Pernambuco
| Pernambuco | |
|---|---|
| Republic of Pernambuco | |
| República de Pernambuco | |
 | |
|
File:Pernambuco Locator.pngLocation of Pernambuco | |
| Capital | Recife |
| Population | 19 million |
| Government Type | Federal Republic |
| Languages | Portuguese (Official) |
Pernambuco, officially the Republic of Pernambuco(República de Pernambuco) is a country located in northeastern South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Bahia to the south and Equador to the west. It comprises eight states and a federal district where lies Recife, the capital and largest city. Culturally, Pernambuco is a mix of various inherited traditions from the American continent, Europe and Africa.
Geographically, the country is divided in a hot and rainy coast, a higher altitude hot and semi-arid central region where the Caatinga can be found(biome which only exists in Pernambuco and Bahia), and a west region dominated by the south american savanna and a part of the Amazon.
The Pernambucan economy has diverse sectors, with the export of products such as sugar, cotton, fruits and grains being the most prominent. But chemical and textile industries along with tourism also have a great role in its economy.
History
Early History
The region of South America where today lies Pernambuco, initially was inhabited by diverse tribes of native Americans, such as the Potiguaras, Tabajaras, Catetes and many others. This part of the continent was one of the first to be settled by the Portuguese, and for more than three hundred years was one of the most important parts of the colony of Brazil. The captaincy of Pernambuco produced tons of sugar and was one of the key parts for the Portuguese Empire economy. This importance attracted the eyes of other European powers which raided and looted the region many times during the 16th century.
Pernambucan Independence
Differently from the other luso-american countries, Pernambuco didn't gain independence from Portugal, but from another south american country, Equador. In the mid 1877 Equador’s army successfully expelled the last Portuguese holding in the continent, now only the island of Fernando de Noronha was under Portuguese control. The new Republic of Equador government was unstable and problematic. Power struggles were common and the government lost trust from the people due to the lack of transparency.
In December 1877 protesters gathered in front of the government palace in Recife. Protests were relatively common, but this one led to a different ending. It's unknown who shot, coming from government orders or not, a bullet was shot from the palace and killed a protester. This outraged the crowd that prior to that fought along them against the Portuguese, to now not having their urges fulfilled and seen as a threat.
The revolt quickly scaled to other levels and confrontations between the national guard and the people started to be fought in the capital, and later in other towns and cities, escalating in a full scale civil war. In 1878, the rebels started to receive aid from Bahia. The Bahian government felt sympathetic to the Pernambucan cause, especially due to cultural similarities between the two nations. Some Bahian politicians even supported the idea to fully annex Pernambuco when free.
South Tussenland also helped the Pernambucans by being one of the first countries to recognize Pernambuco as independent, and sent around three hundred volunteers to aid in the fighting (Also hoping this action would open the new country to Zoekerism). After 5 years of fighting, Pernambuco gained independence from Equador in 1882. Being recognized in the same year. The new country annexed everything east of Grão-Pará and established Recife as its capital.