Alagoas

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Statistics

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Capital:Macei?

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Area:27 819 km²

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Ranked 25th

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Inhabitants:2 822 621 (2000)

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Ranked 16th

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Pop. density:101.5 inh./km²

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Ranked 4th

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Timezone:GMT-3

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ISO 3166-2:BR-AL

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Governor:Ronaldo Lessa

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Map

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Alagoas (AL) is a small state in northeastern Brazil lying between the states of Pernambuco and Sergipe; touching the state of Bahia along a part of its southwestern border. The southern border of Alagoas is defined by the Rio S?o Francisco (S?o Francisco River). Alagoas has an area of 27,933 square km. and a population of approximately 2,818,000. The capital city is Macei?.

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The state's name originates with the lakes along its coast near the city of Macei?. 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 Mata Atl?ntica (Atlantic Rain Forest) that now is largely limited to steep hill tops. This is the area long dominated by sugar cane.

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Still further inland lies the Sert?o of the Northeast region of the nation. The Sert?o is a high dry region dominated by scrub that is often thorn filled and sometimes toxic, the caatinga. This area and its people is 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 tearing vegetation.

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The economy has been agricultural, dependent largely on large sugar cane plantations with some tobacco. Sugar cane formed the basis for an alcohol industry that is in decline. Small to medium sized tanker ships took alcohol onboard in Maceió'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 Macei?.

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In the last twenty years the tourist industry has found the beaches and Macei? 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 some from Europe.

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Governor: A governor is also a device that regulates the speed of a machine. See Governor (device)....

State: :This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. For other meanings, see state (disambiguation)....

Brazil: The Federative Republic of Brazil (Rep?blica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in Latin America, and the fifth largest in the world. Spanning a vast area between central South America and the Atlantic Ocean, it borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia,...