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'Fortaleza' (Portuguese for fortress, pronounced ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in northeastern Brazil. With a population of over 2.4 million (metropolitan area), Fortaleza has an area of 336 km². To the north of the city lies the Atlantic Ocean; to the south are the cities of Pacatuba, Eusébio, Maracanaú and Itaitinga; to the east is the county of Aquiraz and the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west is the city of Caucaia.

Contents

History

Geography

Climate

Vegetation

Demographics

Curiosity

Economy

Education

Colleges and universities

Culture

Cultural features

Festa Junina (Saint John Festival)

Carnival

Landmarks

Infrastructure

International airport

Port

Highway

Metro

Tourism

Sports

References

External links

History

Fortaleza's history began on February 2, 1500, when Spaniard Vicente Pinzón landed in Mucuripe's cove and named the new land ''Santa Maria de la Consolación''. Because of the Treaty of Tordesillas, the discovery was never officially sanctioned. Colonisation began when the Portuguese Pero Coelho de Souza constructed the ''Fortim de São Tiago'' in the estuary of Ceará River in 1603. Later, the Dutch occupied the Brazilian Northeast and founded the ''Fort Schoonenborch''. When they were expelled from Ceará, the Portuguese renamed it to Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Assunção and, around the well-preserved fort, a small village grew to become the fourth largest city in Brazil. In 2004, Luizianne Lins was elected as mayor.
In the century XX Fortaleza passes for big urban changes, between improvements and the rural exodus, and grows a lot arriving to the end of the decade of 1910 being to seventh city in population of Brazil. In 1954, it is created to first university in the city, to UFC. Between the decades of 1950 and 1960 the city passes for an economic growth that super 100% and begins the more distant occupation of neighborhoods of the center. To the end of the years 70 begins it emerge like a future industrial pole of the Northeast with the implementation of the Industrial District of Fortaleza. During the political opening after the Military Regime the people elected first woman mayor of Will Dine, Maria Luiza and to first city hall commanded by a party of left. In the end of the century the administration of the city hall and the city pass for diverse structural changes with the opening of several avenues, hospitals, cultural spaces and emerging like one of the main tourist fate of the Northeast and of Brazil.

Geography

Climate

Fortaleza has a typical tropical climate, with warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity all throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures and pleasant trade winds blowing from the ocean. January is the warmest month, with a high of 32°C and low of 22°C and more sun; July experiences the coolest temperatures, with a mean high of 28°C and low of 18°C and more rain.

Vegetation

Fortaleza has a Tropical forest. Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 2,000 mm (about 78 inches or 2 meters) and 1700 mm (about 67 inches). The soil can be poor because high rainfall tends to leach out soluble nutrients. There are several common characteristics of tropical rainforest trees. Tropical rainforest species frequently possess one or more attributes not commonly seen in trees of higher latitudes or trees in drier conditions on the same latitude.

Demographics

As of the census of 2007, the population was 2.458.545 hab. The population density was 7.851,3/km².

Color/Race	Percentage
Whites	35,9%
Mixed-race	61,3%
Blacks	2,3%
Asian or Amerindian	0,5%

''Source: PNAD.''
[1]

Curiosity

Vehicles: 484.672 (jun./2006);
Daily Newspapers: 3 (jun./2006);
Foundation day: 13/04/1726.

Economy

The economy of Fortaleza has his bigger prescription (the PIB present is of R$ 15,79 billion) arising from of the its commerce diversified. To main plaza is the the most greatest Center concentrating number of commercial establishments. Another important pole of sale of the products industrialized in Fortitude is the Avenue Monseigneur Tabosa, near to the tourist pole of the Iracema beach. Exist in the several city shoppings among the biggest they have the Iguatemi, North Shopping, Aldeota, Del Paseo, and others.
The industry has in the output of footwear, products textiles, leathers, skins and sustenances, beyond the extraction of big minerals highlight in the local economy.

Education

Portuguese is the official language, but English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.

Colleges and universities

Education in Fortaleza is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Fortaleza is home to some of the most important universities and research centres in the Northeast of Brazil.

