Mossoró

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Mossoró is a city of Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil. Equidistant (and four hours' drive) from Natal or Fortaleza (approx 270 km.), this northern city of 211,700 people (2005) is in the heart of Brazil's salt production area, and its largest land-based petroleum industry. For Brazilians, the city's main claim to fame is its association with the Robin Hood figure "Lampião" who led a gang of cangaceiros in the sertão during the 1920s and 30s. It was also the city that first allowed a woman to vote in Latin America, Professor Celina Guimarães Viana, in 1928, starting a movement among others cities and states of Brazil until the official recognition of feminine vote by the federation, in 1934. The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mossoró.