Sergipe


Sergipe, officially the State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at, larger only than the Federal District. Sergipe borders Bahia to the south and west and Alagoas to the north. Aracaju is the capital and the largest city in the state; the state is divided into 75 municipalities. The state has 1.1% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.6% of the Brazilian GDP.

Geography

As with most of the states in northeastern Brazil, inland Sergipe is almost entirely savanna, and its coastline is characterized by mangroves, swamps and sandy beaches. A small strip of tropical rainforest runs down the coast.
Image:Teleférico de Aracaju.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial tramway in Aracaju
The São Francisco River forms its northern boundary, and the drainage of the northern part of the state is northward and eastward to that river. The southern half of the state slopes eastward and is drained directly into the Atlantic through a number of small rivers, the largest of which are the Irapiranga, the Real and the Cotinguiba. These streams are navigable for short distances, but are obstructed by sandbars at their mouths; because of these, there are no good ports on the coast. The surface of the state resembles, in part, that of Bahia, with a zone of forested lands near the coast and beyond this forested zone lies a higher zone of rough open country, called agreste. There is a sandy belt along the coast, and the western frontier is slightly mountainous. The land in between is very fertile, especially in the forested region where rainfall is abundant. Further inland, the year is divided into wet and dry seasons with occasional prolonged droughts. These are pastoral areas, and the lower fertile lands are cultivated.
Image:Skyline Aracaju1.jpg|thumb|right|Skyline of Aracaju
The capital of the state is Aracaju, on the lower course or estuary of the Cotinguiba River, near the coast. The sandbar at the entrance to this river is exceptionally dangerous, and the port is frequented only by coasting vessels of light draught. The city is found on a sandy plain, and there are sand dunes within the city limits. In 1911, the main public buildings included a large plain church with unfinished twin towers, the government palace, the legislative halls, a public school and public hospital.
The other principal towns are Estância - pop. 62,218 on the Rio Real river in the southern part of the state and a center for the manufacturing of cotton-based textiles, cigars, cigarettes and soap as well as an active trade center; Laranjeiras - pop. 26,452, located in a highly productive sugar-growing district north of the capital; Capela - pop. 27,403 ; Simão Dias - pop. 39,706 ; Lagarto - pop. 90,345 ; São Cristóvão, formerly Sergipe d'el-Rey - pop. 75,353, which was also the old colonial capital near the mouth of the Irapiranga.

History

Present-day Sergipe was home to numerous indigenous peoples, including the Kanindé, Aratus, and Tupi peoples. Gaspar de Lemos briefly landed in the region in 1501, and the Portuguese Crown declared the region part of the Captaincy of Bahia. The area of Sergipe was one of the last coastal regions of Brazil whose indigenous population resisted subjugation to Portuguese colonial rule. The area was fully brought under Portuguese rule after approximately two decades of warfare during which thousands of natives were murdered and thousands more enslaved to work on sugar plantations. São Cristóvão was the site of the first Portuguese settlement, in 1591, at Sergipe D'El-Rey.
As with other states in the northeast, Sergipe was invaded numerous times by the Dutch, and frequently raided by French buccaneers. During the 17th century, the state was known throughout the Americas for its king-wood, a prized commodity that was the primary attraction during the buccaneer raids, and probably a factor in Dutch military expeditions. From 1641 to 1645, the territory belonged to Dutch-controlled Brazil. The Dutch built a fort, the first in the region, between the rivers São Francisco and Sergipe.
The Portuguese regained control in 1645. By the 18th century, the Portuguese military had driven off the pirates permanently. Sergipe remained a part of the state of Bahia, and was responsible for a third of Bahia's sugar production by 1723. Sugarcane culture was established in the valleys of the São Francisco, Japaratuba, Sergipe, Vaza-Barris, Piauí and Real rivers. Areas unsuitable for sugarcane plantations on the coast and in the hinterland were developed for livestock; Sergipe subsequently became a supplier of draft animals for the farms of Bahia and Pernambuco. The region was also a significant producer of leather. John VI of Portugal signed a decree to separated Sergipe from Bahia on July 8, 1820, and Brigadier Carlos César Burlamárqui was named the state's first governor.
Sergipe retained its separation from Bahia after the Independence of Brazil in 1822, first briefly as the Captaincy of Sergipe, then as the Province of Sergipe. Economic development was low during the Empire of Brazil in the 19th century, other than a brief cotton boom in the second half of the century. The provincial president Inácio Joaquim Barbosa moved the capital from inland São Cristóvão to coastal Aracaju on the coast on March 17, 1855. Sergipe became a state under the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil in 1892.