★ Universidade Federal do Ceará(UFC),(federal, free);

★ Universidade Estadual do Ceará(UECE),(state-owned, free);

★ The largest private institution is Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR),(private).

Culture

Cultural features

Fortaleza has a very rich cultural life. Since the end of the 19th century, the city has been home to various cultural institutions. The Instituto do Ceará (Ceará Institute) was established in 1887, and conducts research in history, geography and anthropology. The Academia Cearense de Letras (Cearense Academy of Letters) was the first institution of the sort in the country, established on August 15 1894. In 1892, Fortaleza was the site of a cultural movement of literary expression called "Spiritual Bakery". There are many other cultural centers, such as the Banco do Nordeste Cultural Centre and the Dragão do Mar Center of Art and Culture.
The folklore of Fortaleza is rich and diverse, and has roots in a mixture of beliefs originating from white colonisers and native groups. More minor, but also considered important, are Syrian-Lebanese and African traditions.
Some of the cultural manifestations are:

★ Bumba-meu-boi or Boi-Ceará: songs and dances of a religious cult to the ox, with Portuguese roots.

★ Torém: dance originated by the tremembés.

★ Violeiros, cantadores and emboladores: musical manifestations expressing social criticism, has typical northeast origins.

★ Maracatu: Dance and music, the Fortaleza maractu is of the Baque Virado or Nação lines and is celebrated during carnivals.

★ Dança do coco: originated by Afro-Brazilians. On the beach it is just for men and in the hinterland it is danced in pairs.

Festa Junina (Saint John Festival)

Festa Junina was introduced to Northeastern Brazil by the Portuguese for whom St John's day (also celebrated as Midsummer Day in several European countries), on the 24th of June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during the summer solstice but during the tropical winter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after the 12th of 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 are bonfires, fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets (step names are in French, which shows the mutual influences between court life and peasant culture in the 17th, 18th, and 19th-century Europe). Once exclusively a rural festivity, today in Brazil it is largely a city festival during which people joyfully and theatrically mimic peasant stereotypes and clichés in a spirit of jest and amusement. Typical refreshments and dishes are served. Like Midsummer and St John's Day in Europe, bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Brazil.

Carnival

The four-day period leading up to Ash Wednesday is carnival time in Brazil. Rich and poor alike forget their cares as they party in the streets.

Landmarks

Fortaleza is the home of numerous landmarks. They include:

★ José de Alencar playhouse

★ Mucuripe lighthouse

★ Cathedral

★ Iracema Statue

★ Forte Nan de Praire Statue

★ Nossa Senhora da Assunção Fort

★ Palácio da Luz
Beach Park is a water park near Porto das Dunas, twenty minutes by bus outside of Fortaleza. Bico das Andreas is a mountain with waterfalls, a restaurant, and pools of cool water.

Infrastructure

International airport

The Pinto Martins International Airport is situated in Fortaleza. The passenger terminal is air conditioned and has four levels. The basement level has parking for 1,000 cars as well as automatic teller machines and a stop for regular city buses.
The ground level has 31 check-in counters, airline offices, car rental agencies, special tourist information, a juvenile court bureau to facilitate travel of minors, a Civil Aviation Department (DAC) office, information counter, passenger arrival area and access to two taxi stops.
The second level contains shops, a food court and domestic and international boarding lounges. The top floor has a beer garden and panoramic deck overlooking the maneuvering apron with a view of the Fortaleza skyline. The apron is 152,857 square meters and can accommodate 14 aircraft at once in pre-established positions (“boxes”).
The scheduled airlines operating out of Fortaleza are Cabo Verde Airlines (code-sharing with TAP), TAM, Varig, Vasp and TAP. The airport also frequently receives domestic and international charter flights. The passenger terminal, opened in 1998, was designed to have a useful life of 50 years. The former terminal, called the General Aviation Terminal, is now used for general aviation and the fire brigade. The control tower is located alongside.
Construction of a cargo terminal is the next big step planned by Infraero. The new terminal will have roughly eight thousand square meters, boosting the cargo storage and handling capacity fourfold. Plans then call for the new terminal to be integrated with highway and railroad links.

