Salvador

El Salvador COUNTRY

2,406,709 CITY POPULATION

Democratic Republic GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Salvador, also known as São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos , is the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. With 2.9 million people , it is the largest city proper in the Northeast Region and the 4th largest city proper in the country, after São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. The city has a hot tropical climate, with a cooler rainy season during the winter months (June–August); ocean breezes, especially on the Atlantic side, tend to moderate temperatures.

Founded by the Portuguese in 1549 as the first capital of Brazil, Salvador is one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas. The Elevador Lacerda, Brazil's first urban elevator, has connected the two since 1873. The Pelourinho district of the upper town, still home to many examples of Portuguese colonial architecture and historical monuments, was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. The city's cathedral is the see of the primate of Brazil and its Carnival celebration has been reckoned as the largest party in the world. The city is noted for its cuisine, music, dance and architecture. Porto da Barra Beach in Barra has been named one of the best beaches in the world. Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova was the site of the city's games during the 2014 Brazilian World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup.

Salvador forms the heart of the Recôncavo, Bahia's rich agricultural and industrial maritime district, and continues to be a major Brazilian port.

Data and Facts

- It was first reached by Gaspar de Lemos in 1501
The present city was established as the fortress of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos
It was the last Portuguese stronghold during the war for Brazilian independence, holding out until July 1823
The population of Salvador was 53.3% female and 46.7% male in 2010
A DNA study in 2015 found the ethnicity in Salvador to be 50.8% European, 40.5% African and 8.7% Native American
There are 80 km (50 mi) of beaches distributed between the High City and the Low City

Administration

A distinctive feature of Salvador is its division into lower (cidade baixa) and upper (cidade alta) parts. The port, commercial district, and adjoining residential zones lie at the foot of a cliff on a low shelf of land facing west onto the bay, only a few feet above sea level. The principal shopping districts, state and municipal government offices, and leading residential areas are on the upper level, extending northward for several miles and eastward to the Atlantic shore. In addition, most of the city’s historic sights are near the edge of the upper city. The old city centre, the Pelourinho (“Pillory”), was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. The area underwent considerable restoration work in the 1990s, and many colonial-era buildings were preserved. The upper and lower sections are connected by a few graded winding roads, a funicular railway, and several elevators. The Lacerda elevator, an outstanding landmark, is the chief link, lifting passengers 234 feet (71 metres) between the separate streetcar systems.

Economy

The economy of Salvador, Bahia is the 8th largest regional economy in Brazil. The city's port has always played a key role in the local and regional economy. During much of the Portuguese colonial period it was Brazil's principal port, exporting sugar, cacao, and tobacco.

Economically Salvador is one of Brazil's more important cities. Since its founding the city has been one of Brazil's most prominent ports and international trading centers. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of employment and income, boosting the arts and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage.

The port and city still play a critical role in the economy of Northeastern Brazil, providing commercial services for a vast region and exporting cocoa, sisal, soybeans, and petrochemical products. Local industries include fishing, oil and gas extraction, cigar manufacture, a petrochemical complex at Camaçari, an oil refinery, and tourism. The Centro Industrial de Aratu, a planned industrial park, occupies a vast area around the Bay of Aratu and is home to over 100 industrial firms.

«We came up with the 360 programme because it needs 360-degree vision. And we anticipate 360 actions across a lot of sectors,» says Gustavo Menezes, whose role with local government sees him oversee public-private partnerships, including the scheme, which has already launched a co-working technology hub, with a creative counterpart opening in the near future.

The initiative is supporting traditional disciplines, too. In Curuzu favela, the HQ of one of Brazil’s most renowned carnival street bands, Ilê Aiyê bloco, spans multiple floors with studio space, educational rooms and mid-sized venues. New street lighting and road surfacing are increasing footfall to this area, long-known as an African cultural destination. Free public performances are being encouraged in the city’s most iconic district, Centro Histórico, cementing its status as an artistic place people want to spend time, and money, in.

Business Environment

Millions of Brazilians have been lifted from destitution since the turn of the century. Despite the hangover from a major recession in 2015-16, GDP remains in the global top ten. Yet the country’s six richest people have wealth equivalent to half the population, with 25% living in poverty.

