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This article is about the Brazilian city. For other names including "Salvador", see Salvador, San Salvador and São Salvador.
Salvador (historic name, São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, in English: "Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay") is a city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the country and in the New World; for a long time, it was 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 the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and it is the eighth most populous city in Latin America, after Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago of Chile. The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in the northeastern region of the country. Over 80% of the population of metropolitan region of Salvador has some Black African ancestry. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia. The local terrain is diverse ranging from flat to rolling to hills and low mountains. A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town") and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town"), the former some 85 m (275 ft) above the latter,[1] with the city's cathedral and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator (the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades. The Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport connects Salvador with Brazilian cities and also operates international flights, and the city is home to the Federal University of Bahia.
[edit] Geography[edit] Climate
Salvador has a typical tropical climate, with warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures and trade winds blowing from the ocean. March is the warmest month, with a mean maximum temperature of 30°C (86°F) and minimum of 24°C (75°F); July experiences the coolest temperatures, with means of 26°C (79°F) and 19°C (68°F). The absolute maximum and minimum are respectively 38°C (100°F) and 12°C (54°F). The city's triangular shape guarantees the capital privileged sun conditions (average 2,220 hours of sun exposure per year), while a soft breeze constantly blows. Unlike the terrain further inland (known as the sertão), rainfall in Salvador is quite abundant, with a total yearly average of 201cm (83"), being heaviest in May at 33cm (12.8") and generally tapering off until reaching a low of 11cm (4.4") in January. Tropical cyclones and tornadoes are unknown in this area,[2][3] on February 12, 2008 a small F0 was formed in the ocean, near by Rio Vermelho neighborhood, creating a little waterspout.[4] The coastline is quite diverse, featuring sandy beaches, sea cliffs, mangrove swamps, and a number of islands, the largest of which, Itaparica, includes a resort area. [edit] VegetationSalvador is located in a region of tropical rainforests. The rainforests of Bahia are characterized by high levels of precipitation, and the normal annual rainfall is between 2,000 mm (about 78 inches) and 1700 mm (about 67 inches). As a result of region's climate, Salvador and the surrounding region support quite a diverse selection of topical plants. There are several common characteristics of tropical rainforest trees. Tropical rainforest species frequently possess one or more attributes not commonly seen in trees of higher latitudes or trees in drier conditions on the same latitude. Long isolated from other major rainforest blocks in South America, the Atlantic forest has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. With almost 950 kinds of birds occurring in this hotspot, there are many unique species including the red-billed curassow, the Brazilian merganser, and numerous threatened parrot species. The hotspot is also home to 20,000 different types of trees, half of which are found nowhere else.[5] [edit] History
Baía de Todos os Santos (All Saints Bay) was first encountered by Europeans and christened in 1502. In 1510, a ship, containing the Portuguese settler Caramuru, wrecked near the borough of Rio Vermelho. In 1534, Francisco Pereira Coutinho founded a town near Barra borough, called Vila Velha, Portuguese for "Old town". In 1549, a fleet of Portuguese settlers headed by Tomé de Sousa, the first Governor-General of Brazil, established Salvador. Built on a high cliff overlooking All Saints bay as the first colonial capital of colonial Brazil, it quickly became its main sea port and an important center of the sugar industry and the slave trade. Salvador was divided into an upper and a lower city, the upper city was the administrative and main religious area and it was where the majority of the population lived. The lower city was the financial center, with a port and market. In the late 19th Century, funiculars and an elevator, the Elevador Lacerda, were built to link the areas. The city became the seat of the first Catholic bishop of Brazil in 1552, and is still a center of Brazilian Catholicism. By 1583, there were 1,600 people residing in the city, and it quickly grew into one of the largest cities in the New World, surpassing any colonial American city at the time of the American Revolution in 1776. Salvador was the capital city of the Portuguese viceroyalty of Grão-Pará and its province of Bahia de Todos os Santos. The Dutch Republic captured and sacked the city in May of 1624, and held it along with other north east 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 city became a base for the Brazilian independence movement and was attacked by Portuguese troops in 1812, before being liberated on July 2, 1823. It settled into graceful decline over the next 150 years, out of the mainstream of Brazilian industrialization. It remains, however, a national cultural and tourist center. By 1948 the city had some 340,000 people, and was already Brazil's fourth largest city. By 1991 the population was 2.08 million. 
