Macaé

About Macaé

Macaé is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís.

Macaé is generally considered to be the centre of the offshore petroleum industry in Brazil and it is often referred to as "Cidade do Petróleo" ("City of Petroleum"). The Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has many facilities within the town. Macaé is one of the fastest-growing cities in Brazil, with a growth of 600% within the last 10 years. Benedito Lacerda Airport is served by scheduled flights and concentrates operations to off-shore platforms.

Its population was estimated as 264,439 in 2020 and its municipality covers an area of 1,216 km².

Other economic activities in the city include tourism and fishing. These two sectors were very important for the city's revenues before the 1980s. The city has a growing reputation for high-quality technical education and training.

The municipality contains part of the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic of conservation units, created in 2006. It also holds part of the...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.