Ceará in the context of "List of Brazilian states by area"

Fortaleza (/ˌfɔːrtəˈleɪzə/ FOR-tə-LAY-zə ; Brazilian Portuguese: [foʁtaˈlezɐ] ; Portuguese for 'Fortress') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador in 2024 census with a population of slightly over 2.5 million—and 12th among cities with the highest gross domestic product. It forms the core of the Fortaleza metropolitan area, which is home to almost 4 million people.

Fortaleza is an important industrial and commercial center of Northeast Brazil. According to the Ministry of Tourism, it is the fourth most visited city and tourist destination in the country. The BR-116, the most important highway in the country, starts in Fortaleza. The municipality is part of the Mercosur common market, and vital trade port which is closest to mainland Europe, being 5,608 kilometres (3,485 mi) from Lisbon, Portugal.

The Northeast Region of Brazil (Portuguese: Região Nordeste do Brasil [ʁeʒiˈɐ̃w nɔʁˈdɛstʃi du bɾaˈziw]) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, along with the Fernando de Noronha archipelago (formerly a separate territory, now part of Pernambuco).

Chiefly known as Nordeste ("Northeast") in Brazil, this region was the first to be colonized by the Portuguese and other European peoples, playing a crucial role in the country's history. Nordeste's dialects and rich culture, including its folklore, cuisines, music and literature, became the most easily distinguishable across the country. To this day, Nordeste is known for its history and culture, as well as for its natural environment and its hot weather.

The Confederation of the Equator (Portuguese: Confederação do Equador) was a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the northeastern region of the Empire of Brazil in 1824, in the early years of the country's independence from Portugal. The secessionist movement was led by liberals who opposed the authoritarian and centralist policies of the nation's first leader, Emperor Pedro I. The fight occurred in the provinces of Pernambuco, Ceará and Paraíba.

Paraíba (/ˌpærəˈiːbə/ PARR-ə-EE-bə, Brazilian Portuguese: [paɾaˈibɐ] ; Tupinambá: pa'ra a'íba) is a state in Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba is the third most densely populated state of the Northeast; João Pessoa, the coastal state capital, and Campina Grande, in the countryside, rank among the fifteen largest municipalities in the Northeast of Brazil. The state is home to 1.9% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.9% of the Brazilian GDP and it is divided into 223 municipalities.

Paraíba is mostly populated along the Atlantic coast, which extends as far as Ponta do Seixas, the easternmost point of the mainland Americas. The state is a tourist and industrial hotspot; it is known for its cultural heritage, amenable climate and geographical features, ranging from the seaside beaches to the Borborema Plateau. It is named after the Paraíba river.

Carnauba (/kɑːrˈnɔːbə, -ˈnaʊ-, -ˈnuː-, -nɑːˈuː-/; Portuguese: carnaúba [kaʁnaˈubɐ]), also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the carnauba palm Copernicia prunifera (synonym: Copernicia cerifera), a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of Ceará, Piauí, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhão and Bahia. It is known as the "Queen of Waxes". In its pure state, it is usually available in the form of hard yellow-brown flakes. It is obtained by collecting and drying the leaves, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching it.As a food additive, its E number is E903.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Brazil since 16 May 2013, following a decision by the National Justice Council ordering notaries of every state to license and perform same-sex marriages. Before nationwide legalisation in May 2013, the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Paraná, Piauí, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and Sergipe, as well as the Federal District and the city of Santa Rita do Sapucaí, had already legalized same-sex marriages. In Rio de Janeiro, same-sex couples could also marry but only if local judges approved their requests.

On 14 May 2013, the National Justice Council legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, ruling 14–1 that notaries are obliged to license and perform same-sex marriages and convert any existing civil unions into marriages if the couples so wish. President of the Supreme Federal Court Joaquim Barbosa stated that notaries could not continue to refuse to "license and perform a civil marriage or the conversion of a stable union into a marriage between two people of the same sex". The ruling was published on 15 May and took effect on 16 May 2013. Polling suggests that a majority of Brazilians support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Brazil was the second country in South America, after Argentina, and the twelfth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Captaincy of Pernambuco or New Lusitania (Portuguese: Nova Lusitânia) was a hereditary land grant and administrative subdivision of northern Portuguese Brazil during the colonial period from 1534 to 1821, with a brief interruption from 1630 to 1654 when it was part of Dutch Brazil. At the time of the Independence of Brazil, it became a province of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Captaincies were originally horizontal tracts of land (generally) 50 leagues wide extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Tordesillas meridian.

During the earliest years of colonial Brazil, the Captaincy of Pernambuco was one of only two prosperous captaincies in Brazil (the other being Captaincy of São Vicente), primarily due to growing sugar cane. As a result of the failure of other captaincies, in part due to the invasion of the Northeast coast of Brazil by the Dutch during the Seventeenth Century, Pernambuco's geographical area grew as failed captaincies were attached. At its height, the Captaincy of Pernambuco included the territories of the modern states of Pernambuco, Paraíba, Alagoas, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará and the western portion of Bahia (north and west of the São Francisco River) having thus a southern border with Minas Gerais. In the years surrounding Brazilian independence, the captaincy was reduced by repartitioning of several previously merged territories, until today's state with the same name was left.