Itaparica (island)
| Itaparica | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Baía de Todos-os-Santos | |
| Geographical location | 13 ° 0 ′ S , 38 ° 40 ′ W | |
|
||
| surface | 417.774 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 15 m | |
| Residents | 58,292 (2010) | |
| main place | Itaparica | |
Itaparica is an island in the Bay of Todos-os-Santos ("Bay of All Saints") in the Salvador metropolitan area of the state of Bahia in Brazil .
The island is divided into two communities ( municípios ): the capital of the same name, Itaparica, with about 23,000 inhabitants and an area of 117 km², and Vera Cruz, which is much larger in area, with 300 km² and around 42,000 inhabitants.
According to the 2010 census, the island's population was 58,292 and estimated at 64,579 as of July 1, 2014.
Transport and economy
Itaparica Island is connected to the mainland by a road. It is about 50 minutes by car ferry from Salvador . The car ferries land in Bom Despacho. A passenger ferry takes visitors from downtown Salvador to Mar Grande in 15 minutes on a catamaran speedboat.
The island is considered a recreational area of Salvador. It has many very good beaches. Especially in Conceicão there are luxurious tourist facilities for international guests. Wooden boats are built in Cacha Pregos. The island is partially surrounded by mangrove forests (near Baiacu and Misericordia) and coral reefs (near Aratuba), which are protected. Local fishing is still practiced in many villages. Oysters, mussels, crabs and lobsters are also collected or caught.
history
Originally the island was inhabited by Tupinambá . It was discovered on All Saints Day (November 1st) in 1501 by Amerigo Vespucci , which gave it its name. Settlement of the island began in Baiacu in 1560, where the ruins of the third oldest church in Brazil can still be found. In 1597 the island was plundered by English pirates, in 1600 and 1647 by the Dutch, who built a fort there in 1647 on the site of a fortification built by the Portuguese in 1631, which was destroyed in 1648 and rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1711 (today Forte de São Lourenço ) . It was captured by fighters of the Brazilian independence movement in the War of Independence in 1823. Today there is an exhibition of the Geographical and Historical Institute of the State of Bahia on the independence struggles and a naval facility for magnetism research.
Penha is home to the ruins of lime kilns that produced lime for building Salvador.
Itaparica is one of the main locations in the novels Brazil, Brazil (German 1988) and The Smile of the Lizard (German 1994) by João Ubaldo Ribeiro , who was born on the island.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE): Cidades @ Bahia: Itaparica . Retrieved November 27, 2014 (Portuguese, English).
- ^ Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE): Cidades @ Bahia: Vera Cruz . Retrieved November 27, 2014 (Portuguese, English).