20th century

The state saw bitter political disputes in the early 20th century, notably between Fausto Cardoso and Olímpio Campos. Sergipe became notorious for its outlaws in the 1930s, including Virgolino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião, the "King of Bandits", who terrorized the state for almost a decade until his beheading by the Brazilian police in 1938. His head was later displayed on a pole in a village square.
Coastal Sergipe was attacked by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II in response to the rupture of relations between Brazil and the Axis powers. The German submarine U-507, commanded by Harro Schacht, attacked,, and off Sergipe between August 15 and 16, 1942. The shipwrecks caused approximately 600 civilian deaths, and German and Italian immigrants communities in Sergipe were persecuted after the attack by mobs. The attacks of the U-507 prompted President Getúlio Vargas to declare war on Germany and Italy on August 22 of the same year.

Demographics

According to the 2022 census, there were 2,210,004 people residing in the state. The population density was 100.7 inhabitants/km2.
Urbanization: 82.2% ; Population growth: 2% ; Houses: 569,000.
The 2022 census revealed the following numbers: 1,361,504 Brown people, 556,908 White people, 283,960 Black people, 4,580 Amerindian people, 2,978 Asian people.

Religion

According to the 2010 demographic census, of the total population of the state, there were 1,579,480 Catholics, 243,330 Protestants Evangelicals, 22,266 Spiritists, 14,755 Jehovah's Witnesses, 6,500 other Christian groups, 5,394 Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, 4,371 Umbanda and Candomblecist, 2,326 Mormons, 709 Eastern Orthodox Christians, 509 Buddhists, 501 Spiritualists, 493 Esoteric, 435 belonging to indigenous traditions, 433 new Eastern religious, 184 Jewish and 22 Islamic. There were still 177,620 people without religion, 5,005 with indeterminate religion or multiple membership, 3,240 did not know and 405 did not declare.

Education

is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools, but English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.

Educational institutions

  • Universidade Federal de Sergipe ;
  • Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia ;
  • Universidade Tiradentes ;
  • Faculdade Pio Décimo ;
  • Faculdade Estácio de Sergipe ;
  • Faculdade de Administração e Negócios de Sergipe ;
  • Faculdade Amadeus ;
  • Faculdade São Luis de França ;
  • Faculdade Sergipana ;
  • Faculdade de Aracaju ;
  • Faculdade Serigy ;
  • Faculdade Jardins ;
  • Faculdade Maurício de Nassau ;

    Economy

The industrial sector is the largest component of GDP at 53.9%, followed by the service sector at 39.1%. Agriculture represents 7% of GDP. Sergipe exports include: orange juice 66.1%, urea 20.8%, leather and footwear 4.6%, woven goods 2.3%, other types of juices 2%.
Sergipe's share of the Brazilian economy: 0.7%.
Sergipe's economy is focused around the production of sugarcane, coconut, orange and cassava. A small-scale leather and textile industry also exists.
Sergipe had in 2017 an industrial GDP of R$7 billion, equivalent to 0.6% of the national industry. It employs 67,231 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: Construction, Industrial Public Utility Services, such as Electricity and Water, Food, Non-metallic minerals and Chemicals. These 5 sectors concentrate 77.0% of the state's industry.
The Brazilian federal government is also encouraging the development of a fledgling petroleum and natural gas industry.

Notable residents