Port

The port of Fortaleza is located in the inlet of the Mucuripe and is an artificial port. The quay has 1.054 meters of stretch. Has a platform of exclusive mooring for oil-producing. His area of warehouses has six thousand square meters and more of 100 thousand square meters of patio for containers. Possessed still two mills of wheat and is interconnected to the railway system by an extensive patio of maneuvers.

Highway

Fortaleza possessed also one of the most modern systems of control and monitoring of the urban traffic of the country, the CTAFOR, that beyond arrange of a head office of traffic that big monitor breaks of the city through a system of 30 cameras of CFTV, dispóe also of a system of 20 variables Messages Panels (PMV) arranged in the main runners of traffic of the city for orient the traffic and of the best options of routes for the improvement of the fluidity of the traffic. Beyond that, 210 of the more of 500 signals of the city are considered intelligent signals that are controlled and monitored by the central one of traffic of the CTAFOR, with changes in real time in the times of the signals varying according to demand and composition of the traffic, contributing for the improvement of the fluidity of the traffic of big part of the urban area of Fortaleza.

Metro

The subway of Fortaleza (Metrofor) is an important system of public transit of the Metropolitan Region that links Fortaleza and three other cities. Its lines have roots in the old system of the Brazilian Company of Urban Trains (CBTU) in Fortaleza and is passing for an adaptation for attend to the parameters of the underground system. At present 22 stations are in operation: 13 in the south line and eight in the line West beyond the central station. With the entrance in operation of the subway will be implanted more 14 stations, three of them will be subterranean.

Tourism

Three thousand hours of sunlight per year and the constant ocean breeze make Fortaleza an appealing tourist attraction. Nightlife is full of festivities, with bars, restaurants, and shows. The city is known for having the "wildest Monday nights in the world". Some of the best bars and clubs can be found near Dragão do Mar. The Praia de Iracema (Iracema's beach), one of the first urban nuclei of the city, holds many bars and restaurants as well. It includes the pier known as the Ponte dos Ingleses (Bridge of the Englishmen) which is used to watch the sunset and spot dolphins.
Fortaleza's urbanised beaches have warm waters. The scenery is complemented by the jangadas (small rafts used by many of Ceará's fishermen), which catch seafood for the Ceará cuisine. The Praia do Futuro (Beach of the Future) is a popular meeting place for bathers, with many beachside restaurants, built in the local style using carnauba straw and called "Barracas de Praia" (Beach Huts). On Thursday nights, the beach becomes the focus of the city's nightlife, with live music, forró, and crab a popular choice to eat.
A few kilometers away from the city are other well-known beaches: Prainha, Iguape and Porto das Dunas. The latter two sporting large water parks.

Sports

Fortaleza provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. The most popular sport, as well as in the remainder of Brazil, is the Soccer. The Championship of Ceará has his main games in Fortaleza. The main teams of the city are: Will dine, Fortaleza and Ferroviário. The Praça Portugal is the where several localities "tribes" are found for play a little of conversation outside, mainly "otakus" (fans of the animation and comic nipônico) and others. In the region where is located is famous by the big shoppings to the around, by the movement of persons and cars is for be a mixed zone of residences of high standard and commerce of luxury, located between famous neighborhoods as Aldeota and Meireles. There are several association football (soccer) clubs, such as Ceará SC, Fortaleza EC and Ferroviário AC.Strong winds make the Praia do Futuro an excellent place for nautical sports, and Fortaleza hosts world competitions of surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing. Fortaleza appears to have a culture conducive to the production of high-level athletes in combat sports, as evidenced by several Fortalezans' recent success in mixed martial arts.^[2]

References

1. Estimativas das Populações Residentes, em 01.07.2006, Segundo os Municípios
2. Move Over Rio, Make Room for Fortaleza

External links

★ Fortaleza Brazil Photos, Travel (English, Portuguese)

★ Fortaleza City Hall Website (in Portuguese)

★ Fortaleza Guide

★ Visit Fortaleza

★ Fortaleza beach

★ Fortaleza's Online Community
'Travel Information:'

★ [http://www.brazilinfo.co.uk/ Brazil Info Fortaleza Guide