Salvador, Bahia

Salvador, Saviour; historic name: Cidade de São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, in English: "City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay of all Saints") is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the Americas. For a long time, it was simply known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century. Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. This reflects a situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.
Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia.
A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (279 ft) above the latter, with the city's cathedral and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator (the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda, has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades.


Economy


Throughout Brazilian history Salvador has played an important role.. Throughout the colonial era Salvador was the colony's largest and most important city. Because of its location on Brazil's northeastern coast, the city served as an important link in the Portuguese empire, maintaining close commercial ties with Portugal and Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. Salvador remained the preeminent city in Brazil until 1763 when it was replaced as the national capital by Rio de Janeiro. In the last ten years many high-rise office and apartment buildings were constructed, sharing the same blocks with colonial-era housing or commercial buildings. With its beaches, humid tropical climate, numerous up-to-date shopping malls(The Shopping Iguatemi is the first Shopping in Brazil Northeast and pleasant high-class residential areas, the city has much to offer its residents. 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. Boasting a large oil refinery, a petrochemical plant and other important industries, the city has made great strides in reducing its historical dependence on agriculture for its prosperity.
Salvador is the second most popular tourism destination in Brazil, after Rio de Janeiro. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of employment and income, boosting the art]s and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage. Chief among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories that once stood there) district, its historic churches, and its beaches. Salvador's tourism infrastructure is considered one of the most modern in World, especially in terms of lodging. The city offers accommodation to suit all tastes and standards, from youth hostels to international hotels. Construction is one of the most important activities in the city, and many international (mainly from Spain, Portugal and England) and national developers are investing in the city and in the Bahian littoral zone.
Ford Motor Company has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari, assembling the Ford EcoSport, Ford Fiesta, Ford Fiesta Sedan. It was the first Automotive industry in Northeastern Brazil. The industry employs 800 engineers.
JAC Motors will has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari, the new industry will result 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, the production of 100,000 vehicles by year.
In December 2001, Monsanto Company inaugurated, at the Petrochemical Pole of Camaçari, in Metropolitan Region of Salvador, the first plant of the company designed to produce raw materials for the herbicide Roundup in South America. The investment is equivalent to US$ 500 millions; US$ 350 millions were spent in this initial phase. The Camaçari Plant, the largest unit of Monsanto outside of the United States, is also the only Monsanto plant manufacturing raw materials for the Roundup production line. The company started the civil works for the new plant in January 2000.


Summer Festival
The Salvador Summer Festival, is an annual five-day music extravaganza that this year is to feature its usual who's who of Brazilian popular music: Daniela Mercury, Eva, Capital Inicial, Titãs, Skank, Jota Quest, Ivete Sangalo, Chiclete com Banana, Ana Carolina, and others. The price of admission has yet to be set. Attractions international as Akon, Gloria Gaynor, Men at Work, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Fatboy Slim, Ben Harper, Manu Chao, Westlife, The Gladiators, James Blunt, Jason Mraz and Alanis Morissette already sang in Summer Festival.




Funk and Bahia Funk Dances
Funk has become a musical genre in Brazil that exemplifies how many influences, in and out of Brazil, merged with Brazilian culture in the 20th century to form a new hybrid sound.
Although funk was embraced by many parts of Brazil, its sound would eventually become localized so the music would differ from city to city. This difference can be viewed with the funk scenes in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The music and the environment are all representative of the city where one listens to funk music.
For instance, the music played in Salvador at a Black Bahia Funk Ball is more American than its counterpart in Rio de Janeiro. Music material from Rio, which sells reasonably well around Rio, is poorly known in Salvador and, in any case, held to be inferior and "less modern" than funk sung in English. Another difference can be seen with the funk dancehalls. The Ball incorporates the entire setting, which entails the attire, the slang, the specific way of dancing break, the decoration, the organization of permanent dance groups.