Place:Maranhão, Brazil

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NameMaranhão
Alt namesMaranhãosource: Getty Vocabulary Program
MA
TypeState
Coordinates5°S 45°W
Located inBrazil     (1889 - )
Contained Places
Inhabited place
Alcântara
Alto Parnaiba
Amarante do Maranhão
Anajatuba
Anapurus
Anil
Araiosos
Arari
Aurizona
Axixa
Bacabal
Bacatuba
Bacurituba
Balsas
Barra do Corda
Barreirinhas
Barro Duro
Barão de Tromaí
Benedito Leite
Bequimão
Brejo de São Félix
Brejo
Buriti Bravo
Buriti Cortado
Buriti
Cajapió
Cajari
Cantanhede
Carolina
Carutapera
Caxias
Chapadinha
Codòzinho
Codó
Coelho Neto
Colinas
Coroatá
Cururupu
Curva Grande
Cândido Mendes
Dom Pedro
Duque Bacelar
Esperantinópolis
Estandarte
Fortaleza dos Nogueiras
Frecheiras
Gonçalves Dias
Grajaú
Graça Aranha
Guimarães
Humberto de Campos
Ibipira
Icatu
Igarapé Grande
Imperatriz
Ipixuna
Itamataré
Itapecuru-Mirim
Itapera
Lago da Pedra
Lapela
Leandro
Loreto
Magalhães de Almeida
Marianópolis
Matinha
Mirador
Mirinzal
Montes Altos
Monção
Morros
Olho d'Água das Cunhãs
Palmeirais
Papagaio
Paraibano
Paranaidji
Parnarama
Passagem Franca
Pastos Bons
Paulino Neves
Paço do Lumiar
Pedreiras
Penalva
Peri-Mirim
Peritoró
Pimentel
Pindaré Mirim
Pinheiro
Pio XII
Pirapemas
Porto das Gabarras
Presidente Dutra
Primeira Cruz
Pôrto Franco
Resplandes
Riachão
Ribamar
Ribeiro Goncalves
Roque
Rosário
Roçado
Sambaiba
Santa Helena
Santa Quitéria do Maranhão
Santo Amaro
São Benedito do Rio Prêto
São Bento
São Bernardo
São Domingos do Maranhão
São Francisco do Maranhão
São Félix de Balsas
São Joaquim dos Melos
São João de Côrtes
São João dos Patos
São Lourenço do Ipixuna
São Luís ( 1612 - )
São Raimundo das Mangabeiras
São Raimundo de Codó
São Vicente Ferrer
Sítio Novo
Timbiras
Timon
Tuntum
Turiaçu
Tutóia
Urbano Santos
Vargem Grande
Viana
Vitorino Freire
Vitória do Mearim
Unknown
São Miguel
Vinhais
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Maranhão is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent inside the common Northeastern Brazilian dialect. Maranhão is described in books such as The Land of the Palm Trees by Gonçalves Dias and Casa de Pensão by Aluísio Azevedo. The state has 3.4% of the Brazilian population and produces only 1.3% of the Brazilian GDP. It is the poorest state in the country of Brazil.

The dunes of Lençóis are an important area of environmental preservation. Also of interest is the state capital of São Luís, designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. Another important conservation area is the Parnaíba River delta, between the states of Maranhão and Piauí, with its lagoons, desert dunes and deserted beaches or islands, such as the Caju island, which shelters rare birds.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The etymology of Maranhão is uncertain; the name probably originates from Portuguese settlers from Maranhão in Avis in the province of Alentejo. The word was first used to refer to the Amazon River.

The first known European to explore Maranhão was the Spanish explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón in 1500, but it was granted to João de Barros in 1534 as a Portuguese hereditary captaincy. The first European settlement, however, was made by a French trading expedition under Jacques Riffault, of Dieppe, in 1594, who lost two of his three vessels in the vicinity of São Luís Island, and left a part of his men on that island when he returned home. Subsequently, Daniel de La Touche, Seigneur de La Rividière was sent to report on the place, and was then commissioned by the French crown to found a colony on the island (Equinoctial France); this was done in 1612. The French were expelled by the Portuguese in 1615, and the Dutch held the island from 1641 to 1644. In 1621 Ceará, Maranhão and Pará were united and called the "Estado do Maranhao", which was separated from the southern captaincies. Very successful Indian missions were soon begun by the Jesuits, who were temporarily expelled as a result of a civil war in 1684 for their opposition to the enslavement of the Indians. Ceará was subsequently detached, but the State of Maranhão remained separate until 1774, when it again became subject to the colonial administration of Brazil.

In the late 18th century, there was a great influx of enslaved peoples into the region, which corresponded to the increased cultivation of cotton. According to the historian Sven Beckert, the region's cotton exports "doubled between 1770 and 1780, nearly doubled again by 1790, and nearly tripled once more by 1800."

Maranhão did not join in the Brazilian declaration of independence of 1822, but in the following year the Portuguese were driven out by British sailor and liberator Admiral Lord Cochrane and it became part of the Empire of Brazil. For this achievement Lord Cochrane became 1st Marques of Maranhão and Governor of Maranhão Province.

São Luís is the Brazilian state capital which most closely resembles a Portuguese city. By the early 20th century São Luís had about 30,000 inhabitants, and contained several convents, charitable institutes, the episcopal palace, a fine Carmelite church, and an ecclesiastical seminary. The historic city center was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997.

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