguese-Brazilian Catholicism and the DutchCalvinism), Portugal's restoration of the throne in 1640 and the reconquest ofMaranhão in 1643, lead the Portuguese-Brazilians to undertake the 1645 uprising, led byAndré Vidal de Negreiros andJoão Fernandes Vieira. The governor ofBahia promised new Portuguese troops, but most of the rebels were Africans and Amerindians. In 1654, the Dutch were finally cast out.
During World War II, Rio Grande do Norte was used as anAllied airbase from which to launchair raids on German-occupied North Africa.
In 1964, Latin America's firstspace launch site was constructed in Rio Grande do Norte;Barreira do Inferno (Hell's Barrier), which was often referred to as the "BrazilianNASA".
TheBrazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimates that the population of Rio Grande do Norte was 3,568,765 on 1 December 2021, a 14.76% increase since the 2000 census. As of the2022 census, multiracial people make up 50.9% of the total population. The second largest group composed by white people was 39.5% of the total population, followed by black people (9.2%), indigenous people 0.3% and Asian people (0.2%).[18]
77,916 Migrants arrived in the state between 2000 and 2010, while 71,287 people left the state between 2000 and 2010.
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools, but English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.
Theservice sector is the largest component of GDP at 65.2%, followed by theindustrial sector at 30.2%. Agriculture represents 4.6% of GDP (2021). Rio Grande do Norte exports: fish andcrustacean 30.5%, fruits 19.3%,woven of cotton 12.3%, petroleum 10.8%,cashew 8.5%, sugar 5.3%, chocolate 3.9%,sea salt 3.7% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 1.9% (2021).
Historically, Rio Grande do Norte has relied upon sugar and cattle for its livelihood. However, since the 1980s, the state government has realised that tourism is a lucrative industry, and more money is being poured into the construction of tourist resorts, and restoring colonial buildings in major cities.
Fruit is also grown in Rio Grande do Norte, with the state supplying 70% of Brazil's melons, and the state is famed for itsmango andcashew fields. The world's largest cashew tree is located in the state; it has acircumference of 500 metres and occupies an area of 7,300 cm2, making it 70 times the size of average cashew trees. Rio Grande do Norte is also one of three Brazilian states that together produce the world's entire supply ofcarnauba wax.
According to research by Fundação Dom Cabral, Rio Grande do Norte is the state with the second-best infrastructure in the Northeast Region and ninth in the country.[20]
Augusto Severo Airport has ceased to beGreater Natal International Airport since summer 2014. The new airport, situated outside the city,[21][circular reference] is in São Gonçalo do Amarante.Located virtually at sea level (169 ft), with favorable weather and geographic conditions,Augusto Severo International Airport in Parnamirim is 18 kilometers from Natal (RN). It takes its name from Augusto Severo de Albuquerque Maranhão, a native son of that state who died in an accident in France in 1902. The airport has a total area of 11.3 thousand square meters and capacity for 1.2 million passengers a year. The installations and passenger terminals are air conditioned with equipment that can put out 630 tons of cooled air. With an area of 5.5 million square meters, the airport complex operates with 16,482 square meters of passenger and cargo terminals and administrative and maintenance installations. There are 6,224 meters of runways and 61.5 square meters of apron space, providing connections from the greaterNatal region to the main centers of the world.The airport is the only one in the Northeast Region to receive charter flights fromScandinavia.
ThePort of Natal is specialized in cold storage cargo such as fruit, fish andshrimp, among others. It has its own customs facilities and is connected to Europe by direct navigation lines, mainly to the ports ofVigo,Rotterdam andSheerness.
Festa Junina was introduced to NortheasternBrazil by thePortuguese for whom St John's day (also celebrated asMidsummer Day in several European countries), on 24 June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the EuropeanMidsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during thesummer solstice but during the tropicalwinter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after 12 June, on the eve of St Anthony's day, and last until the 29th, which is Saint Peter's day. During these fifteen days, there arebonfires,fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets. Once exclusively a rural festival, today in Brazil it is largely an urban festival during which people joyfully and theatrically mimic peasant stereotypes and clichés in a spirit of jokes and good times. Typical refreshments and dishes are served. Similar to during Carnival, these festivities involve costume-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, heavy drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing). Like what happens onMidsummer and St John's Day in Europe,bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Brazil.
The three main football clubs in Natal areABC,Alecrim andAmérica Futebol Clube. ABC and America are the biggest rivals, and their match is often referred asClássico Rei (King Classic).
Theflag of Rio Grande do Norte was adopted on 3 December 1957. It is based on a design byLuís da Câmara Cascudo. In the middle of the flag is the coat of arms of the state, which was adopted on 1 July 1909. It shows a sailing boat at the coast in the middle, representing the fishing and salt industries. Above it is a bar which shows two flowers on the sides and two cotton bolls in the center. To the sides of the shield are acoconut palm to the right and a carnauba palm to the left, connected by two branches ofsugar cane. The star above represents the state as part of Brazil.
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