Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Tupi Indigenous term for a spring.
Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form lakes ("lagoas", in Portuguese). There are numerous maceiós and lakes in this part of Brazil; because of this, the city was named Maceió, and the state, Alagoas. The new Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport connects Maceió with many Brazilian cities and also operates some international flights. The city is home to the Federal University of Alagoas.
Etymology
The name "Maceió" has origin in the Tupi term maçayó or maçaio-k, that means "that which covers the swamp". The Aurélio Dictionary says that the term "maceió" means a temporary and cyclic lagoon that is located at the edge of the sea at the mouth of a watercourse small enough to be interrupted by a sand bar until the high tide opens the way temporarily - cyclically relates to the season, river flow, lunar phase, etc.
Nineteenth-century shipping reports, which reported on ships bringing cotton from Maceió, spelt it as Macaio.
History
thumb|left|Maceió in 1905
The city began in an old sugar mill and plantation complex around the 19th century. Its development started with the arrival of ships taking wood from Jaraguá bay.
With the installation of the sugar mills, Maceió started to export sugar, then tobacco, coconut, leather, and some spices. Prosperity made it possible for the settlement to become a village on December 5, 1815. Thanks to its continued growth, Maceió became the capital of the Alagoas state on December 9, 1839.
Maceió is also a port city and due to its port development about 200 years ago it changed from a village into a city.
Maceió was reportedly hit hard by the 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic. In reality, while the epidemic's epicenter is considered to be Bahia and Pernambuco, the incidence rate of Alagoas, nestled in between these two states (together with Sergipe), was considered a "paradox" by the Ministry of Health authorities given its low number of reported cases during the epidemic.
Geography
The city is located between the Mundaú Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean, with a tropical climate with average temperature of . , its metropolitan area had a total population of 1,354,973 inhabitants.
Climate
Maceió has a typical tropical climate, specifically a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am, somewhat bordering on As), with very warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity all throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures due to trade winds blowing from the ocean.
January is the warmest month, with mean maximum of and minimum of and more sun; July experiences the coolest temperatures, with mean maximum of and minimum of accompanied by higher humidity and much more rain.
The natural vegetation surrounding Maceió is tropical rainforest. Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between . The soil can be poor because high rainfall tends to leach out soluble nutrients.
Economy
One substantial local industry is based on chemical products from brine pumped from deep wells on the outskirts of Maceió. Another substantial industry is the production of ethanol and sugar from sugarcane grown in the region. In the last thirty years the tourist industry has transformed the coastal areas of the city into vibrant centers of entertainment for Brazilian and foreign tourists (Americans, Italians, French, Germans, Argentinians, etc.).
These coastal neighborhoods include coconut palm trees, playgrounds, squares, open-to-the-public football, volleyball, and basketball fields, residential buildings, bars, nightclubs, tourist-oriented shops, restaurants, banks, hotels, and gambling houses (slot machines and bingo only, since casino games are illegal in Brazil).
The GDP for the city was R$23,400,000,000 (); The per capita income for the city was R$22,976.51 ().