Editing Alagoas

{{short description|State of Brazil}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
| name                    = Alagoas
| official_name           =
| native_name             = 
| native_name_lang        = pt<!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. -->
| settlement_type         = [[States of Brazil|State]]
| image_skyline           =
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           =
| image_flag              = Bandeira de Alagoas.svg
| flag_link               = Flag of Alagoas
| flag_alt                = 
| image_shield            = Brasão_do_Estado_de_Alagoas.svg
| shield_alt              = 
| nickname                = 
| motto                   = ''Ad bonum et prosperitatem'' ([[Latin]])<br/> ''"For which is good and for prosperity"''
| anthem                  = [[:pt:Hino de Alagoas|Hino de Alagoas]]
| image_map               = Alagoas in Brazil.svg
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = Location in Brazil
| coor_pinpoint           = 
| coordinates             = {{coord|-9.57|-36.55|type:adm1st_region:BR-AL|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = 
| subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name        = [[Brazil]]
| established_title       =
| established_date        =
| founder                 = 
| seat_type               = [[Capital (political)|Capital]] and largest city
| seat                    = [[Maceió]]
| governing_body          = [[Legislative Assembly of Alagoas|Legislative Assembly]]
| leader_title            = [[Governor (Brazil)|Governor]]
| leader_name             = [[Paulo Dantas]] ([[Brazilian Democratic Movement|MDB]])
| leader_title1           = Vice Governor
| leader_name1            = Ronaldo Lessa ([[Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)|PDT]])
| leader_title2           = [[Federal Senate (Brazil)|Senators]]
| leader_name2            = Fernando Farias ([[Brazilian Democratic Movement|MDB]])<br>[[Renan Calheiros]] ([[Brazilian Democratic Movement|MDB]])<br>Rodrigo Cunha ([[Brazil Union|UNIÃO]])
| unit_pref               = Metric<!-- or US or UK -->
| area_footnotes          = 
| area_total_km2          = 27845.1
| area_rank               = [[List of Brazilian states by area|25th]]
| elevation_footnotes     = 
| elevation_m             = 
| population_footnotes    = <ref name="census2022">{{Cite web|url=https://censo2022.ibge.gov.br/panorama/|title=2022 Census Overview|language=pt}}</ref>
| population_total        = 3127683
| population_as_of        = 2022
| population_rank         = [[List of Brazilian states by population|19th]]
| population_density_km2  = auto
| population_density_rank = [[List of Brazilian states by population density|4th]]
| population_demonyms     = Alagoano(a) or<br> Alagoense
| population_note         = 
| demographics_type1      = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="bge">{{Cite web |title=PIB por Unidade da Federação, 2021|url=https://www.ibge.gov.br/en/statistics/economic/national-accounts/19567-gross-domestic-product-of-municipalities.html|website=ibge.gov.br}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1    = Total
| demographics1_info1     = [[Brazilian real|R$]] 76.266 billion<br />(US$ 14.147 billion)
| demographics_type2      = [[Human Development Index|HDI]]
| demographics2_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| demographics2_title1    = Year
| demographics2_info1     = 2021
| demographics2_title2    = Category
| demographics2_info2     = 0.684<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas do Desenvolvimento Humano no Brasil. Pnud Brasil, Ipea e FJP, 2022. |url=http://www.atlasbrasil.org.br/ranking |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.atlasbrasil.org.br}}</ref> – <span style="color:orange">medium</span> ([[List of Brazilian states by Human Development Index|26th]])
| timezone1               = [[Time in Brazil|BRT]]
| utc_offset1             = -3
| iso_code                = [[ISO 3166-2:BR|BR-AL]]
| postal_code_type        = [[Código de Endereçamento Postal|Postal Code]]
| postal_code             = 57000-000 to 57990-000
| website                 = {{URL|https://alagoas.al.gov.br/}}
| footnotes               = 
| registration_plate_type =
| registration_plate      =
}}

'''Alagoas''' ({{IPA|pt-BR|alaˈɡoɐs|lang|Pt-br Alagoas.ogg}}) is one of the 27 [[federative units of Brazil]] and is situated in the eastern part of the [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeast Region]]. It borders: [[Pernambuco]] (N and NW); [[Sergipe]] (S); [[Bahia]] (SW); and the [[Atlantic Ocean]] (E). Its capital is the city of [[Maceió]]. It has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.8% of the Brazilian [[GDP]]. It is made up of 102 [[Municipalities of Brazil|municipalities]] and its most populous cities are Maceió, [[Arapiraca]], [[Palmeira dos Índios]], [[Rio Largo]], [[Penedo]], [[União dos Palmares]], [[São Miguel dos Campos]], [[Santana do Ipanema]], [[Delmiro Gouveia]], [[Coruripe]], and [[Campo Alegre, Alagoas|Campo Alegre]].