In the 1990s, a major city project cleaned up and restored the old downtown area, the Pelourinho, or Centro Historico ("Historical Center"). Now, the Pelourinho is a cultural center, and the very heart of Salvador. Nonetheless, this social prophylaxis resulted in the forced removal of thousands of working class residents to the city's periphery where they have encountered significant economic hardship. Additionally, the Historical Center is now something of a depopulated architectural jewel who's "animation" must be brought in and sponsored by local shopowners and the Bahian state. Similar situations may be found in many UNESCO World Heritage Sites today but the Pelourinho, in light of Salvador's economic inequalities and ruling governmental coalition's of the 1990s, seems to have gone farther than most in sacrificing its population to the needs of tourist-based preservation. Salvador has been the birthplace of many noted Brazilians, including musicians such as song-writer Dorival Caymmi, Música Popular Brasileira (MPB or Brazilian Popular Music) star Gal Costa, and Grammy Award winner Gilberto Gil. Gil later went on to serve as a city council member (vereador) and is the Brazilian Minister of Culture in the cabinet of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Also internationally recognized are the city's Blocos Afros, such as Olodum, Ara Ketu, and Ilê Aiyê. Notable writers associated with Salvador include Jorge Amado, considered one of Brazil's greatest authors and fabulists, and João Ubaldo Ribeiro. The famous Brazilian visual artist Carybé is based in Salvador as well. Celebrities born in Salvador include supermodel Adriana Lima. [edit] Toponymy
The city's name, São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, is the Portuguese for "Saint Savior of All Saints' Bay". The city was, for a long time, known as "Bahia" (bay), passing this name to all the lands near it, naming the state of Bahia. The city is also known as "Roma Negra", Portuguese for "Black Rome", because it is said that Salvador da Bahia has 365 churches, and it is a center of Candomblé, an African-derived, syncretic New World religion. The city of São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos was founded in 1549. In that same year, Salvador became the first capital of Brazil until 1763, when the colonial administration was moved to Rio de Janeiro. During that period, the city played an important strategic role in the defense and colonization of the territory. Salvador, capital of the State of Bahia, was the first major port for almost two centuries. The city lies between green tropical hills and broad beaches along the bay of Todos os Santos. It was built on two levels with administration buildings and residences constructed on the hills; forts, docks, and warehouses on the beaches. To this day the city is still divided into upper and lower cities. From 1500 to 1815, Salvador was the nation's busiest port. A significant portion of the sugar from the northeast and gold and diamonds from the mines in the southeast passed through Salvador. It was a golden age for the town; magnificent homes and churches resplendent in gold decoration were built. Many of the city's baroque churches, private homes, squares, and even the hand-chipped paving bricks have been preserved as part of Brazil's historic patrimony. Salvador's other nickname is "Capital da Alegria" or "Capital of Joy", because of its large carnival. 
[edit] City governmentBrazil's first governor Thomé de Souza lived in Salvador from 1549, and the building in which he resided was also the administrative center for the Kingdom of Portugal during its temporary relocation to Brazil during the Peninsular War. The building was rededicated in 1919, when it was given its present name: Rio Branco Palace. Today, it is the home of the Pedro Calmon Foundation of the State of Bahia and the Governor's Memorial. Nowdays the governor lives on the Palácio de Ondina (Ondina's Palace). The city has 30 consulates (mainly from Europe and Americas).[7] Salvador is governed by a prefeito (mayor). The mayor (since 2005) is João Henrique Carneiro, of the PMDB party. The city also has a body of 41 vereadores (municipal deputies), who meet in the Camara Municipal de Salvador. The Municipal Chambers is a historical structure built approximately 1660. [edit] Demographics
According to the IBGE of 2007, there were 3,416,000 people residing in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador. The population density was 4,092.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,600 /sq mi). The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 1,875,384 Pardo (Brown) people (54.9%), 970,000 Black people (28.4%), 532,000 White people (15.6%), 34,000 Asian or Amerindian people (1.0%).[8] With a current population estimated in 2,892,625 inhabitants, Salvador is the 3th most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Most of the population is in part descended from Black African slaves, who were mainly Yoruba speakers from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin.[9] [edit] Population growth
[edit] Religion
[edit] Economy
