Located along the northeastern coast of Brazil, this area (known as "the cradle of Brazilian civilization"), was originally the site where massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested for exportation to England and where African slaves where imported to work the huge sugar plantations during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today this region consists of a six-hundred-mile-wide fertile coastal plain which extends for more than 2.000 miles along the white sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast and is the site of some of the most scenic and beautiful beaches in the world. Temperatures are moderated by the cool ocean breezes and rarely exceed the upper eighties or dip into the sixties. Rainfall is intermittent throughout the year and totals nearly fifty inches per year. The Northeast is a land rich in tradition and folklore. It is a land of strange secular legends, exotic religious cults and strong beliefs in the magical powers of the sea. It is a land of wild dance, song and tradition. It is a land forged together by colonial Portuguese immigrants, former African slaves and the indigenous Indians. It is a land as exotic and exciting as it is beautiful, as exhilarating as it is serene and as fascinating as it is inviting.

The Country	North	Northeast	South
Southeast	West	Useful Information	History