Teresina is the capital and largest city of the
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian state of
PiauíPiauí is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country.Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the non-landlocked Brazilian states at 66 km , and the capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the north east to be located inland...
and the only inland capital in the
northeastern regionThe Northeast Region of Brazil 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....
of the country. The central part of the city is situated between the
ParnaíbaThe Parnaíba River is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. The Parnaíba River rises in the Chapada das Mangabeiras range, and flows northeastward for 1,056 miles to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The middle and upper regions of this river are...
and
PotiPoti River is a river in Brazil, a tributary of the Parnaíba River. The city of Teresina, state capital of Piauí, was formerly named Vila Nova do Poti after the river....
rivers, as a result, the city is sometimes referred to as the "
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
of the Northeast."
In the northern section of the city, the two rivers flow together and continue on toward the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
. There is an environmental park at the confluence, with a viewing platform, which allows viewing from close range.
Teresina is the capital and largest city of the
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian state of
PiauíPiauí is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country.Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the non-landlocked Brazilian states at 66 km , and the capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the north east to be located inland...
and the only inland capital in the
northeastern regionThe Northeast Region of Brazil 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....
of the country. The central part of the city is situated between the
ParnaíbaThe Parnaíba River is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. The Parnaíba River rises in the Chapada das Mangabeiras range, and flows northeastward for 1,056 miles to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The middle and upper regions of this river are...
and
PotiPoti River is a river in Brazil, a tributary of the Parnaíba River. The city of Teresina, state capital of Piauí, was formerly named Vila Nova do Poti after the river....
rivers, as a result, the city is sometimes referred to as the "
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
of the Northeast."
In the northern section of the city, the two rivers flow together and continue on toward the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
. There is an environmental park at the confluence, with a viewing platform, which allows viewing from close range. Across the Parnaíba River from the capital lies the smaller city of Timon, which is part of the state of
MaranhãoMaranhão is one of the states of Brazil in the north-eastern region. To the north is the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Neighboring states are Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
.
The city of Teresina is home to over 752,000 inhabitants, distributed over an area of 1,680 km
2 (650 mi
2). Its metropolitan area has about 996,000 inhabitants. The surrounding region is referred to as the
Chapada do Corisco.
The city was originally named
Vila Nova do Poti, after the
Poti RiverPoti River is a river in Brazil, a tributary of the Parnaíba River. The city of Teresina, state capital of Piauí, was formerly named Vila Nova do Poti after the river....
, and was later renamed Teresina in honor of the Empress Theresa Cristina, the wife of
Dom Pedro IIPedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous" was the second and last Emperor of Brazil, having reigned for 58 years. His name in full was Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga...
. The city has been the capital of the state since 1852, when it was founded by the governor of the province, José Saraiva, transferring the administrative headquarters of the province of
PiauíPiauí is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country.Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the non-landlocked Brazilian states at 66 km , and the capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the north east to be located inland...
from the city of
OeirasOeiras is a municipality in the Microregion of Picos of the Brazilian State of Piauí. According to the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística , its population was 34,538 inhabitants in 2003. The municipality covers an area of 2720 km².Oeiras grew up around a church founded in 1695...
. Teresina was the first planned city in Brazil (earlier than the well-known planned capital city of
BrasíliaBrasília is the capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil, ahead of Belo Horizonte...
, founded in 1960, and
Belo HorizonteBelo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country...
, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, founded in 1897); its design is said to be reminiscent of a chessboard. It is divided into quarters, with Dirceu Arcoverde being the most populous quarter. It is known as the "Green City" because of the countless
mangoMangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent...
trees that line its streets. Local crafts include
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s. A monument depicts the legendary
Cabeça de Cuia, a personality from local
folkloreFolklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which...
.
As it is located near the
EquatorThe equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis of rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass. In simpler language, it is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole that divides the Earth...
, high temperatures in Teresina vary between 26 and 40 degrees Celsius (79 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the year, with the lowest temperatures occurring in the first 5 months of the year. The hottest time of the year is October through December. Humidity is high year-round, with a low of approximately 40% and a high of about 90%, but is highest (80%-90%) from March to June.