It is the second smallest Brazilian state in area (larger only than Sergipe) and it is [[List of Brazilian states by population|16th in population]]. It is also one of the largest producers of [[sugarcane]], [[coconut]]s, and [[natural gas]] in the country. Alagoas also has [[oil exploration]], mostly of onshore deposits.

Initially, the territory of Alagoas constituted the southern part of the [[Captaincy of Pernambuco]] and only gained its autonomy in 1817. Its occupation pushed the expansion of the [[captaincy]]'s sugarcane farming, which required new areas of cultivation, southward. Thus arose [[Porto Calvo]], Alagoas (now Marechal Deodoro) and [[Penedo]], nuclei which guided the colonization, economic, and social life of the region for a long time. The [[Dutch invasions of Brazil|Dutch invasion]] in Pernambuco was extended to Alagoas in 1631. The invaders were expelled in 1645, after intense fighting in Porto Calvo, leaving the economy in ruins. The escape of [[Slavery in Brazil|African slaves]] during the Dutch invasion created a serious labour shortage problem on the [[Engenho|sugarcane plantations]]. Grouped in villages called [[quilombo]]s, the Africans were only completely dominated at the end of the 17th century with the destruction of the most important quilombo, [[Palmares (quilombo)|Palmares]].

During the [[Empire of Brazil|empire]], the separatist and republican [[Confederation of the Equator]] received the support of noteworthy figures from Alagoas. Throughout the 1840s, political life was marked by the conflict between the ''lisos'' (lit. "straights", not the sexual orientation connotation), [[Conservative Party (Brazil)|conservatives]], and the ''cabeludos'' ({{lit|hairies}}), [[Liberal Party (Brazil, 1831)|liberals]]. At the beginning of the 20th century, the region's hinterland lived through the pioneering experience of Delmiro Gouveia, an entrepreneur from Pernambuco who installed the Estrela thread factory, which came to produce 200 spools daily. Delmiro Gouveia was killed in October 1917 in circumstances still unclarified, after being pressured, according to rumor, to sell his factory to competing foreign firms. After his death, his machines would be destroyed and thrown into [[Paulo Afonso Falls]].

Nicknamed the ''Land of the Marshals'' (''Terra dos Marechais''), for being the birthplace of [[Deodoro da Fonseca]] and [[Floriano Peixoto]], the first two [[President of Brazil|presidents of Brazil]], Alagoas gave the country numerous illustrious Brazilians among whom are the anthropologist Arthur Ramos, the maestro Hekel Tavares, the philologist [[Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira|Aurélio Buarque de Holanda]], the musicians [[Djavan]] and [[Hermeto Pascoal]] the poet [[Jorge de Lima]], the jurists [[Pontes de Miranda]] and Marcos Bernardes de Mello, besides the writers [[Lêdo Ivo]] and [[Graciliano Ramos]].

