Salvador

Salvador (in full, São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, or in literal translation: "Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay") is a city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The city was for a long time also 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, including Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719) and Jorge Amado's Gabriela, Cravo e Canela.

Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day forms a superb natural harbor, and Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia. The local terrain is diverse ranging from flat to rolling to hills and low mountains. A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town") and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town"), the former some 85m (275ft) above the latter [1], with the city's famous cathedral and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. A gigantic elevator (the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades.

The coastline is equally diverse, featuring sandy beaches, sea cliffs, mangrove swamps, and a number of islands, the largest of which, Itaparica, includes a famous resort area.

Salvador has a typical tropical climate, with warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity all throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures and pleasant trade winds blowing from the ocean. March is the warmest month, with mean maxima of 30°C (86°F) and minima of 24°C (75°F); July experiences the coolest temperatures, with means of 26°C (79°F) and 21°C (70°F). The absolute maximum and minimum are respectively 38°C (100°F) and 12°C (54°F). Unlike in the area further inland (known as the Sertão), rainfall in Salvador is quite abundant, with a total yearly average of 201cm (83"), being heaviest in May at 33cm (12.8") and generally tapering off until reaching a nadir of 11cm (4.4") in January. Tropical cyclones and tornadoes are unknown in the area.

Salvador was the first major port and the capital of colonial Brazil for almost two centuries. The city lies between green tropical hills and broad beaches along the bay of Todos os Santos. It was built on two levels with administration buildings and residences constructed on the hills; forts, docks, and warehouses on the beaches. To this day the city is still divided into upper and lower cities. From 1500 to 1815 Salvador was the nation's busiest port. A significant portion of the sugar from the northeast and gold and diamonds from the mines in the southeast passed through Salvador. It was a golden age for the town; magnificent homes and churches resplendent in gold decoration were built. Many of the city's baroque churches, private homes, squares, and even the hand-chipped paving bricks have been preserved as part of Brazil's historic patrimony. In Salvador, more than anywhere else in the country, the African influence in the makeup of Brazilian culture is readily visible, from the spicy dishes still called by their African names (caruru, vatapa, acaraji), to the ceremonies of candombli which honor both African deities and Catholic holidays, to the capoeira schools where a unique African form of ritualistic fighting is taught. Its population is around 2,250,000 inhabitants.