BAHIA, an Atlantic State of Brazil, bounded on the north by the States of Piauhy, Pernambuco and Sergipe, east by Sergipe and the Atlantic, south by Espirito Santo and Minas Geraes, and west by Minas Geraes and Goyaz. Its area is 164,65osq.m., a great part of which is an arid barren chapada (plateau), traversed from south to north and north-east by the drainage basin of the Sao Francisco river, and having a general elevation of i,000ft. to I , 700f t. above that river, or 2,3 oof t. to 3,000f t. above sea-level. On the west the chapada, with an elevation of 2,300f t. and a breadth of 6om., forms the western boundary of the State and the water-parting between the Sao Francisco and the Tocantins. East of the Sao Francisco it may be divided into three distinct regions: a rough limestone plateau rising gradually to the culminating ridges of the Serra da Chapada; a gneissose plateau showing ex tensive exposures of bare rock dipping slightly toward the coast; and a narrower plateau covered with a compact sandy soil de scending to the coastal plain. The first two have a breadth of about 2oom. each, and are arid, barren and inhospitable, except at the dividing ridges where the clouds from the sea are deprived of some of their moisture. The third zone loses its arid character as it approaches the coast and is better clothed with vegetation. The coastal plain varies in width and character; in some places low and sandy, or swampy, filled with lagoons and intersecting canals; in others more elevated, rolling and very fertile. The climate corresponds closely to these surface features, being hot and dry throughout the interior, hot and humid, in places un healthy along the coast. Cattle-raising is the principal industry in the interior. In the agricultural regions cacao, sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee, mandioca and tropical fruits are produced. The exports include cacao, sugar, cotton, hides, mangabeira rubber, piassava fibre, diamonds, cabinet woods and rum. The population, largely of a mixed and unprogressive character, numbered 2,117, 956 in 1900 and 4,135,894 in 1930. There is little immigration. The capital, Sao Salvador or Bahia (q.v.), which is one of the principal cities and ports of Brazil, is the export town for the Reconcavo, as the fertile agricultural district surrounding the bay is called. The principal cities of the State are Alagoinhas and Born Fins (formerly Villa Nova da Rainha) on the main railway line running north to the Sao Francisco, Cachoeira and Santo Amaro near the capital in the Reconcavo, Caravellas and Ilheos on the southern coast, with tolerably good harbours, the former being the port for the Bahia and Minas railway, Feira de Santa Anna on the border of the sertdo and long celebrated for its cattle fairs, and Jacohina, an inland town north-west of the capital, on the slopes of the Serra da Chapada, and noted for its mining industries, cotton and tobacco. The State of Bahia includes four of the original captaincies granted by the Portuguese crown—Bahia, Paraguassu, Ilheos and Porto Seguro, all of which reverted to the direct control of that Government in 1549• During the war with Holland several efforts were made to conquer this captaincy, but without success. In 5823 Bahia became a province of the empire, and in 1889 a State in the republic. Its Government consists of a governor elected for four years, and a general assembly of two chambers, the senators being elected for six years and the deputies for two years. (A. J. L.)