In Salvador de Bahia, the nation’s original capital and fourth largest city, inequality is particularly extreme. Home to 2.9 million people, the vast majority — roughly four-fifths — are of African descent, and in a country where systemic racism dating back to Portuguese occupation leaves non-whites at risk of severe economic exclusion, problems associated with wealth distribution are pronounced.

This is a UNESCO City of Music – laying claim to the birth of tropicalia, where African rhythms and pop rock meet, and more latterly the reggae-calypso fusion of axé. And Brazil’s most iconic carnival takes place here each February, attended by an estimated 2.5m people over six days.

Its fertile art scene has given rise to a slew of prized practitioners. From living greats such as Menelaw Sete, whose expressionism deals with the African and Bahian experience, to Pierre Verger, one of Brazil's most significant 20th century photographers, his work often centered on Salvador’s Candomblé religion, and its roots in Nigeria’s Yoruba population. The city has creativity in abundance, but retaining talent is the problem.

“We are 83% black population, afro descendants, the largest in Brazil. But these people are marginalised because of a lack of jobs and industry, and a change in the industry of today. It’s more about digital and creative now,” Nunes says, before explaining how much Salvador could stand to gain. “A study of black consumers showed if black people in the city were more involved in the economy it could add 5bn reais per year”.

A major hurdle has been convincing people their flair can become a career, inspiring them to start businesses that catalyse wider growth.

Infrastructure

A major hurdle has been convincing people their flair can become a career, inspiring them to start businesses that catalyse wider growth.

Technology

Companies such as Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and IBM have established large R&D centres in Brazil, beginning with the IBM Research Center in the 1970s. One incentive has been the Informatics Law, which exempts from certain taxes up to 5% of the gross revenue of high technology manufacturing companies in the fields of telecommunications, computers, digital electronics, etc. The Informatics Law has attracted annually more than $1.5 billion of investment in Brazilian R&D. Multinational companies have also discovered that some products and technologies designed and developed by Brazilians have a nice competitivity and are appreciated by other countries, such as automobiles, aircraft, software, fiber optics, electric appliances, and so on.

During the 1980s, Brazil pursued a policy of protectionism in computing. Companies and administrations were required to use Brazilian software and hardware, with imports subject to governmental authorization. The system is particularly suited to a country with relatively high illiteracy rates, since it flashes up a photograph of the candidate before a vote is confirmed. Citizens could download a desktop module that relayed the votes to their homes in realtime faster than the news networks could get them out.

In 2005, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched a «people's computer» to foster digital inclusion, with government finance available and a fixed minimum configuration. Having rejected the Microsoft operating system , it is being shipped with a Brazilian-configured Linux system offering basic functions such as word processing and internet browsing. Plans to make cheap internet access available have not yet come to fruition. Among specific sectors, agriculture comes next, in a reflection of the sector's relevance for Brazil, the second-largest food-producing country in the world after the USA. Brazilian agricultural productivity has risen constantly since the 1970s, due to the greater use of innovative technology and processes. Industrial R&D comes third, followed by health and infrastructure, other sectors having shares of 1% or lower of government expenditure. With some exceptions, the distribution of government spending on R&D in 2012 is similar to that in 2000. After a sharp increase in industrial technology from 1.4% to 6.8% between 2000 and 2008, its share of government expenditure declined to 5.9% in 2012. The share of space science and technology has been pursuing a downward spiral from a high of 2.3% in 2000.

Social Wellness and Human Resources

Salvador is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country. The number of homicides increased 418% from 2000 to 2010. From 1998 to 2008, the number of homicides of youths between the ages of 15 and 24 increased 435.1%. Gun violence in the state of Bahia more than doubled in the period from 2004 to 2014, and the city is in the top ten for gun violence of the 26 state capitals of Brazil. In 2014 the state of Bahia had the most murderers in the country. At the same time, Salvador has one of the lowest rates of suicide in the nation.

Salvador provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. The Fonte Nova Arena, also known as Estádio Octávio Mangabeira is a football stadium inaugurated on 28 January 1951 in Salvador, Bahia, with a maximum capacity of 66,080 people. The stadium has now been replaced with a new stadium named Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova with a capacity of 56,000 people. This stadium hosted matches of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the subsequent 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as the football competition in the 2016 Summer Olympics.