Paraíba

Paraíba
Flag of Paraíba Flag of Paraíba larger image
Capital	João Pessoa
Area	56,372 km²
Inhabitants	3,436,000
Pop. density	61 inh./km²
Timezone	GMT -3
ISO 3166-2	BR-PB
Governor	Cássio Cunha Lima
Map of Brazil highlighting the state

Paraíba is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It contains the easternmost land of the Americas.

History

In the mid-1500s, Portuguese settlers from Pernambuco founded Filipéia de Nossa Senhora das Neves (today João Pessoa) at the mouth of the Paraíba River.

The area soon proved perfect for sugar production, with the French, the Dutch and the Portuguese all constantly fighting to control the Paraíba region to grow the lucrative sugarcane in. The fortress of Santa Catarina, near João Pessoa, was built to protect the city from the Dutch, who soon became the greater threat to Portuguese supremacy in Brazil.

In late 1989 a team led by gemstone prospector Heitor Dimas Barbosa uncovered in a small mountain range what some consider to be the finest Tourmaline crystals ever found. A trace of copper gives the tourmalines a vivid turquoise color that had never been seen before in the gems. Though the mountains were continuously searched after the discovery no additional crystals were ever found.

Economy

The Paraíba economy is largely based around three things; the making of shoes and other leather products, the raising of cattle for beef, and sugarcane. Though historically, sugarcane has dominated the Paraíba agricultural sector, many pineapples are grown also.

Flag

Flag of Paraíba

Flag of Paraíba

The word négo is Portuguese for "I deny", referring to the view of the Paraíba state of Julio Prestes, a president in the 1920s whose policies provoked a revolt in southern Brazil. João Pessoa joined the alliance (Minas Gerais-Rio Grande do Sul-Paraíba) for the candidacy of Getúlio Vargas as president.

According to the government official site of the state of Paraíba, the red stands for the blood due to assassination of João Pessoa; and the black comes from the mourning feeling after the assassination. Some associate the colors to communism and anarchism, but this interpretation doesn't echo in anything from the Paraiba's history, were the powers are usually held by great landowners who exchanges favours with the politics.

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