Maranhão is one of 27th Federal units of Brazil. It is located west of Northeast region and is limited by the Atlantic Ocean (N), Piaui State(E), Tocantins (S, SW) and Pará State (W). A little larger than Italy and slightly smaller than Germany, the State area is 331,983,293 square km,it is the second largest state in area in the Northeast region and the 8th of the country.
Maranhão being located between two different ecosystems that is in transition, the Northeast interior and the Amazon, offers a mix of ecosystems found only in Pantanal in Mato Grosso.It has over 640 km of coastline, it is the 2nd largest Brazilian coast, surpassed only by Bahia. The tourism practiced there, can be classified into two types: Ecotourism and Cultural/Religious tourism.
It is the 4th richest (GDP) state of the Northeast region and the 16th largest economy (GDP) of Brazil. In spite of this, Maranhão is one of the poorest states of Brazil. Its Human Development Index (HDI), 0,683 is compared to Brazil’s, back to 1980. The majority of the State population has no access to basic sanitation, education and still suffers with infant malnutrition.
Farming and ranching are very important to Maranhão ‘s economy and with the fishing activity being the leading one of the craftwork fishing of the country.
In the capital, São Luiz, the cultural heritage of humanity, is found the majority of the state’s historical values preserved in museums.Packed with over 3500 buildings from eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries is a heritage of the Portuguese aristocracy in Brazil, that is still very present at the buildings forefront of the Historical Center. It is rich in poets and writers.
Maranhão has the most interbred population in the country.White settlers, black slaves and native Indians forged a predominantly mixed population (68% of the population) according to the IBGE.
The predominant indigenous groups in the formation of the population are the Timbiras, Kanelas,Krikatis,Gaviões,Kokuiregatejês,Krejês, Guajaras, Tembés, Os Urubu-Kaappor,Awá-Guajás and Guaranis. The African-descendants who are the majority of the population are from Costa da Mina, Guine,Congo,Cabinda and Angola. The white population is almost exclusively from Portugal, the Açores region and Trás-os-Montes and a small community of Syrians and Lebaneses.
This amalgam is present in the population physiognomy so friendly and welcoming. This mixed population is what makes people of Maranhão so unique.
This melting pot obviously influenced the whole culture of Maranhão. Its cuisine, with the tasty Cuxá rice, through religion to the Tambor de Mina and Terecô, the popular festivals like Bumba-meu-Boi, Tambor de Crioula, Cacuriá and more recently, Reggae.