Ceará

a state in northeastern Brazil, on the Atlantic coast and the northeastern edge of the Brazilian Highlands. Area, 148,000 sq km. Population, 4.5 million (1970). The capital is Fortaleza.

The economy of Ceará is based on agriculture. The chief crops include cotton, bananas, sugarcane, cassava, corn, beans, coffee, and tobacco; in 1970, the state produced 17 percent of the cotton grown in Brazil. Ceará leads all other states in the amount of carnauba wax produced, with approximately 40 percent of the national total. It also produces natural rubber and some 40 percent of the national Brazil-nut crop. Livestock are bred in the arid regions. Agricultural products are processed locally; there are textile, meat-canning, and sugar industries.