BAHIA, (Sp. and Poring., bay), or Silo Salvador de la Bahia de Todos os Santos. Capital of the State of Bahia, Brazil, the second city of the country. and the seat of an arch bishop, who is Primate of Brazil (Slap: Bra zil, K 6). It is situated on the east shore of the Bahia de Todos os Santos, or Bay of All Saints, from which it takes its name. It is 440 miles southwest of Pernambuco, and 800 miles northeast of Rio Janeiro, with both of which eit ies it has communication by steamship and tele graphic cables. The city is divided into the eicade ba taw, or lower city, and the cicade a lt a , or upper city. The former is the business quar ter, with narrow, close, and dirty streets, while the upper city is clean and cool and commands a magnificent view. Hydraulic elevators connect the two parts of the city, and passenger traffic is also effected between them by means of cad ciras, or sedan chairs, the streets being so steep that carriages in many places cannot pass along them. The upper section is pleasantly surrounded by gardens of orange and banana trees, and con tains some fine buildings, notably the cathedral and the palace of the archbishop. The former edifice, the finest basilica in Brazil, constructed from marble brought from Europe, was the Church of the Jesuits. The principal educational institutions are the university. normal school, medical college, museum, and a public library of several thousand volumes. Electric street rail ways traverse the city and suburbs, and Bahia is the starting-point and terminus of a railway to the interior. The harbor, protected by the nat
ural breakwater formed by the island of Ita parica, is excellent. It has a circumference of more than 112 miles, and is everywhere deep enough for the largest vessels, which, however, cannot unload at the quays, because of the heavy ground swell from the open sea. The ocean lin ers of the chief maritime powers of the world are represented in the shipping trade of Bahia. The bay and city are defended by an extensive system of fortifications, making it the most strongly protected town in Brazil. Of these defenses the best is the Fort do Mar, or Sea Fort, perched on an artificially enlarged rocky islet in the middle of the harbor.
The city has numerous industries. For about fifty years, Bahia has been the largest producer of cotton cloth, and also the supply base of northern Brazil for shoes, boots, and hats. It exports sugar, cotton, coffee, hides, dyewoods, jute-wares, and tobacco—its snuff having a widespread Customs restrict ions prevent the full expansion of its trade. Bahia is the seat of a States consul. It is the oldest city in Brazil; Amerigo Vespucci first en tered its bay in 1503; from its foundation, in 1510, by the Portuguese navigator Correa, till 1763, it was the capital of the country. It fell into the hands of Holland in 1024, hut not long after was regained by Portugal, remaining in her possession till 1824. more than a year after the proclamation of independence in the rest of Bra zil. Population, in 1890, 174,412.