Page 49 - POR320Summer2018

Teresina is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Piauí, located in the
northeast and it is located on the Atlantic Ocean. It has the shortest
coastline of any of the states in Brazil, at only 66 kilometers in length. The
total area of the state is a little over 251 529 square kilometers (or 97 116
square miles) and it has a population of approximately 3.1 million people.

Another fact for which Piauí is known is that its capital city is the only one in the northeast to be
located inland, because this state was originally inhabited from the inland areas and then
extended outwards towards the coast. It is bordered by Maranhão, Ceará, Pernambuco,
Bahia, Tocantins and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean
Aerial view of Teresina, capital city of
Piauí, of and river Poti.

This area was once inhabited by native

“Indians”, as the Europeans called them.
These ones were hunter-gatherers who
were semi-nomadic, living off the land and
surviving well on its produce. They left
ample evidence of their existence and lives
in the form of archaeological ruins and
cave art, which remain as testimony to the
intriguing lives of these ancient
civilizations.
Bandits fleeing from São Paulo were the first official inhabitants of Piauí, establishing cattle

farms and small settlements. During the 1600’s, this area attracted the poor and enslaved.
However, large cattle farmers soon saw the merits of the uncultivated land and moved, with
their livestock, from neighboring states into Piauí.
Cattle farming continued to grow and, by the 20th century, was the largest industry in Piauí.
With this sort of farming came the cultivation of other products, such as cotton,

sugar, tobacco, rubber and dyewoods. In 1852, the city of Teresina was the first to be
planned.

The Piauiense coastline is one of Brazil’s main crab-producing areas so on the coast don’t
miss out on all the crab specialties. The state also grows a lot of cashew trees - you can eat
the fruit, the toasted nuts and they even make alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks from the juice,
not to mention caramelized sweets from the fruit itself.

Local specialities include:

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