==Etymology==
The [[Latin]] {{lang|la|lacus}}, "reservoir, lake" is the origin, in the primitive vocabulary heritage, of the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], Spanish, and [[Italian language|Italian]] {{lang|pt|lago}},<ref name="ANDRADE">ANDRADE, Fernando Moretzsohn de; GUIMARÃES, André Passos. ALAGOAS. In: Enciclopédia Mirador Internacional. São Paulo: [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] do Brasil Publicações, 1993. v. 2, p. 258.</ref> [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|lac}},<ref name="Entry">[http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/lac/ Verbete "Lac"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818071018/http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/lac/ |date=2011-08-18 }} Linternaute.com. Page visited on August 16, 2011.</ref> one of its derivatives, the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|lacuna}}, "pitfall, hole", "lack, want, neglect", explains the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] {{lang|es|laguna}}.<ref name="Entry2">[http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltObtenerHtml?origen=RAE&LEMA=laguna&SUPIND=0&CAREXT=10000&NEDIC=No#laguna Entry "Laguna"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608134342/http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltObtenerHtml?origen=RAE&LEMA=laguna&SUPIND=0&CAREXT=10000&NEDIC=No |date=2011-06-08 }} Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Page visited on August 16, 2011.</ref><ref name="Entry3">[http://www.dizionario-italiano.it/definizione-lemma.php?definizione=laguna&lemma=L004CC00 Entry "Laguna"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722032036/http://www.dizionario-italiano.it/definizione-lemma.php?definizione=laguna&lemma=L004CC00 |date=2011-07-22 }}. Dizionario Italiano. Page visited on August 16, 2011.</ref> But the Portuguese {{lang|pt|lagoa}},<ref name="ANDRADE" /> coincidentally with the Spanish {{lang|es|lagona}} and [[Mirandese language|Mirandese]] {{lang|mwl|llagona}}, suggests a change in suffix,<ref name="Entry4">[http://www.mirandadodouro.com/dicionario/traducao-mirandes-portugues/lhagona/ Entry "Lhagona"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714101338/http://www.mirandadodouro.com/dicionario/traducao-mirandes-portugues/lhagona/ |date=2011-07-14 }} Dicionário da Língua Mirandesa. Page visited on August 16, 2011.</ref> already documented in a 938 document from [[Valencia, Spain|Valencia]], under the spelling {{lang|pt|lacona}},<ref name="ANDRADE" /> and in another from 1094, in [[Sahagún, Spain|Sahagún]], under the spelling {{lang|pt|lagona}}.<ref name="ANDRADE" />

The Portuguese {{lang|pt|lagoa}} under the spelling {{lang|pt|lagona}} (perhaps {{lang|pt|lagõna}}), is documented in the 14th century,<ref name="ANDRADE" /> and alternated with the other for a long time; the [[Prosthesis (linguistics)|prosthesis]] is then explained by the introduction of the article, chiefly in locution ({{lang|pt|na lagoa}}, {{lang|pt|vindo da lagoa}}) (''in the lake'', ''coming from the lake''),<ref name="ANDRADE" /> and for [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphologic]] regularization with the derivatives of the verb {{lang|pt|alagar}} (''to inundate'') ({{lang|pt|alagadiço}}, {{lang|pt|alagado}}, {{lang|pt|alagador}}, {{lang|pt|alagamento}}, etc.) (''swampish, waterlogged, flooding, overflow'', etc.).<ref name="ANDRADE" />

The name appears as a competitor with the names of the lagoons of [[Manguaba Lagoon|Manguaba]], {{lang|pt|a lagoa do sul}} ("the southern lagoon"), and [[Mundaú Lagoon|Mundaú]], {{lang|pt|a lagoa do norte}} ("the northern lagoon"), already in the 16th century, when settlements were founded near the Alagoa do Norte and the Alagoa do Sul, the Alagoas, with the inclusion of the rest of the lagoons in the area.<ref name="Porquealagoas">[http://www.gabinetecivil.al.gov.br/alagoas/porque-alagoas-1 Why Alagoas?] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120802235427/http://www.gabinetecivil.al.gov.br/alagoas/porque-alagoas-1 |date=2012-08-02 }} Official site of the Civil Cabinet of the State of Alagoas. Pageg visited on August 16, 2011.</ref>

The suffix {{lang|pt|-ano}} is characteristic of Brazil: {{lang|pt|[[Paraíba|paraibano]]}}, {{lang|pt|[[Pernambuco|pernambucano]]}}, {{lang|pt|alagoano}}, {{lang|pt|[[Sergipe|sergipano]]}}, {{lang|pt|[[Bahia|baiano]]}}, {{lang|pt|[[Goiás|goiano]]}}, and later {{lang|pt|[[Acre (state)|acriano]]}}.<ref name="ANDRADE" />

==Geography==

[[Image:Maceio Alagoas Brasil.PNG|thumb|left|Summer in [[Maceió]].]]
The state's name originates with the lakes along its coast near the city of Maceió. The coast is bordered by fringing reefs and many fine beaches. Behind the beaches, sometimes only hundreds of meters and defined by steep scarps, lies a stretch of green coastal hills having enough rainfall for considerable agriculture and scarce remnants of the [[Atlantic Forest]] that now is largely limited to steep hill tops or steep valley sides and bottoms. This is the area long dominated by sugar cane.

