General information about Maranhão
Maranhão is a state in the northeastern region of Brasilia, situated at the borders to the states Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. There live about 5,7 million people in an area of about 331,983 km². Therefore, the population density shows 17 citizens living in one square kilometre. The capital of Maranhão is São Luís.
The tipical caracteristics of the region are the very abrupt changes of the different types of vegetation. At the coastal regions you mostly can find woods of mangroves or dunes, whereas at the interior Sertão you can chiefly find steppes. The climate ist tropical humide to very dry. High temperatures dominate the whole year.
The coast of Maranhão
São Luís, as the state's capital, plays an important role with regard to the local industry. The large port always has a lot of traffic and is the ending point of the rail track coming from the iron ore area Carajás. São Luís also has a wonderful historical colonial old town which is to be restaurated partially, having become a UNESCO world heritage recently.
Alcântara lies at the other side of the Baía de São Marcos. The city offers a wide range of contrasts, reaching from the deterioration of colonial size up to the modern high-tech in form of the Brasilian space center.
Only a few kilometres in the south of São Luís starts the almost impassable rough area Baixada Maranhense around the river Rio Mearim. Hundreds of lakes, like for instance the Lagoa Cajari or Lagoa do Viana, form the largest area of natural seas in the northeastern part of Brasilia.
Much more in the western parts you can find the hardly passable natural reservation of the Reentrâncias Maranhenses with wide woods of mangroves on hundreds of islands and peninsulas with strong tides.
The National Park Lençóis Maranhenses
The nation park region northeast contains the reservation of the Lençóis Maranhenses, an about 100 km long and 70 km wide area full of dunes with a couple of small lakes. Next to the Amazon Rain Forest you surprisingly see the Brasilian desert. Because of the new street to Barreirinhas one can better reach the Lençóis than a few years ago and, therefore, the people living there have to cope with large amounts of interested tourists each day. By boat one can reach Atins with access to the dunes region and Caburé, where you find best conditions for swimming or walking far away from the urban stress of Brasilian's metropolis.
20 km in the east and with access via the beach only, at the borders of the Pequenos Lençóis, is situated the peaceful town Paulino Neves. The starting point for boat tours into the area of the Delta of Parnaíba is the silent place Tutóia.
The Backlands of Maranhão
Caxias in the eastern backlands calls itself the "Princess of Sertão". People there mainly live from growing rice and various products of the palms Carnaúba, Buriti, and Babaçu.
Santa Inês as well as Açailândia are regional centers at the road to Imperatriz at the river Rio Tocantins. With the construction of the road from Brasilia to Belém it became the second most important city in Maranhão.
A little bit more in the southern region, at the Rio Tocantins, the city of Carolina is situated. Passing this town, one can reach the new National Park Chapada das Mesas. Numerous waterfalls like the Cachoeira da Pedra Caída attract many tourists.
Each year, thouthands of tourists discover the wonderful region of Maranhão, whereas most of them come from the USA, other Brasiian states or Europe.