Salvador is the second most popular tourist destination in Brazil. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of jobs and income, boosting the arts and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage. Chief among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories that once stood there) district, its magnificent historic churches, and its beaches. Salvador's tourism infrastructure is considered one of the most modern in Brazil, especially in terms of lodging. The city offers accommodation to suit all tastes and standards, from youth hostels to international hotels. The Civil engineering is one of the most important segments of the city, many international (mainly: Spain, Portugal and England)[12] and national companies are acting in the city and bahian littoral zone. Ford Motor Company has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari, assembling the Ford EcoSport and Ford Fiesta. It's to unique Automotive industry of Northern and Northeastern Brazil. In December 2001, Monsanto Company inaugurated, at the Petrochemical Pole of Camaçari, in Metropolitan Region of Salvador, the first plant of the company designed to produce raw materials for the herbicide Roundup in South America. The investment is equivalent to US$ 500 millions; US$ 350 millions were spent in this initial phase. The Camaçari Plant, the largest unit of Monsanto installed out of the United States, is also the only Monsanto plant manufacturing raw materials for the Roundup production line. The company started the civil works for the new plant in January 2000. The area of the unit is 631,000 square meters, including 200,000 square meters of constructed area. Upon completion of the two phases, it will employ 1,400 people, including direct (350) and indirect (1050) employments. With this plant in operation, Monsanto now contributes US$ 300 million to the Brazilian economy, avoiding the importation of U$ 150 million of raw materials. The GDP for the city was R$ 22,145,303,000 (2005).[13] The per capita income for the city was R$ 8,283 (2005).[14]
[edit] Tourism and recreation
The Salvador coastline is one of the longest for cities in Brazil. There are 50 km (31 mi) of beaches distributed between the High City and the Low City, from Inema, in the railroad suburb to the Praia do Flamengo, on the other side of town. While the Low City beaches are bordered by the waters of the All Saints Bay (the country’s most extensive bay), the High City beaches, from Farol da Barra to Flamengo, are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The exception is Porto da Barra, the only High City beach located in the All Saints Bay. The big hotels tend to be strung out along the orla (Atlantic seafront). Then you've got smaller hotels in Barra and Porto da Barra, others (generally less expensive) scattered along the principal thoroughfare of Avenida Sete de Setembro (shortened to "Avenida Sete" by the locals), and still others (usually inexpensive) in and around Pelourinho. If you're shopping for the bottom end of the spectrum in this area you have to be careful; some of these hotels are "by the hour" with all that that entails. There are also pousadas (guesthouses, or bed & breakfasts) in Barra, Pelourinho, and Santo Antônio (and other places as well, to be sure), and hostels (albergues) which are for the most part located in Pelourinho (though a lot of the "pousadas" in Barra are hostels as well). The capital's beaches range from calm inlets, ideal for swimming, sailing, diving and underwater fishing, as well as open sea inlets with strong waves, sought by surfers. There are also beaches surrounded by reefs, forming natural pools of stone, ideal for children. 
Interesting places to visit near Salvador include:
The city is served by many shopping malls: Aeroclube Plaza Show, Caboatã Shopping, Casa Shopping Cidade, Out Let Center, Salvador Shopping, Shopping Baixo Dos Sapateiros, Shopping Barra, Shopping Boulevard 161, Shopping Brotas Center, Shopping Center Iguatemi, Shopping Center Lapa, Shopping Do Pelô, Shopping Imbuí Plaza, Shopping Itaigara, Shopping Orixás Center, Shopping Piedade, Shopping Sumaré. 
Salvador has four parks, green areas protected, as Jardim dos Namorados Park, Costa Azul Park, Park of the City, Park of Pituaçu. Jardim dos Namorados is located right next to Costa Azul Park and occupies an area of 15 hectares in Pituba, where many families used to spend their vacations in the 1950s. It was inaugurated in 1969, initially as a leisure area. It underwent a complete renovation in the 1990s, with the construction of an amphitheater with room for 500 people, sports courts, playgrounds and parking four cars and tourist buses. Costa Azul Park occupies an area of approximately 55,000 square meters, and is located in the neighborhood that goes by the same name. It has football courts, gymnastics equipment, cicloways, jogging tracks, two playgrounds with an area for bikes, sidewalks, restaurants, green areas, a parking lot with room for 150 vehicles and an amphitheater capable of receiving 600 people. Park of the City is an important preservation area of Atlantic forest. It was completed renovated in 2001, becoming a modern social, cultural and leisure place. The new park has 720 square meter of green area right in the middle of the city. Among the attractions are Praça das Flores (Flowers square), with more than five thousand ornamental plants, especially flowers. Besides its environment, the park has an infrastructure for children, with a special schedule of events taking place every October. 
