|
Recife () is the fifth-largest〔(Cities Influence Areas )〕 metropolitan area in Brazil with 3,743,854 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper was 1,555,039 in 2012.〔(IBGE 2012 Census Population )〕 Recife is located at the confluence of the Beberibe and Capibaribe rivers before they flow into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a major port on the Atlantic Ocean. Its name is an allusion to the stone reefs that are present by the city's shores. The many rivers, small islands and over 50 bridges found in Recife city centre characterise its geography and led to the city being called the "Brazilian Venice." As of 2010, it is the capital city with the highest HDI in Northeast Brazil.〔()〕 The Metropolitan Region of Recife is the main industrial zone of the State of Pernambuco; major products are those derived from cane (sugar and ethanol), ships, oil platforms, electronics, and others. With fiscal incentives by the government, many industrial enterprises were started in the 1970s and 1980s. Recife has a tradition of being the most important commercial centre of the North/Northeastern region of Brazil, with more than 52,500 business enterprises in Recife plus 32,500 in the Metro Area, totaling more than 85,000.〔(Recife Municipal Profile )〕 A combination of a large supply of labor and significant private investments turned Recife into Brazil's second largest medical centre (second only to São Paulo);〔(Recife Medical Pool )〕 modern hospitals with state-of-the-art equipment receive patients from several neighbouring States.〔(Pernambuco A-Z )〕〔(Pernambuco Daily )〕 Like all other cities in the Northeast, Recife is developing its tourist sector. The beach of Porto de Galinhas, south of the city, has been repeatedly awarded the title of best beach in Brazil and has drawn many tourists. The Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda, north of the city, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982.〔(Porto de Galinhas Beach )〕 Recife's infrastructure is among the most developed in Brazil for travellers and business people, though there is room for improvement.〔("Business in Recife" ), ''Wired'', January 2002〕 The city is an educational centre, and home to the Federal University of Pernambuco, the largest university in Pernambuco. Several Brazilian historical figures, such as the poet and abolitionist Castro Alves, moved to Recife for their studies. Recife and Natal are the only Brazilian cities with direct flights to the islands of Fernando de Noronha, a World Heritage Site.〔(Unesco - Fernando de Noronha Islands )〕 The city was one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, Recife hosted the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and 1950 FIFA World Cup. == History == Recife began as a collection of fishing shacks, inns and warehouses on the delta between the Capibaribe and Beberibe Rivers in the captaincy of Pernambuco, sometime between 1535 and 1537 in the earliest days of Portuguese colonisation of ''Terra de Santa Cruz'', later called Brazil, on the northeast coast of South America. It was a settlement of colonial fishermen and way station for Portuguese sailors. The first documented reference to the settlement with its "''arrecife dos navios''" (reef of the ships) was in the royal Charter Act of March 12, 1537, establishing Olinda, 6 km to the north, as a village, with its port where the Beberibe River meets the sea. Olinda (and Igarassu before it) had been settled in 1536 by captain General Duarte Coelho, a Portuguese nobleman, proprietor and administrator of the captaincy of Pernambuco. The city is named for the long reef ''recife'' running parallel to the shoreline which encloses its harbour. The reef is not as sometimes stated, a coral reef, but a consolidated ancient beach, now as firm and hard as stone. In 1541, Coelho returned from Portugal with the machinery for an ''engenho'' (sugarmill), and with it, his brother-in-law established the first mill named ''Nossa Senhora da Ajuda'' (Our Lady of Help), in the floodplain of the Beberibe River at Recife. At that time the banks of the Capibaribe River were covered by sugarcane. Recife was capital of the 17th century Dutch Brazil. The Mascate War of 1710-1711 pitted merchants of Recife against those of nearby Olinda. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Recife」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|