Pelourinho, Salvador

Salvador (Portuguese pronunciation: [sawvaˈdoʁ], Saviour; historic name: São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, in English: "City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay of all Saints") is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the Americas. For a long time, it was simply known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century. Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The metropolitan area of the city, with 3.5 million of people, however, is the seventh most populous Brazilian urban agglomeration, and the third in Brazilian Northeast Region.

The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the centre of Afro-Brazilian culture. This reflects a situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical centre of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

The Historic Centre (known in Portuguese as The Pelourinho) is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia. It was the city's center during the Portuguese Colonial Period, and was named for the whipping post (Pelourinho means Pillory) in its central plaza where African slaves received punishment for various infractions, as well as for disciplinary purposes.

The Historic Centre of Salvador da Bahia, frequently called the Pelourinho, is extremely rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil and the city is one of the oldest in the New World (founded in 1549 by Portuguese settlers). It was also the first slave market on the continent, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations.

Nicknamed "Pelô" by residents, this area is in the older part of the upper city, or Cidade Alta, of Salvador. It ecompasses several blocks around the triangular Largo, and it is the location for music, dining and nightlife. In the 1990s, a major restoration effort resulted in making the area a highly desirable tourist attraction.

Pelourinho has a place on the national historic register and was named a world cultural center by UNESCO in 1985. Easily walkable, Pelo has something to see along every street, including churches, cafes, restaurants, shops and the pastel-hued buildings. Police patrol the area to ensure safety.

Bahia (local pronunciation: [baˈi.ɐ]) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size. Bahia's capital is the city of Salvador, or more properly, São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, and is located at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of All Saints,officially first seen by European sailors in 1501. The name "bahia" is an archaic spelling of the Portuguese word baía, meaning "bay".

Brazil ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen (help·info)), is the largest country in both South America and the Latin America region. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population, with over 193 million people. It is the largest Lusophone country in the world, and the only one in the Americas.

The Northeast Region of Brazil (Portuguese: Região Nordeste do Brasil) is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory.

The Northeast Region has a population of 53.6 million people, which represents 28% of the total number in the whole country. Most of the population lives in urban areas and about 15 million people live in the sertão. It is famous in Brazil for its hot weather, beautiful beaches, rich culture (unique folklore, music, cuisine, literature), Carnival and St. John's festivities, the sertão and being the birthplace of the country.

The biggest cities are Salvador, Fortaleza and Recife, which are the regional metropolitan areas of the Northeast, all with a population above a million inhabitants and metropolitan areas above 3.5 million.

Salvador International Airport, Recife International Airport and Fortaleza International Airport connects the Northeast region with major Brazilian cities, operates international flights to the U.S. and Europe and some international chartered flights. The Nordeste, according to Infraero, has the second largest number of passengers (roughly 20%) in Brazil.

Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country. The country had 5.1 million visitors in 2010, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the second main destination in South America, and third in Latin America after Mexico and Argentina. Revenues from international tourists reached US$5.9 billion in 2010, showing a recovery from the 2008-2009 economic crisis. Historical records of 5.4 million visitors and US$6.775 billion in receipts were reached in 2011.

Brazil offers for both domestic and international tourists, an ample gamut of options, with natural areas being its most popular tourism product, a combination of ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as historic and cultural tourism. Among the most popular destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural and historic tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to São Paulo city.