Agriculture and Livestock
Agriculture, the main economic activity in the state, has sugarcane as its most important product, whose plantations are developed in the alluvial plains of the forest zone, where the plants to which the product is destined are located. There are also plantations in the agreste, for the supply of small mills of brandy and rapadura. Followed by pineapple, beans and manioc, mainly in the wild and swamp. Another outstanding product is corn, which has its largest cultivation areas in the sertão, with regional distribution similar to that of arboreal cotton, planted mainly in the extreme west. Also important is sisal or agave.
Cattle breeding, common throughout the state, takes place especially in the Curimataú River valley and in the far west, with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and donkeys.
Industry and mining
The manufacturing activities were implanted slowly and, from the 1960s, they gained greater impetus with the help of the Superintendence of the Development of the Northeast (Sudene). The main type of industry is the textile, followed by the food products, non-metallic minerals, metallurgical and chemical industries. Its products include cement, sugar, cottonseed oil and plastic materials. Campina Grande and João Pessoa are the largest industrial centers in the state.
In the extractive activity, limestone and betonite are the most important minerals. In 1980, gold was discovered in Catingueira and Itajaju, which inspired plans for new mineral research and organization of garimpeiro cooperatives, including in the area of Tantalite and Shelite. There are also sources of mineral water and deposits of asbestos, apatite, bauxite, beryl, cassiterite, lead, columbite, corundum, rock crystal, fluorite, iron, granite, marble and quartz.
Transportation
Two important paved highways cross the state: BR-101, which runs along the entire Brazilian coast, from Rio Grande do Sul to Natal, and BR-230, which crosses the state from east to west and passes through João Pessoa, Campina Grande , Patos, Pombal and Cajazeiras. In maritime transport, the state has the port of Cabedelo and there are airports in João Pessoa and Campina Grande.
Culture and tourism
There are, in the state, two universities and several isolated higher education establishments. The School Museum and the Sacred Museum are attached to João Pessoa, attached to the Santo Antônio Convent; the Walfredo Rodrigues Museum, iconographic, and the José Lins do Rego Cultural Space, with two theaters, a convention center, a library, a craft market and two museums. In Campina Grande, there is the Assis Chateaubriand Museum, of Brazilian painting, and the Cotton Museum, equipped to show techniques and tools for planting and harvesting.
João Pessoa has beautiful buildings from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, such as the church and convent of Santo Antônio, the chapel of the Third Order of São Francisco, the churches of São Bento, Nossa Senhora do Carmo and Nossa Senhora das Neves, the Casa Pólvora and Teatro Santa Rosa. In Cabedelo, 23km from the capital, is the Santa Catarina Fortress, built in 1589.
Tourism
The main tourist center of the state is made up of the neighboring cities of João Pessoa and Cabedelo. Both have famous beaches, including Tambaú, in João Pessoa, with a modern hotel built on the sands of the beach and beaten by the waters of the sea.
Among the state festivities, the main one is Nossa Senhora das Neves, the patron saint of the capital. Many popular festivities survive, mainly in the interior cities, such as the barge – the name that chegança receives in the state – and the bumba-meu-boi, both carried out at Christmas time, the ring race, the cavalcades, the beach coconuts , the lapinhas and joão-round, the challenges with singers and violeiros.
Paraiba cuisine has some typical dishes, such as panelada (sarapatel), made from coagulated and chopped pork blood, prepared in lard with kids and served with manioc flour, manioc with roasted meat on the grill and others.
Population
According to sourcemakeup.com, most of the population is concentrated in the eastern part of the state, in the coastal zone. Inland, the population density drops a lot. Just over half of the economically active population is engaged in agriculture and livestock.
The entire state territory is located in the area of influence of the city of Recife PE, which operates in Paraíba through the regional capitals, Campina Grande and João Pessoa, in addition to the regional center of Patos. The population of João Pessoa should be added to the cities of Bayeux and Cabedelo, which are adjacent to it. Although less populous, the city of Campina Grande has under its direct control the central part of the state and the southwestern portion of Rio Grande do Norte. Other important cities in the state: Santa Rita, Patos, Sousa, Sapé, Cajazeiras, Mamanguape, Guarabira, Pombal, Itabaiana.
