Bahia » Hotels, Travel and Tourism

Bahia is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size; with 567,296 square kilometres, it is a little larger than France.

Its capital is the city of Salvador, or more properly, São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of All Saints, first seen by the Italian sailor Amerigo Vespucci in 1501 (bahia is an archaic spelling of the Portuguese word baía, meaning bay).

It was also in the coast of Bahia, between Santa Cruz de Cabrália and Porto Seguro, that the Portuguese sailor Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived on the trip in which his fleet discovered Brazil, in 1500.

The state has the longest coastline of Brazil (1100 km) and its geographical regions comprise the Atlantic Forest, the Recôncavo region radiating from the bay (site of sugar and tobacco farms), and the Planalto, which includes the Sertão (far interior).

Bahia is bordered by the states of Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco and Piauí to the north, Goiás and Tocantins to the west, and Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo to the south.

The state is crossed from north to south by a mountain chain, Chapada Diamantina, which receives other names, like Serra do Espinhaço, in Minas Gerais, and Borborema, in Pernambuco and Paraíba.

In some parts, the chain has the shape of chapadões, plateaus with abrupt edges; the most visited of the chapadões are in the National Park of Chapada Diamantina, in the middle of the state.

The climate of Bahia is tropical; despite the fact that 68 percent of its territory is located in a semi-arid zone, the state presents diversified climates and an average rainfall that varies from 360 to 2000 mm per year, depending on the region; average temperatures range from 19 ºC to 27 °C.

Bahia is the most important tourist center in the Northeast of Brazil and the second in the country, due to a unique culture in which the typical culinary arts, the colonial architecture and popular feasts reveal a strong integration of elements of European and African origins.

Salvador, with its historical centre registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and with its coast clipped into many beaches and dozens of islands, is the main focal point for tourists.

In the city, the area of Pelourinho, the biggest set of colonial style buildings in Latin America, attracts millions of visitors who find there a synthesis of what best Bahia has to offer: typical food, 17th and 18th-century architecture and the local music and traditions.

The period of popular festivities in Bahia culminates between December and March (summer months) and has in carnival its supreme point, with more than one million tourists in Salvador, Porto Seguro and other cities.

