Maceió is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state Alagoas, Brazil. The name "maceió" is of Indian origin, and designates the naturally spontaneous courses of water which flow out of the soil. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form lakes ("lagoas", in Portuguese). There are plenty of maceiós and lakes in this part of Brazil; because of this, the city was named Maceió, and the State, Alagoas. The new Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport connects Maceió with many Brazilian cities and also operates some international flights. The city is home to the Federal University of Alagoas.
History
The city began in an old sugar mill and plantation complex around the 19th century. Its development started with the arrival of ships taking wood from Jaraguá bay. With the installation of the sugar mills, Maceió started to export sugar, then tobacco, coconut, leather, and some spices. Prosperity made it possible for the settlement to become a village on December 5, 1815. Thanks to its continued growth, Maceió became the capital of the Alagoas Province on December 9, 1839. Maceió is also a port city and due to its port development about 200 years ago it changed from a village into a city.
Geography
Maceió has a typical tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry 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 trade winds blowing from the ocean. The city is located between Mundaú Lake and the Atlantic Ocean. The city proper has a total population of 922,458 inhabitants (year 2006) living under a tropical climate with average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F). As of 2010, Maceio metropolitan area had a total population of 1,156,287 inhabitants. January is the warmest month, with mean maximum of 32 °C (90 °F) (89.6°F) and minimum of 22 °C (72 °F) and more sun; July experiences the coolest temperatures, with mean maximum of 27 °C (81 °F) and minimum of 17 °C (63 °F) and more rain and much higher humidity. Maceió 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 of the following attributes not commonly seen in trees at higher latitudes or trees in drier conditions on the same latitude.