Still farther inland lies the Sertão of the Northeast region of the nation. The Sertão is a high dry region dominated by scrub that is often thorn-filled and sometimes toxic, the [[caatinga]]. This area and its people are famed in legend and song. It is the land of the cowboy who is clad from head to toe (if he is lucky) with very thick leather to avoid the sharp vegetation.

==History==
{{Main|History of Alagoas}}
[[Image:Museu de arte sacra do convento de Santa Maria (Marechal Deodoro, AL).jpg|thumb|right|Convent of Santa Maria, [[Marechal Deodoro, Alagoas|Marechal Deodoro]].]]
During the first three centuries of its history, Alagoas was part of the captaincy of Pernambuco, only becoming an independent captaincy in 1817.  As a reprisal against the [[Pernambucan revolt|Pernambuco Revolution]], the King [[João VI|John VI]] of [[Portugal]] ordered a vast portion of the territory of Pernambuco to be taken from it, most including its southern portion, one part was given to the captaincy of [[Bahia]], the other portion was made independent, creating Alagoas as a new Brazilian captaincy.

Initially, in the first years of the 16th century, Alagoas settlement went on slowly, however helped by Africans turned into slaves whose work urged the local economy. In the period of the 16th and 17th centuries, French pirates invaded its territory attracted by the commerce of [[Paubrasilia|brazilwood]].

Some time later, [[Duarte Coelho]], owner of the captaincy of Pernambuco, gave the control of the region back to the Portuguese, running the territory as part of his captaincy. He increased the number of sugar cane plantations and built some sugar mills, as well as founding the cities of Penedo and [[Marechal Deodoro, Alagoas|Alagoas]] – this last one originally baptized by Portuguese as Santa Maria Madalena da Alagoa do Sul (Saint Mary Magdalene of the Southern Lake), currently the historic heritage town of Deodoro da Fonseca.

In 1570, a second expedition ordered by Duarte Coelho and led by [[Cristóvão Lins]], explored the north of Alagoas and founded the settlement of Porto Calvo and five sugar mills, which two of them still endure, Buenos Aires and Escurial.

In 1630, the territory was taken by the Dutch, whose interest was to manage the commerce of sugarcane in most parts of the northeastern region of Brazil. As part of one of the wealthiest Brazilian captaincies, Alagoas prospered along with the [[sugar trade]]. They built ''Fort Maurits'' in Penedo, on the river São Francisco. However, the Dutch colonizers abandoned the territory after being defeated in 1646.

Decades before Alagoas was formed in 1817, its [[sugar industry]] had 200 mills, and agriculture also involved cotton, tobacco and corn plantations. With [[Independence of Brazil|Brazilian independence]] from Portugal in 1822, Alagoas became a [[Province of Alagoas|province]]. In 1839, the capital of the province was changed definitively from [[Marechal Deodoro, Alagoas|the town of Alagoas]] to Maceió, mainly due to the increasing growth of the city because of its port.

==Demographics==
[[Image:Maceio02.jpg|thumb|[[Pajuçara]] Beach in [[Maceió]].]]
{{See also|Largest Cities of Northeast Region, Brazil}}
According to the [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|IBGE]] of 2008, there were 3,173,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 109.9 inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>.

[[Urbanization]]: 67.4% (2006); [[Population growth]]: 1.3% (1991–2000); [[House]]s: 779,000 (2006).<ref>Source: PNAD.</ref>

The [[2022 Brazilian census|2022 census]] revealed the following numbers: 1,887,865 [[Brown people#Pardos in Brazil|Brown]] ([[Multiracial#Brazil|Multiracial]]) people (60.4%), 915,400 [[White Brazilian|White]] people (29.3%), 298,709 [[Afro-Brazilian|Black]] people (9.6%), 20,095 [[Indigenous peoples in Brazil|Amerindian]] people (0.6%), 5,505 [[Asian Brazilian|Asian]] people (0.2%).<ref>{{cite web |title=Censo 2022 - Panorama |url=https://censo2022.ibge.gov.br/panorama/}}</ref>

