Rio Grande do Norte is one of the north east states of Brazil, with about 2.776.782 inhabitants. The capital of Rio Grande do Norte is Natal. In Natal live about 766.081 people. It is the biggest city in this state. Other big cities are for example Mossoro with 224.910 inhabitants or Parnamirim with 156.181 people living there.
The currency is the “Real”. It is possible to change in a bank at home or to change at the airport, and most of the hotels and banks in Brasil.
The state Rio Grande do Norte has a surface of 52.797 km², which says that this state has a population density of 52,09 habitants per km². It is the oldest state in Brasil.
The weather is most of the year very warm, just in the area of the coast it rains regularly. During the year there are usually about 300 sunny, hot days. Most of the area is in the hands of the caatinga-vegetation. The rest of the area are hills with an average height of 800 meters.
A very popular area for tourists is Natal itself. It is the capital of Rio Grande do Norte and has the brightest beaches in the country. Very much divers go there to see the famous under water world. Sometimes you can see dolphins and turles in the bays.
Not only divers travel to this region. Other very popular sports you can exercise in this area is golf for example. A lot of tourists try raffting, surfing, or sailling. A few very common sports are beach volleyball, trekking and soccer.
The Rota de Sol is the access to the north and south regions of the coast. This, together with the airport was built by the government to get more tourists to Rio Grande do Norte. The government still spends a lot of money to build new streets and to archivate the country´s history for the tourists.
The architecture in Natal is not that interesting at all, but the inhabitants are very friendly and it is worth a trip to see the relaxed life there.
At the north next to the beach is a very populare castle, which is called Forte dos Reis Magos. It is in the shape of a star and was built to protect the city against the French in the war which took place in 1598. The former prison is now restaurated for tourists with shops to buy souveniers and lots of restaurants to taste the regional specialties.
An other quite popular place is the very old theater. In the “Camara Cascudo” you can find fossils and old skeletons of the Indians. You can learn a lot about the life of the indians and see many old things of there life.
The most famous trip for tourists is to go to the Dunes of Genipabu. In Genipabu are a lot shops to buy souveniers, clothes and a lot more. Many restaurants and bars are also to find here, in the night it is a very popular place to go and to meet a few natives.
A good way to get to know the Dunes is to do a trip with a dromedary. An other opportunity to get around is to go with one of the many organised trips by Buggy.
An other plenty visited sight is the Caju-Tree, which is called “Cajueiro de Pirangi”. It is the biggest tree of this character in the world. The treetop is 8.400 m³ bis, which would usually be 70 trees in a row. The tree has special fruits which most of the tourists try in one of the restaurants and cafes.