The park has also a medical station, special areas for encounters of students, tourists and senior citizens, a wide parking area with room for 270 vehicles, a 4,000 meter long jogging track, surrounding the entire park and an amphitheater with capacity for 600 people, where several cultural activities happen. Leisure and Gymnastics equipment can be found as well and the security is done by Florestal Police. Created by state decree in 1973, Pituaçu Park occupies an area of 450 hectares and is one of the few Brazilian ecological parks located in an urban area. It is surrounded by Atlantic forest, with a good variety of plants and animals. There is also an artificial pond in the park, built in 1906 along with the Pituaçu Dam, whose purpose was to supply water to the city. The leisure options in Pituaçu are varied: From cycloboats rides on the pond, to an 18 km (11 mi) long cycloway circling the entire reserve. Completing this infrastructure there are a lot of options for children to play, snack bars, ice cream parlors and restrooms. A museum is also located in the park. Espaço Cravo is an outdoor museum with 800 pieces created by Mario Cravo, comprising Totems, winged and three-dimensional figures, as well as drawings and paintings. [edit] Education
Portuguese language 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. There are also international schools, such as the Pan American School of Bahia. [edit] Educational institutionsThe city has several universities:
[edit] Portuguese schoolsThe city has several language schools of Portuguese for foreigners:
[edit] Primary and secondary schoolsTop high schools of the city are Colégio Anglo-Brasileiro, Colégio Militar de Salvador, Colégio Anchieta, Colégio Oficina, Cefet, Colégio Miró, Colégio Antônio Vieira, Colégio Marista de Salvador, Colégio Módulo, Colégio Sartre, Colégio São Paulo, Colégio Cândido Portinari, Colégio Integral, Colégio São José, Colégio Alfred Nobel, Colégio Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Colégio Santíssimo Sacramento, Colégio Diplomata, Centro Educacional Nossa Senhora do Resgate, Colégio Gregor Mendel.[16] [edit] Historic Centre
The Historic Centre of Salvador was designated in 1985 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city represents a fine example of 16th century urbanism with its higher administrative town and its lower commercial town, and a large portion of the city has retained the old character of its streets and colourful houses. As the first capital of Portuguese America, Salvador cultivated slave labor and had its "pelourinhos" pillories installed in open places like the terreiro de Jesus and the squares know today as Thomé de Souza and Castro Alves. A "pelourinho" was a symbol of authority and justice,for some, and lashings and injustice for the majority. The one erected for a short time in what is now the Historical Center, and later moved to what is now the Praca da Piedade, ended up lending its name to the historical and architectural complex of Pelourinho, part of the city's historical center. Since 1992, the Pelourinho neighborhood has been subject to a nearly US$ 100 million "restoration" that has led to the rebuilding of hundreds of buildings' facades and the expulsion of the vast majority of the neighborhood's Afro-descendent populace. This process has given rise to substantial political debate in Bahia since the Pelourinho's former residents have been for the most part excluded from the renovation's economic benefits (reaped by a few). Salvador's considerable wealth and status during colonial times (as capital of the colony during 250 years and which gave rise to the Pelourinho) is reflected in the magnificence of its colonial palaces, churches and convents, most of them dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. These include:
[edit] CultureIts rich, historical and cultural aspects were inherited by the miscigenation of such ethnic groups as Native-Indian, African, and European. This mixture can be seen in the religion, golden cuisine, cultural manifestations, and customs of Bahia's joyful, hospitable people. These unique characteristics arouse curiosity in everyone's minds. [edit] Literature
As the capital of colonial Brazil until 1763, Salvador was an important cultural centre since the 16th century, as reflected in the large number of prominent literary figures associated with colonial Salvador, usually educated in the religious schools of the convents of the city and in the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Frei Vicente do Salvador (1564-1635), a Bahia-born Franciscan friar who studied in the Jesuit School of Salvador, was the author of the first book on Brazilian history written by a Brazil-born author. 
Gregório de Mattos, born in Salvador in 1636, was also educated by the Jesuits. He became the most important Baroque poet in colonial Brazil for his religious and satirical works. Father António Vieira was born in Lisbon in 1608, but was raised and educated in the Jesuit school of Salvador and died in the city in 1697. His erudite sermons have earned him the title of best writer of the Portuguese language in the Baroque era. After the independence of Brazil (1822), Salvador continued to play an important role in Brazilian literature. Significant 19th century writers associated with the city include Romantic poet Castro Alves (1847-1871) and diplomat Ruy Barbosa (1849-1923). In the 20th century, Bahia-born Jorge Amado (1912-2001), although not born in Salvador, helped popularize the culture of the city around the world in novels such as Jubiabá, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos, and Tenda dos Milagres, the settings of which are in Salvador. [edit] ReligionIn Salvador, religion is a major contact point between European and African influences. Salvador was the seat of the first bishopric in colonial Brazil (established 1551), and the first bishop, Pero Fernandes Sardinha, arrived already in 1552. The Jesuits, led by the Manuel da Nóbrega, also arrived in the 16th century and worked in converting the Indigenous peoples of the region to Roman Catholicism. 