According to a genetic study from 2013, Brazilians in Alagoas have 53.7% European, 26.6% African and 18.7% Amerindian ancestries, respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0075145|title=Revisiting the Genetic Ancestry of Brazilians Using Autosomal AIM-Indels|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=9|pages=e75145|year=2013|last1=Saloum De Neves Manta|first1=Fernanda|last2=Pereira|first2=Rui|last3=Vianna|first3=Romulo|last4=Rodolfo Beuttenmüller De Araújo|first4=Alfredo|last5=Leite Góes Gitaí|first5=Daniel|last6=Aparecida Da Silva|first6=Dayse|last7=De Vargas Wolfgramm|first7=Eldamária|last8=Da Mota Pontes|first8=Isabel|last9=Ivan Aguiar|first9=José|last10=Ozório Moraes|first10=Milton|last11=Fagundes De Carvalho|first11=Elizeu|last12=Gusmão|first12=Leonor|pmid=24073242|bibcode=2013PLoSO...875145S|pmc=3779230|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Largest cities ===
{{Largest cities
| country     = Alagoas
| stat_ref    = (2010 census by the [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]])<ref name="IBGE_Pop_2010">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/censo2010/populacao_por_municipio.shtm|title=Estimativa de 2009 do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística|publisher=[[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]]|date=30 March 2010|access-date=26 June 2010}}</ref>
| list_by_pop = 
| div_name    = Mesoregion
| div_link    =

| city_1 = Maceió
| div_1  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_1  = 1.116.000
| img_1  = Centro de Maceió.jpg

| city_2 = Arapiraca
| div_2  = Mesorregião do Agreste Alagoano{{!}}Agreste
| pop_2  = 220.000
| img_2  = Arapiraca392.jpg

| city_3 = Palmeira dos Índios
| div_3  = Mesorregião do Agreste Alagoano{{!}}Agreste
| pop_3  = 70.556
| img_3  = Palmeiras dos ìndios.jpg

| city_4 = Rio Largo
| div_4  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_4  = 68.885

| city_5 = União dos Palmares
| div_5  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_5  = 62.645

| city_6 = Penedo, Alagoas{{!}}Penedo
| div_6  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_6  = 60.638

| city_7 = São Miguel dos Campos
| div_7  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_7  = 55.462

| city_8 = Santana do Ipanema
| div_8  = Mesorregião do Sertão Alagoano{{!}}Sertão
| pop_8  = 52.716

| city_9 = Campo Alegre (Alagoas){{!}}Campo Alegre
| div_9  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_9  = 51.584

| city_10 = Delmiro Gouveia
| div_10  = Mesorregião do Sertão Alagoano{{!}}Sertão
| pop_10  = 48.492

| city_11 = Marechal Deodoro
| div_11  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_11  = 43.753

| city_12 = Coruripe
| div_12  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_12  = 45.197

| city_13 = Atalaia, Alagoas{{!}}Atalaia
| div_13  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_13  = 44.611

| city_14 = Teotônio Vilela
| div_14  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_14  = 41.480

| city_15 = Girau do Ponciano
| div_15  = Mesorregião do Agreste Alagoano{{!}}Agreste
| pop_15  = 37.118

| city_16 = Pilar, Alagoas{{!}}Pilar
| div_16  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_16  = 33.466

| city_17 = São Luís do Quitunde
| div_17  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_17  = 32.632

| city_18 = São Sebastião, Alagoas{{!}}São Sebastião
| div_18  = Mesorregião do Agreste Alagoano{{!}}Agreste
| pop_18  = 32.232

| city_19 = São José da Tapera
| div_19  = Mesorregião do Sertão Alagoano{{!}}Sertão
| pop_19  = 30.322

| city_20 = Maragogi
| div_20  = Mesorregião do Leste Alagoano{{!}}Leste
| pop_20  = 29.280

