FORTALEZA

port city and capital, Cear estado (state), northeastern Brazil. The city lies at the mouth of the Paje River on a crescent-shaped indentation of the coastline. It originated as a small village adjoining a Portuguese fort (built as a defense against Indian attacks) and took the name of Villa do Forte da Assumpo in 1654. In 1810 it became the capital of Cear captaincy and in 1823 was given city status and became the provincial (later state) capital under the name of Fortaleza Nova de Bragana. The city has a modern appearance with wide avenues. Its harbour, long an open roadstead, has been protected and greatly improved by construction of a breakwater with port facilities at Mucuripe Point, 4 miles (6 km) to the east. The port's exports include sugar, coffee, cashews, lobsters, salt, rubber, cotton, carnauba wax, oiticica oil, rum, rice, feijo (beans), fruits, hides, and skins. Fortaleza's factories produce dyes, electroceramics, and styrofoam packing materials. Marine algae is processed there for use in fertilizers, stock feed, agar, and carrageenan. Highways link Fortaleza with Sobral, Recife, and Pernambuco. The Baturit Railway connects Fortaleza and its port with fertile regions to the southwest and extends southeast to Patos, in Paraba state. Fortaleza is the seat of a bishopric (created in 1854) and of the State University of Cear (1975) and the University of Fortaleza (1973). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 1,758,334.