Oi Salvador Bahia

Salvador, Bahia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Salvador (Portuguese pronunciation: [sawvaˈdoʁ], Saviour; historic name: Cidade de São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, in English: "City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay of all Saints"^[2][3]) is the largest 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 Americas. For a long time, it was simply 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. The metropolitan area of the city, with 3.5 million of people, however, is the seventh most populous Brazilian urban agglomeration, after the urban areas of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife andFortaleza, and the third in Brazilian Northeast Region.

The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and itsmetropolitan area is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. This reflects a situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguesecolonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and was 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.

A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (279 ft) above the latter,^[4] with the city'scathedral 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.

CARNAVAL 2012

Brazilian Carnival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Carnival of Brazil (Portuguese: Carnaval, IPA: [kaʁnaˈvaw]) is a great festival held forty-six days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," fromcarnelevare, "to remove (literally, "raise") meat."^[1] Carnival have roots in the pagan festival ofSaturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection.

Rhythm, participation, and costumes vary from one region of Brazil to another. In the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, huge organized parades are led by samba schools. Those official parades are meant to be watched by the public, while minor parades ("blocos") allowing public participation can be found in other cities. The northeastern cities ofSalvador, Porto Seguro and Recife have organized groups parading through streets, and public interacts directly with them. This carnival is also influenced by African-Brazilian culture. It's a six-day party where crowds follow the trios elétricos through the city streets, dancing and singing. Also in northeast, Olinda carnival features unique characteristics, part influenced by Venice Carnival mixed with cultural depictions of local folklore.

The typical genres of music of Brazilian carnival are, in Rio de Janeiro (and Southeast Region in general): the samba-enredo, the samba de bloco, the samba de embalo and the marchinha; inPernambuco and Bahia (and Northeast Region in general) the main genres are: the frevo, themaracatu, the samba-reggae and Axé music.

Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. Except the industries, malls and the carnival related workers, the country stops completely for almost a week and festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities.^[2] The consumption of beer accounts for 80% of annual consumption^{[citation needed]} and tourism receives 70% of annual visitors. The government distributes condoms and launches awareness campaigns at this time to prevent the spread of AIDS.^[3]

Rio de Janeiro's carnival alone drew 4.9 million people in 2011, with 400,000 being foreigners.^[4]