Lauro de Freitas
Brazil · Americas
About Lauro de Freitas
Lauro de Freitas is a municipality in Bahia, Brazil. It covers 57.66 km2 (22.26 mi2) and a population of 203,331 (2022 Census). Lauro de Freitas has a population density of 3,376 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) from the state capital of Bahia, Salvador.
Until July 31, 1962 it was a district of Salvador, named Santo Amaro de Ipitanga; after acquiring city status, it changed its name as an homage to politician and engineer Lauro Farani Pedreira de Freitas (1901–1950), who lived there most of his life and died in a plane crash. Vilas do Atlântico, a wealthy neighborhood, is located in Lauro de Freitas.
Around the year 1000, the region currently occupied by the municipality was invaded by Tupi peoples from the Amazon, who expelled its former inhabitants, the Tapuias, to the interior. In the 16th century, when the first Europeans arrived in the region, it was inhabited by the Tupinambás.
Mayor Márcio Araponga's administration received a 92% disapproval rating in a 2015 poll. During that period, eleven schools were closed, the elderly clinic inaugurated in 2014 was shut down, the only maternity hospital in the municipality was...
Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.