São Luís, Maranhão

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Region	Nordeste
São Luís
Location of São Luis in the state of Maranhão and Brazil
State	Maranhão
Founded	September 8, 1612
Government
- Mayor	Tadeu Palácio (PDT)
Area
- City	827.141 km² (319.360 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (12 ft)
Population (2006 IBGE)
- City	998,385
- Density	1,183.4/km² (3,064.9/sq mi)
- Metro	1,227,659
Time zone	UTC-3 (UTC-3)
Postal Code	65000-000
Website: www.saoluis.ma.gov.br

São Luís is the capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city is located on São Luís island in the Baía de São Marcos, an extension of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the estuary of Pindaré, Mearim, Itapecuru and other rivers. Its coordinates are 2.50° south, 44.30° west. The city proper has a population of some 998,385 people (2006 IBGE estimate). The metropolitan area totals 1,227,659 (ranked as the 16th largest in Brazil).

The city has sea ports; Ponta da Madeira, Porto do Itaqui; through which a substantial part of Brazil's iron ore, originating from the (pre)-Amazon region, is exported. The city's main industries are metallurgical with Alumar, and Vale do Rio Doce. São Luís is home of the Federal University of Maranhão.

São Luís was the home town of famous Brazilian Samba singer Alcione, Brazil's former President José Sarney, Belgian-naturalised soccer player Luís Oliveira, and Zeca Baleiro, a MPB singer.

[edit] History

Originally the town was a large village of the Tupinambá tribe. The first Europeans to see it were the French, in 1612, who intended to make it a French colony. They made a fort named São Luís ("Saint Louis"), after Saint Louis IX of France as a compliment to King Louis XIII. It was conquered for Portugal by Jerônimo de Albuquerque in 1615, leaving little time for the French to build a city. This has led to some controversy to the actual founding of the city by the French or the Portuguese. In 1641 the city was invaded by the Dutch. They stayed until 1645 and did not manage to influence the city's archtecture or to leave any sign of their invasion, mainly because they did not build, and fucused instead on violent domination. São Luís has one of the largest and best preserved heritages of colonial Portuguese architecture.

The island is known as the "Island of Love" and "Brazilian Athens", due to its many poets and writers, such as Aluísio Azevedo, Graça Aranha, Gonçalves Dias (the most famous), Ferreira Gullar, among others.

[edit] Culture

**Historic Centre of São Luís**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Brazil
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv, v
Identification	#821
Region²	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1997 21st WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/821
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

São Luís is known for its tiles which most buildings in the historical centre are covered in. It also has some cultural peculiarities namely:

Tambor de Crioula: Afro-Brazilian dance in which gaily glad women court a bateria of tambors (a row of drums). Whirling and gyrating in time to the music they negotiate for prime position in the centre of the bateria.

Tambor de Mina: Not to be confused with the above, this is the local variant of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble.

Bumba Meu Boi: A popular farce which takes its form as a grand musical pantomime. Practice is a public affair and begins directly after Easter reaching its climax in June when literally hundreds of groups perform on a nightly basis for popular acclaim and pure enjoyment. Set personalities and characters play out a comedic tragedy with a metaphor for social harmony at its heart. Settlers, the infamous Coroneis, Indians, witch-doctors, African slaves and forest spirits are enacted though incredible costume, original choreography and music - all performed amongst the greatest all-night revelry. The crowd joins in with singing, dancing and dependent on the groups sotaque (or style) the playing of matracas (two wooden blocks, held in each hand and struck together repeatedly). Like the festival of Sao Joao and its requisite Forro dance in the North-Eastern states further south Bumba Meu Boi is a harvest festival but with the bull as its centre-piece. Food and drinks made from local produce not only accompany the event but are a pre-requisite due to the high calorific needs of the heavily costumed dancers.

Capoeira: The São Luís form of capoeira is said to be akin to the kind of capoeira now recognized as ‘traditional bahian capoeira’ that predated the Bahian angola/regional polemic which split the capoeira world in the 1950s.

In 1997 the city's historical center was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Starting in 1989 there has been an extensive program to restore and renovate the colonial era buildings of the city's historical center.