Natal

About Natal

Natal is a Brazilian municipality and the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Situated 2,227 kilometers from Brasília, the federal capital, it is the second smallest Brazilian state capital in area, covering an area of approximately 167 km2 (64 sq mi). With just over 750,000 inhabitants (2022), it is the most populous municipality in its state, the eighth in the Northeast, and the 24th in Brazil. The Greater Natal, composed of thirteen other municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte, has more than 1.5 million inhabitants, making it the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the Northeast and the nineteenth largest in Brazil.

Founded on Christmas Day in 1599 on the banks of the Potengi River, which separates the North Zone from the others, the city was occupied by the Dutch between 1633 and 1654, during which it was named New Amsterdam. Its growth was slow during the first three centuries of its existence. Only from the 20th century onward did Natal undergo an intense modernization process, and beginning with World War II, its population began to grow at a faster pace, especially throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Its location near the "corner of South America" caught the attention of the United States Department of War, which considered Natal "one of the four most strategic points in the world." With the start of operations at the first rocket launch base in South America — the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center in Parnamirim — Natal became known as the "Space Capital of Brazil." The construction of the Via Costeira, a coastal highway between the Atlantic Ocean and Natal Dunes State Park that connects the beaches of Areia Preta and Ponta Negra, greatly boosted local tourism.

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