General Information

The Espirito Santo is one of 27 units of Brazil. It is located in the Southeast and is limited to the Atlantic Ocean to the east, north Bahia, Minas Gerais to the west and northwest, and the state of Rio de Janeiro to the south, occupying an area of 46,077.519 km ². Its capital is the city of Vitoria. Other important cities are Aracruz, Anchieta, Cariacica Itapemirim, Colatina, Guarapari, Linhares, São Mateus, Serra, Viana and Vila Velha. The state gentile is "capixaba" or "espiritossantense".

PRINCIPAIS CIDADES

Vitória, the state capital, has the third highest HDI between the capitals of Brazil. Built on a mountainous island, which also hindered its growth, but was instrumental in its founding 91 km². It is connected to mainland by bridge Florentino Ávidos, the Prince's Bridge (Second Bridge) and Third Bridge to the south, and the bridges Passagem, Ayrton Senna and Camburi north. Vitória is the capital and most important city in Espírito Santo. Commercial and cultural center, there is also the important ports: Tubarão and Vitória. The capital with the cities of Cariacica, Fundão, Guarapari, Serra, Viana and Vila Velha form the Metropolitan Region of Vitória, known as "Grande Vitória", home to 1,627,651 inhabitants (2005), and the city of Vila Velha largest population.

• Cachoeiro do Itapemirim is the main urban center of the southern state. In addition to centralize much of the agricultural and livestock production in this region, the city is also noted for its industrial park.
• Colatina, economic center in the northwest region of Espirito Santo, with influences up to the east of Minas Gerais with Ecoporanga, Sao Gabriel da Palha, Nova Venecia and Barra de São Francisco.
• Linhares, at the mouth of the Rio Doce, the largest and principal city of the northern state. Has shown remarkable growth after the onset of oil and gas, and has been excelling in the areas Industrial and Agricultural, mainly because of the Coca Cola plant and eucalyptus plantations.
• Itapemirim, a town south of the state, has achieved economic growth with the production, handling and processing of fish and also oil in the basin of Espírito Santo along with its neighbors, with the cities of President Kennedy, Marataízes, the Anchieta and Piuma metropolitan area expanded south established itself as a force for growth in the state.
• Afonso Claudio is the most important and largest city in the mountainous region. With the largest population of the region becomes the largest economic and industrial center in the mountainous region.
• Venda Nova do Imigrante is the national capital of agrotourism. Second largest city in the mountainous region, home to Italian immigrants, and has a great standard of living. Agrotourism is very strong and there are several factories in homemade products.
• São Mateus is one of the city's north end, being the second oldest city in the state. Its economic growth is focused on the extraction of oil and natural gas. In the city is located CEUNES, campus north of UFES. Has a strong tourism appeal, especially in summer. Its main beach, Guriri, comes to be known nationally.
• Vila Velha is the oldest and most populous city, with nearly 500 000 inhabitants, also has the second lowest HDI in the state. The city has experienced rapid development and progress, it is also the main state highway, the Rodovia do Sol. The town has many factories, including the largest chocolate factory in Brazil, and the Port of Capuaba.
• Serra is the second most populous county in the state. In the city there are several major resorts such as New Jacaraípe Almeida. The city has the largest industrial hub of the state, in its territory the industrial centers Civit I, II and Civit TIMS. The Arcellor-Mittal Tubarão is also present in the city and the state's largest steelmaker and one of the largest in the country. Here is located the port of Praia Mole. In 2004 the city was marked by having the highest murder rate in the country.
• Cariacica is more populous than Vitória, but possess the worst HDI in the region becoming the major suburbs of the capital. The largest generator of economic activity and jobs is the factory of Coca-Cola, the company's largest factory in Brazil. In the city are two of the most important highways of Brazil, BR-101 and BR-262.
• Guarapari is an paradise city with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, with a strong vocation for tourism, attracting many tourists from all over Brazil, because of its beaches and islands.

CLIMAte

• The climate of the state is the tropical of altitude, present in 60% of the state, with abrupt climate change, hot summers and mild winters. But the tropical climate is present in 40% of the state.
• By climate, land capixabas can be divided into hot and cold lands. In hot lands, which extend in a narrow coastal strip and widen considerably from Linhares, seats are very flat, dry tropical climate, with annual rainfall of less than 1.100mm and average annual temperatures higher than 22 ° C, the hot lands occupy 24% of the state territory. In the cold lands, mountainous areas with elevation higher than 600m climate is tropical of altitude, with annual rainfall of over 1,900 mm and average annual temperatures lower than 18 ° C, the cold lands occupy 37% of the state territory . There is also a considerable transition area occupies about 39% of the state territory, relief somewhat less mountainous, between 200 and 600m altitude and average annual rainfall of 1,500 mm near.

Ethnic

The last census of the National Household Survey revealed the following numbers: 1,761,318 of brown (50.7%), 1,438,236 Whites (41.4%), 260,000 blacks (7.5%), 13,000 Asian or Indian (0.4%).

This large mixing occurred between 40 and 80 during the process of industrialization in the metropolitan area attracting the Italians from the state to big cities where the Portuguese and Spaniards prevailed. The rural exodus also greatly influenced the culture of the state.

Politics

Executive

• Governors: Paul Hartung and Ricardo Ferraço

Legislative

The House of Representatives consists of thirty state legislators. In Congress, the representation espíritossantense is three senators and ten deputies.

Judiciary

• Courts Jury
• Judges of Law
• Advice of Military Justice

The state has 34 counties.