Vitória
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the parish of Porto in Portugal, see Vitória (Porto).
- For other uses, see Vitoria (disambiguation).
| Vitória |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
| Country | Brazil | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Southeast | ||
| State | Espírito Santo | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 93 km² | ||
| Population | |||
| - City (2005) | 313.312 | ||
| - Density | 3.360/km² | ||
| - Metro | 1.627.651 | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| Website: www.vitoria.es.gov.br | |||
Vitória is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. It is located on a small island within a bay where a few rivers meet the sea. It was founded in 1551. The city proper (area 211 km²} has a population of 313,300 (2005) whilst the Greater Vitória metropolitan area has a population of over 1,612,885 (2005), the 14th largest in Brazil. The average height of the city is only 3 meters above sea level. In 1998, the United Nations rated Vitória as the fourth best state capital in Brazil to live in, rating cities on health, education, and social improvement projects. Vitória had problems with crime, but, the State and Municipal Government efforts are reducing the criminality rates in the city. The Command Center of Polícia Militar do Estado do Espírito Santo is located in Vitória. The Police Batallion which is responsible to make police operations in Vitória is the 1ºBPM-PMES.
Contents |
[edit] Economy
Vitória's economy is strongly based on trade, being an important port city, having a total of three ports. As such, it performs a very important function for the region, in exporting regional products (both agricultural and industrial). Vitória's first strong economic activity was coffee in the early 1900s, being an important coffee port and marketplace, along with Rio de Janeiro and Santos. Since then the economy has diversified a lot, having today a large and well established iron ore processing and steel making industry park. More recently, oil is giving a major boost in the economy, since in the last few years Espírito Santo state has become one of the largest oil producers in Brazil. An increasing business tourism and a burgeoning real estate are also effects of the recent oil-related activities. The services sector is well developed and has an important role in the city economy.
[edit] History
The island was populated shortly after the arrival of Vasco Fernandes Coutinho to Vila Velha, where he first settled colonists, but soon became more popular as the mainland became increasingly dangerous. Other considerations, such as attacks from Dutch and French traders, in search of sugar cane, also contributed to the choice of this island as home to the colonists.
During the first half of the 19th century, Vitória was still seen as a backward agricultural town, with narrow and disorganized lanes. The commercial capital at the time was Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, and because of that the revenues of commerce would go to Rio de Janeiro, rather than Vitória. It was only after the adoption of a republican style of government in 1889 that the governors decided to modernize the state capital.
In 1892 Muniz Freire came to power for two 4-year terms, and began his leadership by paving roads, planning the town's expansion, and contracting a loan of 700 million French Francs to build a rail connection to Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. Muniz Freire intended to channel exports and revenues through the capital, and thus promote its growth. By 1894 the town showed signs of growth fueled mainly by the great activity of the port of Vitória, and the high price of coffee, which was the main export product for the state at the time. The money brought in by this increased economic activity spurred on the city's modernization.
In 1908, Jerônimo Monteiro became state governor, and continued urban development. During his time in office he saw Vitória surpass Cachoeiro de Itapemirim as a commercial center. This was helped by the 1911 completion of the railway line linking the two towns and the improvement of port facilities. During this period, many projects such as the building of schools, Moscoso Park, Santa Casa da Misericordia Hospital, and the Santo Antonio cemetery were undertaken. Monteiro was also responsible for other projects such as the creation of the public archive, the state library and state museum.
[edit] Attractions
- Penha Convent - The convent is actually in Vila Velha
- Terceira Ponte
- Camburi Beach
- Marlin Fishing
- Carlos Gomes Theatre
[edit] Other cities in the greater Vitória Metropolitan Region
[edit] External links
- Vitoria's Municipal Page (in Potuguese)
- Vitoria's Government Page - tourism (in Portuguese)
- Vitoria's Government Page - tourism (in English)
- History of Vitória (in Portuguese)
- História Hoje (in Portuguese)
- Hotel bookings at Vitória (in Portuguese)
-
- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
| Capitals of Brazilian States |  |
|---|---|
| Aracaju | Belo Horizonte | Belém | Boa Vista | Brasília | Campo Grande | Cuiabá | Curitiba | Florianópolis | Fortaleza | Goiânia | João Pessoa | Macapá | Maceió | Manaus | Natal | Palmas | Porto Alegre | Porto Velho | Recife | Rio Branco | Rio de Janeiro | Salvador | São Paulo | São Luís | Teresina | Vitória | |