Municipalities: Abaíra, Abaré, Acajutiba, Adustina, Água Fria, Aiquara, Alagoinhas, Alcobaça, Almadina, Amargosa, Amélia Rodrigues, América Dourada, Anagé, Andaraí, Andorinha, Angical, Anguera, Antas, Antônio Cardoso, Antônio Gonçalves, Aporá, Apuarema, Araçás, Aracatu, Araci, Aramari, Arataca, Aratuípe, Aurelino Leal, Baianópolis, Baixa Grande, Banzaê, Barra, Barra da Estiva, Barra do Choça, Barra do Mendes, Barra do Rocha, Barreiras, Barro Alto, Barro Preto, Barrocas, Belmonte, Belo Campo, Biritinga, Boa Nova, Boa Vista do Tupim, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Bom Jesus da Serra, Boninal, Bonito, Boquira, Botuporã, Brejões, Brejolândia, Brotas de Macaúbas, Brumado, Buerarema, Buritirama, Caatiba, Cabaceiras do Paraguaçu, Cachoeira, Caculé, Caém, Caetanos, Caetité, Cafarnaum, Cairu, Caldeirão Grande, Camacan, Camaçari, Camamu, Campo Alegre de Lourdes, Campo Formoso, Canápolis, Canarana, Canavieiras, Candeal, Candeias, Candiba, Cândido Sales, Cansanção, Canudos, Capela do Alto Alegre, Capim Grosso, Caraíbas, Caravelas, Cardeal da Silva, Carinhanha, Casa Nova, Castro Alves, Catolândia, Catu, Caturama, Central, Chorrochó, Cícero Dantas, Cipó, Coaraci, Cocos, Conceição da Feira, Conceição do Almeida, Conceição do Coité, Conceição do Jacuípe, Conde, Condeúba, Contendas do Sincorá, Coração de Maria, Cordeiros, Coribe, Coronel João Sá, Correntina, Cotegipe, Cravolândia, Crisópolis, Cristópolis, Cruz das Almas, Curaçá, Dário Meira, Dias d´Ávila, Dom Basílio, Dom Macedo Costa, Elísio Medrado, Encruzilhada, Entre Rios, Érico Cardoso, Esplanada, Euclides da Cunha, Eunápolis, Fátima, Feira da Mata, Feira de Santana, Filadélfia, Firmino Alves, Floresta Azul, Formosa do Rio Preto, Gandu, Gavião, Gentio do Ouro, Glória, Gongogi, Governador Mangabeira, Guajeru, Guanambi, Guaratinga, Heliópolis, Iaçu, Ibiassucê, Ibicaraí, Ibicoara, Ibicuí, Ibipeba, Ibipitanga, Ibiquera, Ibirapitanga, Ibirapuã, Ibirataia, Ibitiara, Ibititá, Ibotirama, Ichu, Igaporã, Igrapiúna, Iguaí, Ilhéus, Inhambupe, Ipecaetá, Ipiaú, Ipirá, Ipupiara, Irajuba, Iramaia, Iraquara, Irará, Irecê, Itabela, Itaberaba, Itabuna, Itacaré, Itaeté, Itagi, Itagibá, Itagimirim, Itaguaçu da Bahia, Itaju do Colônia, Itajuípe, Itamaraju, Itamari, Itambé, Itanagra, Itanhém, Itaparica, Itapé, Itapebi, Itapetinga, Itapicuru, Itapitanga, Itaquara, Itarantim, Itatim, Itiruçu, Itiúba, Itororó, Ituaçu, Ituberá, Iuiú, Jaborandi, Jacaraci, Jacobina, Jaguaquara, Jaguarari, Jaguaripe, Jandaíra, Jequié, Jeremoabo, Jiquiriçá, Jitaúna, João Dourado, Juazeiro, Jucuruçu, Jussara, Jussari, Jussiape, Lafaiete Coutinho, Lagoa Real, Laje, Lajedão, Lajedinho, Lajedo do Tabocal, Lamarão, Lapão, Lauro de Freitas, Lençóis, Licínio de Almeida, Livramento de Nossa Senhora, Luís Eduardo Magalhães, Macajuba, Macarani, Macaúbas, Macururé, Madre de Deus, Maetinga, Maiquinique, Mairi, Malhada, Malhada de Pedras, Manoel Vitorino, Mansidão, Maracás, Maragogipe, Maraú, Marcionílio Souza, Mascote, Mata de São João, Matina, Medeiros Neto, Miguel Calmon, Milagres, Mirangaba, Mirante, Monte Santo, Morpará, Morro do Chapéu, Mortugaba, Mucugê, Mucuri, Mulungu do Morro, Mundo Novo, Muniz Ferreira, Muquém de São Francisco, Muritiba, Mutuípe, Nazaré, Nilo Peçanha, Nordestina, Nova Canaã, Nova Fátima, Nova Ibiá, Nova Itarana, Nova Redenção, Nova Soure, Nova Viçosa, Novo Horizonte, Novo Triunfo, Olindina, Oliveira dos Brejinhos, Ouriçangas, Ourolândia, Palmas de Monte Alto, Palmeiras, Paramirim, Paratinga, Paripiranga, Pau Brasil, Paulo Afonso, Pé de Serra, Pedrão, Pedro Alexandre, Piatã, Pilão Arcado, Pindaí, Pindobaçu, Pintadas, Piraí do Norte, Piripá, Piritiba, Planaltino, Planalto, Poções, Pojuca, Ponto Novo, Porto Seguro, Potiraguá, Prado, Presidente Dutra, Presidente Jânio Quadros, Presidente Tancredo Neves, Queimadas, Quijingue, Quixabeira, Rafael Jambeiro, Remanso, Retirolândia, Riachão das Neves, Riachão do Jacuípe, Riacho de Santana, Ribeira do Amparo, Ribeira do Pombal, Ribeirão do Largo, Rio de Contas, Rio do Antônio, Rio do Pires, Rio Real, Rodelas, Ruy Barbosa, Salinas da Margarida, Salvador, Santa Bárbara, Santa Brígida, Santa Cruz da Vitória, Santa Cruz de Cabrália, Santa Inês, Santa Luzia, Santa Maria da Vitória, Santa Rita de Cássia, Santa Teresinha, Santaluz, Santana, Santanópolis, Santo Amaro, Santo Antônio de Jesus, Santo Estêvão, São Desidério, São Domingos, São Felipe, São Félix, São Félix do Coribe, São Francisco do Conde, São Gabriel, São Gonçalo dos Campos, São José da Vitória, São José do Jacuípe, São Miguel das Matas, São Sebastião do Passé, Sapeaçu, Sátiro Dias, Saubara, Saúde, Seabra, Sebastião Laranjeiras, Senhor do Bonfim, Sento Sé, Serra do Ramalho, Serra Dourada, Serra Preta, Serrinha, Serrolândia, Simões Filho, Sítio do Mato, Sítio do Quinto, Sobradinho, Souto Soares, Tabocas do Brejo Velho, Tanhaçu, Tanque Novo, Tanquinho, Taperoá, Tapiramutá, Teixeira de Freitas, Teodoro Sampaio, Teofilândia, Teolândia, Terra Nova, Tremedal, Tucano, Uauá, Ubaíra, Ubaitaba, Ubatã, Uibaí, Umburanas, Una, Urandi, Uruçuca, Utinga, Valença, Valente, Várzea da Roça, Várzea do Poço, Várzea Nova, Varzedo, Vera Cruz, Vereda, Vitória da Conquista, Wagner, Wanderley, Wenceslau Guimarães and Xique-Xique.