Paraíba, also called Parahyba, or Parahyba Do do Norte, estado
(“state”state) of northeastern Brazil. Primarily an agricultural
state, Paraíba is bounded by the states of Rio Grande do Norte
on the north, Ceará on the west, and Pernambuco on the south and
by the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its area is 20,833 square
miles (53,958 square km). Its chief river, the Paraíba, rises on
the Pernambuco border and enters the Atlantic Ocean near the
state capital, João Pessoa. The only other large city is Campina
Grande, a sisal and cotton-shipping centre farther inland.
Northeastern Brazil was the first part of the country to become
wealthy when, in the 16th century, the Portuguese established
the world’s first large-scale sugarcane plantations there with
African slave labour. Founded on Aug. 5, 1585, as the captaincy
of Itamaracá (a captaincy being virtually a fiefdom granted by
the Portuguese crown), Paraíba shared in the sugarcane riches of
the period; and, because sugar required large investments and
cheap labour