}}

=== Statistics ===
{{Historical populations|11=1872|12=348009|13=1890|14=511440|15=1900|16=649273|17=1920|18=978748|19=1940|20=951300|21=1950|22=1093137|23=1960|24=1271062|25=1970|26=1606174|27=1980|28=2011875|29=1991|30=2512991|31=2000|32=2827856|33=2010|34=3120494|35=2022|36=3127683|percentages=|footnote=Source:<ref name="census2022">{{Cite web|url=https://censo2022.ibge.gov.br/panorama/|title=2022 Census Overview|language=pt}}</ref>}}
*[[Vehicles]]: 287,018 (March 2007)
*[[Mobile phone]]s: 1.4 million (April 2007)
*[[Telephone]]s: 302,000 (April 2007)
*[[Cities]]: 102 (2007).<ref>Source: [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|IBGE]].</ref>
*[[Homicides]]: 60 per 100,000 inhabitants<ref name="economist.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/node/18805840|title=Always with us|date=2011-06-09|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=30 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108155941/http://www.economist.com/node/18805840|archive-date=8 November 2017}}</ref>

=== Education ===
[[Image:Ufal geo.jpg|thumb|right|[[Federal University of Alagoas]] in Maceió.]]
[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools.  But [[English language|English]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] are part of the official [[High school (upper secondary)|high school]] curriculum.

====Educational institutions====
* [[Universidade Federal de Alagoas]] (UFAL) (Federal University of Alagoas);
* Universidade Estadual de Alagoas (Uneal) (State University of Alagoas);
* Universidade de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas (Uncisal) (University of Sciences of the Health of Alagoas);
* Instituto Federal de Alagoas (IFAL);
* Centro de Ensino Superior de Maceió (CESMAC) (Center of Higher Education of Maceió);
* Faculdade de Alagoas (FAL) (College of Alagoas);
* and many others.

==Economy==
[[Image:Milagres (6932534932).jpg|thumb|left|Subsistence fishing is common in the region]]
[[File:Cana-energia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sugarcane]] seedlings in the interior of the state]]

Alagoas is one of the poorest states of Brazil. It has the second worst HDI in the country, ahead only of the state of [[Maranhão]], though its indicators have improved in recent years.<ref name="economist.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Subnational HDI (v7.0) |url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/ |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=Global Data Lab}}</ref> The [[service sector]] is the largest component of [[GDP]] at 55.8%, followed by the [[industrial sector]] at 36.9%. [[Agriculture]] represents 7.3% of the state's [[GDP]] (2004). Alagoas exports consist of: [[sugar]] 58.8%, [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] 29.4%, [[chemicals]] 9%, [[tobacco]] 2.1% (2002).

The economy has been [[agriculture|agricultural]], dependent largely on large sugarcane plantations with some [[tobacco]] farming that is concentrated around the city of Arapiraca. Sugar cane formed the basis for an [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] industry that is in decline. Small to medium-sized tanker ships took alcohol on board in Maceio's port with considerable frequency during the peak period. Such loads still take place with less frequency. Another local industry is based on chemical products from [[brine]] pumped from deep wells on the outskirts of Maceió.

In the last twenty years the [[tourism|tourist]] industry has found the beaches and Maceió itself has changed from a rather sleepy little port with coconut palm plantations along its beaches to high-rise hotels. The northern coast, particularly around the towns Maragogi and Japaratinga is beginning to see some of this development in the form of resorts attracting people from the south and from [[Europe]]. There is considerable European investment (as of 2007) in beach property north of Maceió with walled compounds of beach homes.

== Infrastructure ==

===International Airport===
Alagoas gained a new airport complex, [[Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport]], in the Maceió Metropolitan Area, designed by homegrown architect Mário Aloísio, which combines glass, metal and granite. It includes space for art exhibitions, a panoramic deck, chapel, seven escalators, nine elevators and four boarding bridges. The whole terminal was designed to permit access by the physically disabled, with ramps and special bathroom fixtures.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In the new terminal, [[Infraero]] also brings to Maceió "Aeroshopping" – a concept that is transforming the country's airports into centers for leisure and high-quality products and services. The entire building has a computerized air conditioning, with commercial spaces that will be occupied gradually. The parking area was more than tripled. Demand will be able to grow to 1.2 million passengers a year since the new passenger terminal has 24,000 square meters, the triple of its former size. The check-in counters were doubled and can reach higher numbers without any structural remodeling. The building is "intelligent", meaning controlled by a computerized system that regulates factors ranging from the lighting level to air temperature and even the speed of the escalators. This system also controls access to restricted areas and the fire protection system, among others.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

[[Image:Lagoa Mundaú.jpg|thumb|right|Mundaú Lake.]]

