Ceará, Brazil Genealogy

Ceara is a state on the north/northeastern coast of Brazil and its largest city is Fortaleza. Fortaleza is Brazil's fifth largest city at present with a population of 2.5 million, the metro area has nearly 3.5 million. The metro area includes a number of smaller cities as well.

Historically, it was one of the earliest areas settled in what is now known as Brazil, initially by the Portuguese, but the Dutch also tried to settle there as well, but were considered invaders and after some fighting which happened twice, they ceded what was taken in the battles back to the Portuguese by the mid-1600s.

Given its largely moderate climate, droughts occur, and one such famine in the 1800s killed half the population.

Fortaleza is one of the principal places to look for records, being the state capital as well as the largest city. This will hold true for many types of records, both civil and religious, although many other records may be held in the other localities elsewhere in the state.