Many religious orders came to the city, following its foundation: Franciscans, Benedictines and Carmelites. Subsequently to them are created the Third Orders, the Brotherhoods, and Fraternities, which were composed mainly of professional and social groups. The most prominent of these orders were the Terceira do Carmo Order and the de São Francisco Order, founded by white men, and the Nossa Senhora do Rosário and São Beneditino Brotherhoods, composed of black men. In many churches maintained by religious men, were housed the Santíssimo Sacramento brotherhoods. Besides these organizations, the expansion of Catholicism in the city was consolidated through social care work. Santa Casa the Misericórdia was one oh the institution that did this kind of work, maintaining hospitals, shelters for the poor and the elderly, as well providing assistance to convicts and to those who would face death penalties. The convents, on their part, were cultural and religious formation centers, offering seminar coursed that often were attende by the lay. Even with the present evolution, and the growth of Protestantism and other religions in the city, the catholic faith remains as one of its most distinctive features, drawing a lot of people to its hundreds of churches. Some aspects, like the use of Portuguese in the Masses, the simplification of the liturgy, and the adoption of "pop" religious songs are key factors to the triumph of Catholicism. In the Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos Church, Masses are held in the Yorubá language, making use of African chants and typical clothes, which attract many people from the black communities. 
Most enslaved Africans in Bahia were brought from Sub-Saharan Africa, especially the Yoruba-speaking nation (Iorubá or Nagô in Portuguese) from present-day Nigeria. The enslaved were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism, but their original religion - Candomblé - has survived in spite of prohibitions and persecutions. The enslaved Africans managed to preserve their religion by attributing the names and characteristics of their Candomblé deities to Catholic saints with similar qualities. Hence, as former pagan Christians once associated Pagan deities with the saints, enslaved Africans in Bahia transformed their faiths into a syncretic form of religion that still attempts to please both their own roots and the faith imposed by their masters and those caught in between both traditions. Thus, up to today, even nominal Catholics take part in Candomblé rituals in the terreirosor "centros". Candomblé is based on the cult of the Orishas (Orixás), like Obatala (Oxalá), father of humankind; Ogoun (Ogum), god of the war and iron; Yemanja (Iemanjá), goddess of the sea, rivers and lakes. These religious entities have been syncretised with some Catholic entities. For instance, Salvador's Feast of Bonfim, celebrated in January, is dedicated to both Our Lord of Bonfim (Jesus Christ) and Oxalá. Another important feast is the Feast de Yemanja every February 2nd, on the shores of the borough of Rio Vermelho in Salvador, on the day the church celebrates Our Lady of the Navigators. December 8, Immaculate Conception Day for Catholics, is also commonly dedicated to Yemanja' with votive offerings made in the sea throughout the Brazilian coast. 
Religious syncretism is defined as the combination of two or more creeds. In Brazil, especially in Bahia, it came up as a solution for the slaves who were prohibited of practicing their religion, so they pretended to be worshiping catholic saints while in reality they were venerating their own deities. Hence, associating an orixá (Candoblé deity) to a catholic was a strategy used by black people to maintain their beliefs and rituals alive, while they fooled their masters, making them believe that their devotion was to the catholic saints. The lives of catholic saints and their own physical features, portrayed on sculptures and drawings, made the identification with the orixás easier. Salvador is a city where different ethnic and cultural aspects are mixed up, but religious syncretism remains as one of its most intriguing features. Its ancient churches are a proof of the power of Catholicism, which was brought by the Portuguese and forced upon Blacks and Indigenous. [edit] Cuisine
The local cuisine, spicy and based on seafood (shrimp, fish), strongly relies on typically African ingredients and techniques, and is much appreciated throughout Brazil and internationally. The most typical ingredient is azeite-de-dendê, an oil extracted from a palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) brought from West Africa to Brazil during colonial times. Using the milky coconut juice, they prepared a variety of sea-food based dishes, such as Ensopados, Moquecas and Escabeche. The sugar cane bagasse was mixed with molass | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