===Highways===
*[[BR-101]]
*[[BR-104]]
*[[BR-110]]
*[[BR-316]]
*BR-423
*BR-424

===Port===
The Port of Jaraguá is located in Maceió. The commercial and economic development of the Port of Jaraguá, on the margins of the Mundaú lagoon, was responsible for the emergence of an important settlement that received the name of Maceió and later became the present capital of Alagoas. The Port of Jaraguá is situated in a natural port area that facilitates the ships docking. During the colonial period, the most important products exported through the port were sugar, tobacco, coconut and spices.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==Sports==
[[File:Rei Pelé.jpg|thumb|[[Estádio Rei Pelé]] in [[Maceió]].]]
Alagoas provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several football clubs based in the state, such as ASA de Arapiraca, [[Clube de Regatas Brasil|CRB]], [[Centro Sportivo Alagoano|CSA]], Murici, Coruripe, CSE, Santa Rita, Penedense and Ipanema.

Maceió was one of the 18 candidates to host games of the [[2014 FIFA World Cup]], for which Brazil was the selected host, but it did not make the final cut.

==Notable people==
{{Main|List of people from Alagoas}}

* [[Fernando Collor]], president of [[Brazil|Federative Republic of Brazil]], 1990-1992 and state governor.
* [[Bruno de Barros]], Brazilian sprinter, Olympic medallist.
* [[Maurício Borges Silva|Maurício Borges]], Brazilian volleyball player, Olympic champion.
* [[Floriano Peixoto]], second president of the Brazilian republic.
* [[Tiago Fernandes (tennis)|Tiago Fernandes]], former Brazilian tennis player, champion of the 2010 Australian Open at Boys Singles
* [[Mário Zagallo|Zagallo]] (Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo), [[Association football|football]] coach.
* [[Maria Eduarda Arakaki]],  considered the best Brazilian rhythmic gymnast of all time.
* [[Yohansson Nascimento]], athlete, paralympic champion.
* [[Pepe (footballer born 1983)|Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira]] aka 'Pepe', footballer.
* [[Adriano Gabiru]], football player, winner of the [[2006 FIFA Club World Cup]] playing for [[Sport Club Internacional]].
* [[Roberto Firmino]], footballer.
* [[Roberval Davino]], [[Association football|football]] coach.
* [[Sandra Suruagy]], volleyball player, Olympic medallist.
*[[Deodoro da Fonseca]] (1827–1892) - First president of [[Brazil|Federative Republic of Brazil]], 1889–1891.
*[[Bruna Tenório]] - Top Model.

==Flag==
{{see also|Flag of Alagoas}}
The coat of arms symbolizes the first Alagoan settlement of Porto Calvo. Some plantations, sugarcane, and cotton that provided wealth in the past are incorporated in the design. The colors red, white, and blue refer to the [[Flag of France|French ''Tricolore'']], symbolizing the ideals of the [[French Revolution]] (''[[liberté, égalité, fraternité]]''), while the five-pointed star refers to the [[coat of arms of Brazil]].

== See also ==
* [[List of birds of Alagoas]]
* [[List of municipalities in Alagoas]]
* [[List of governors of Alagoas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|Alagoas|voy=Alagoas}}
*{{in lang|pt}} [http://www.agenciaalagoas.al.gov.br/ Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317062244/http://www.agenciaalagoas.al.gov.br/ |date=2022-03-17 }}
*{{in lang|en}} {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071212141431/http://www.braziltour.com/site/gb/home/index.php Brazilian Tourism Portal]}}
*{{in lang|pt}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20040203114255/http://www.visitealagoas.com.br/ Visit Alagoas]
*{{in lang|pt}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20040217144321/http://www.guianet.com.br/al/mapaal.htm Guide of Alagoas]
*{{in lang|pt}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070824183623/http://www.transportes.gov.br/bit/portos/maceio/pomaceio.htm Ministry of Transport port data including main products exported]
*{{in lang|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20040203153811/http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=340&offset=4 Brazilian Embassy in London: São Francisco River]

{{Brazil topics}}
{{States of Brazil}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alagoas| ]]
[[Category:Federative units of Brazil]]
[[Category:Northeast Region, Brazil|*]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1817]]
[[Category:1817 establishments in Brazil]]