Salvador, Brazil

Salvador (in full, São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, meaning "Holy Savior of the Bay of All Saints") is a city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. It was for a long time known as the city of Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador Bahia) on many maps and books from before the mid 20th century.

Salvador is located on a peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean coast, next to the Baía de Todos os Santos. It is a major export port and the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano metropolitan region. Its population was 2.54 million people in 2002, making it the third largest city in Brazil.

History

The early settlement of Salvador was founded in 1549 by Thomé de Souza. It quickly became the main Brazilian sea port and the first capital of Portuguese Brazil, a center of the sugar industry and the slave trade. The city became a bishopric in 1552. The cathedral still standing today was completed in 1572. By 1583, there were 1,600 people residing in the city.

Salvador was the capital city of the Portuguese vice-kingdom of Grão-Pará and its province of Bahia de Todos os Santos. The Dutch captured and sacked the city in May of 1624, and kept it until it was re-taken by the Portuguese in April of the following year.

Salvador was the capital of Brazil 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 officially liberated on July 2, 1823.

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.

Salvador was the birthplace of noted musician Gilberto Gil. Gil later went on to be a city council member.

Salvador Today

The city is divided into a cidade alta ("upper city") and cidade baixa ("lower city"), with the Cathedral and administrative buildings on the higher ground. The city still contains many colonial buildings, including the first cathedral in Brazil, and the nation's oldest medical college, but it has become more famous due to the strong influence of African culture on the city. The majority of the population of the city are of African ancestry. It is the center of Yoruba Candomblé and the martial dance art of capoeira, and has so many churches (over 350 including the 16th century cathedral) it has been dubbed the "Black Rome". The African influence extends beyond religion to cover food, music (from the spiritually influenced afoxé and the community-based blocos afros to more popular axé and samba), and a dynamic cultural life.

The city's official literacy rate is 81%. As of the late 1990s, the average monthly income was R$ 537 (about 447 US dollars). Sanitation is a problem in the poorer neighborhoods. About 1/3 of the residents have neither sewage hookups nor septic tanks.

The city has several universities:

• Universidade Federal da Bahia,
• State University of Bahia,
• Catholic University of Salvador.
• see also List of universities in Brazil

Salvador is noted for its large Carnival celebrations.

Esporte Clube Bahia and Esporte Clube Vitória are Salvador´s main soccer teams. EC Bahia has won Brazilian League in 1988.

Salvador is an important tourism destination, especially the Pelourinho or old town and the beaches.

Ford Motor Company has a plant on Salvador, assembling the Ford Courier.