Piauí in the context of "Cerrado"

The coastline of Brazil measures 7,491 km, making it the 16th longest national coastline in the world. The coastline touches exclusively the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil's coastline has many geographical features such as islands, reefs, bays, and its 2,095 beaches.

9 of Brazil's 26 states are landlocked, including the Federal District. The capitals of the 17 coastal states are close to the ocean, with the exceptions of Curitiba in Paraná, Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, Teresina in Piauí, Belém in Pará, and Macapá in Amapá.

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 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 Brazilian War of Independence (Portuguese: Guerra de Independência do Brasil) was an armed conflict that led to the separation of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The war was fought across various regions of Brazil, including Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, and Cisplatina (present-day Uruguay), with naval battles occurring along the Atlantic coast. Brazilian forces, consisting of regular troops, local militias, and a hastily assembled fleet, defeated the Portuguese garrisons to establish the Empire of Brazil under emperor Pedro I. The war formally ended with the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro in 1825, in which Portugal recognized Brazil's independence.

After the outbreak of the Liberal Revolution in 1820, which forced king John VI to return to Portugal in 1821 after more than a decade in Rio de Janeiro, tensions between local Brazilian elites and the Portuguese Cortes arose. During his stay in Brazil, John VI had elevated the colony to the status of a kingdom in union with Portugal. The changes allowed Brazil to have its own government institutions and directly trade with the rest of the world, which many elites sought to preserve. Efforts by the Portuguese Cortes to restore Brazil to its former colonial status and reduce its political autonomy were met with resistance in various provinces. The tensions culminated in prince regent Pedro of Braganza's proclamation of independence on 7 September 1822, in what became known as the Cry of Ipiranga. Northern provinces, such as Bahia, Maranhão, and Pará, which maintained stronger ties with Portugal than the government in Rio de Janeiro, resisted Brazilian sovereignty, with Portuguese garrisons keeping control of key cities such as Salvador, São Luís, Belém, and Montevideo, in the South.

Teresina is the capital and most populous municipality in the Brazilian state of Piauí. Being located in north-central Piauí 366 km from the coast, it is the only capital in the Brazilian Northeast that is not located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. With 902,644 inhabitants, Teresina is the 19th largest city in Brazil, and the 16th largest state capital in the country. Together with Timon in the neighbouring state of Maranhão, it forms a conurbation with a population of about 2,729,527 inhabitants; the entire metropolitan region of Teresina has over 2,893,729 inhabitants. The only natural barrier that separates Teresina from Timon is the Parnaíba River, one of the largest in the Northeast.

Teresina is the capital with the best quality of life in the North-Northeast according to FIRJAN and the 4th in Brazil. It is among the 50 cities in the world with the highest murder rates, with 315 homicides in 2017.

The Parnaíba River (Portuguese: Rio Parnaíba [paɾnaˈibɐ]) is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. Its main course is 1,400 km (870 mi) long and the Parnaíba River Basin covers 330,000 km (130,000 sq mi). The Parnaíba River rises in the Chapada das Mangabeiras range, and flows northeastward to empty into the Atlantic Ocean, being the longest river entirely located within Brazil's Northeast Region. The middle and upper regions of this river are separated by the Boa Esperança Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, but is otherwise navigable.

The Zona da Mata ([ˈzõnɐ da ˈmatɐ], "Forest Belt") is the narrow coastal plain between the Atlantic Ocean and the dry agreste and sertão regions in the northeastern Brazilian states of Maranhão, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia.

The zona da mata consists of a narrow plain, generally about 50–100 km (31–62 mi) wide and very flat and low (below 100 m (330 ft) in elevation), below the northeastern edge of the Brazilian Highlands. The climate is tropical hot and wet (humid), with most rain coming from the southeasterly winds between April and July. Annual rainfall generally totals 1,300–2,000 mm (51–79 in), with averages in June as high as 300 mm (12 in).