Baía Formosa


Baía Formosa is the easternmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte and the first coastal city of that state, lying near the border with Paraíba. With an area of, of which is urban, it is located 72 km from Natal, the state capital, and 1,748 km from Brasília, the federal capital. Its population in the 2022 demographic census was 8,825 inhabitants, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ranking as the 78th most populous municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Geography

The territory of Baía Formosa covers, of which constitutes the urban area. It sits at an average altitude of 4 meters above sea level. Bordered to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the municipality has just over 23 km of coastline and borders two municipalities: Canguaretama to the north and west, and Mataraca, in Paraíba, to the south. The city is located 72 km from the state capital Natal, and 1,748 km from the federal capital Brasília.
Under the territorial division established in 2017 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the municipality belongs to the immediate geographical region of Canguaretama, within the intermediate region of Natal. Previously, under the microregion and mesoregion divisions, it was part of the microregion of Litoral Sul in the mesoregion of Leste Potiguar. The municipality contains the Mata da Estrela Private Natural Heritage Reserve.

Demographics

In the 2022 census, the municipality had a population of 8,825 inhabitants and ranked only 78th in the state that year, with 50.89% male and 49.11% female, resulting in a sex ratio of 103.62, compared to 8,573 inhabitants in the 2010 census, when it held the 77th state position. Between the 2010 and 2022 censuses, the population of Baía Formosa changed at an annual geometric growth rate of 0.24%. Regarding age group in the 2022 census, 69.64% of the inhabitants were between 15 and 64 years old, 21.19% were under fifteen, and 9.17% were 65 or older. The population density in 2022 was 35.66 inhabitants per square kilometer, with an average of 3.17 inhabitants per household.
The municipality's Human Development Index is considered medium, according to data from the United Nations Development Programme. According to the 2010 report published in 2013, its value was 0.609, ranking seventh in the state and 2,386th nationally, and the Gini coefficient rose from 0.36 in 2003 to 0.48 in 2010. Considering only the longevity index, its value is 0.718, the income index is 0.59, and the education index is 0.534.

Notable people