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Salvador - in full, São Salvador da Baía de
Todos os Santos, meaning "Holy Savior of the
Bay of All Saints" - is a city on the
northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of
the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.
The city was for a long time also known as
Bahia, and appears under that name (or as
Salvador da Bahia, "Salvador of Bahia", so
as to differentiate it from other Brazilian
cities of the same name) on many maps and
books from before the mid 20th century.
Salvador is a major export port and the
heart of the Recôncavo Baiano metropolitan
region, the region surrounding Todos os
Santos bay (which gets its name from the day
it was discovered, All Saints day). Its
population was 2.54 million people in 2002,
making it today the third largest city in
Brazil, a position long held by Belo
Horizonte (now demoted to fourth largest).
Salvador was the capital city of the
Portuguese viceroyalty of Grão-Pará and its
province of Bahia de Todos os Santos. The
Dutch captured and sacked the city in May of
1624, and held it along with other NE ports
until it was re-taken by the Portuguese in
April of the following year.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil and
remained so until 1763, when it was
succeeded by Rio de Janeiro, the new
economic power center of that era. The city
became a base for the Brazilian independence
movement and was attacked by Portuguese
troops in 1812, before being officially
liberated on July 2, 1823. It settled into
graceful decline over the next 150 years,
out of the mainstream of Brazilian
industrialization. It is though, a national
cultural and tourist centre, and is
currently experiencing a marked revival both
as a tourist destination and as a commercial
center. |
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© 2005 City of Miami
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