It is part of a highly urbanized complex known as Região Integrada de Desenvolvimento da Grande Teresina (Integrated Region of Development - Greater Teresina Area).
Geography
Climate
Teresina has a
Tropical climateA tropical climate is a kind of climate typical in the tropics. Köppen's widely-recognized scheme of climate classification defines it as a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above .- Examples of tropical climates :...
. There are two seasons: the rainy one, from middle December to May, with heavy rainfalls, and the dry one, with scarce rain during the rest of the year.
Vegetation
The typical flora of Teresina is the so-called "Mata de Cocais" (Palm Trees Forest), composed of palm trees like carnaúba, babaçu, buriti and tucum. It is a transition vegetation between the semi-arid xeric shrubland of Caatinga and the Amazon Rain Forest itself.
Economy
The GDP for the city was R$ 5,245,724,000 (2005).
The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was R$ 6,650 (2005).
Education
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
and
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
are part of the official
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
curriculum.
Universities at Teresina
- Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI);
- Universidade Estadual do Piauí (Uespi);
- Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Piauí (CEFET-PI).
- Faculdade de Saúde, Ciências Humanas e Tecnológicas do Piauí (Faculdade Novafapi
-Faculty Novafapi:Piauí Association for Graduation and Tecnological TeachingFaculty of Health, Human and Tecnological Sciences of Piauí.-Health Sciences School:*Physiotherapy*Biomedicine*Medicine*Phonoaudiology*Nutrition*Nursing*Dentistry...
)
- Faculdade Integral Diferencial(Facid)
- Instituto Camilo Filho(ICF)
- Centro de Ensino Unificado de Teresina(CEUT)
- Faculdade das Atividades Empresariais de Teresina FAETE
National Airport
Teresina/Senador Petrônio Portella Airport. Opened on September 30, 1967, Teresina Airport has been administered by
InfraeroEmpresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1970 and responsible for administering the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2003, Infraero's airports carried approximately 250 million passengers. Infraero is a very...
since February 3, 1975. Teresina Airport is located four kilometers from downtown, roughly a ten-minute trip by car. It is 67 meters above sea level and the local temperature averages 30.9°C (87.62°F).
Metro
Teresina MetroThe Teresina Metro is operated by CMTP . It is 12.5 km long with a daily ridership of about 5.000.- History :...
is the metro system in Teresina. It is operated by CMTP (Companhia Metropolitana de Transportes Públicos). and was opened in 1990.
Sports
There are four
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
clubs in the city,
River Atlético ClubeRiver Atlético Clube, usually known simply as River, is a Brazilian football club from Teresina, Piauí state.-History:On March 1, 1946, the club was founded by Ginásio Leão XIII students, commanded by the teacher Anilthon Soares...
,
Esporte Clube FlamengoEsporte Clube Flamengo, or Flamengo as they are usually called, are a Brazilian football team from Teresina in Piauí state, founded on December 8, 1937. Their home stadium is the Albertão, which has a maximum capacity of 60,000 people. They play in black and red shirts, black shorts and red and...
,
Sociedade Esportiva TiradentesSociedade Esportiva Tiradentes, commonly known as Tiradentes, are a Brazilian football team from Teresina. They won the Campeonato Piauiense five times and competed in the Série A five times. The women's team competed twice in the Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino.-Men's team:They were founded on...
and
Auto Esporte ClubeAuto Esporte Clube, commonly known as Auto Esporte, are a Brazilian football team from Teresina. They won the Campeonato Piauiense once and competed in the Série A once.-History:...
. There are two stadiums, named
Estádio Governador Alberto Tavares SilvaEstádio Governador Alberto Tavares Silva, also known as Albertão is a multi-purpose stadium in Teresina, Brazil. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it is the home stadium of River Atlético Clube and Esporte Clube Flamengo. The stadium holds 60,000...
and Estádio Lindolfo Monteiro.
The sprinter
Cláudio Roberto SouzaCláudio Roberto Souza is a Brazilian sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres.Souza won a silver medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, together with teammates Vicente de Lima, Édson Ribeiro and André Domingos da Silva. The Brazilian relay team finished...
was born in Teresina in 1973.
External links
Panoramic Teresina - Tourist information
Visit Piauí - Tourist information