Northeastern Brazil in the context of "Rio Grande do Norte"

Maranhão (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [maɾɐˈɲɐ̃w] ) is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of 332,000 km (128,000 sq mi) and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent within the common Northeastern Brazilian dialect. Maranhão is described in literary works such as Exile Song by Gonçalves Dias and Casa de Pensão by Aluísio Azevedo.

The dunes of Lençóis are an important area of environmental preservation. Also of interest is the state capital of São Luís, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Another important conservation area is the Parnaíba River delta, between the states of Maranhão and Piauí, with its lagoons, desert dunes and deserted beaches or islands, such as Caju island, which shelters rare birds.

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.

The common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), also known as the Brazilian cottontail, forest cottontail, or (formerly) simply tapeti is a species of cottontail rabbit. It is small to medium-sized with a small, dark tail, short hind feet, and short ears. As traditionally defined, its range extends from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, but this includes several distinctive population that have since been split into separate species. Under this narrower definition, the true common tapeti only occurs in the Atlantic Rainforest of coastal northeastern Brazil and it is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. The American Society of Mammalogists concurs, but also tentatively classifies several distinct populations that have not yet received proper species names into S. brasiliensis, and so considers it to range from Venezuela south to Argentina.