Maceió is the capital of the Brazilian state of Alagoas. He/she has a population of 903.463 inhabitants (2005) and a territory of approximately 511 km². It forms with other ten municipal districts the Metropolitan Area of Maceió (to see below), that possesses more than 1,14 million inhabitants (est. 2005). Its medium altitude is of seven meters above the level of the sea, and he/she has a medium temperature of 28°C. The city locates among the Oceano Atlântico, that presenteia the city with beautiful beaches, and the Lagoa Mundaú, that has great economic importance for the towns of fishermen that live in its margin. It is headquarters of the Federal University of Alagoas. Historical Its name originates from a mill to the margins of the pond Mundaú, called maçaio, name this coming of the tupi " Massayó-k ", or " what closes the alagadiço ". Its foundation date is December 5, 1815, being the dismembered municipal district of the municipal district of Alagoas (current Marechal Deodoro), and on December 29, 1816 it happens the elevation of the town condition the villa, mainly because of the coming development of the port of Jaraguá, a " natural " port that facilitated the atracamento of embarkations, through where sugar, fume, coconut and spices were exported. With the continuous process of development of the city, he/she becomes the capital of the county of Alagoas on December 9, 1839, with the symbolic act of the transfer of the Treasure of the County for Maceió Geografia there are several years ago they were formed flooded lands, servants of the coming of sediments and you vegetate of the rivers Mundaú and Paraíba of the Middle, the sea also ordered sediments, closing the mouths of the respective rivers, forming like this today what knew for Lagoas Mundaú and Manguaba, one of the largest complex estuarinos of Brazil. It was on those alagadiços and sandbanks that the city of Maceió grew. Two neighborhoods of the capital shelter not very less of the half of the population, they are them: Benedito Bentes and Jacintinho, both with 200 thousand inhabitants each, Jacintinho is a complex of slums, Benedito Bentes is already a Group Habitational created twenty years ago that, now, it shelters many other groups to its circuit, that together to the slums and grotas they form the neighborhood. It already processed in the City hall of Maceió a proposal for the desmembramento of Benedito Bentes from Maceió, transforming it in a new city. As the own investors of the section, the civil construction in the capital is one of those well-happened of the country, the maximum number of floors in the part that is going from Pontal of Barra to the part of Cruz of the Souls it is of eight floors in the seashore, reason: THE Light of the Navy of Brazil located in the neighborhood of Jacintinho. It is known that as less floors a building has, more expensive it is the price of the apartments; but today the real state speculation is in the Litoral Norte of the city, neighborhoods as Sweet Stream, Guaxuma and Ipioca are with the super-valued lands, what worries the inhabitants of the place so much, as the authorities, that see that there the necessary infrastructure doesn't exist for a great urbanization, just as it is intended. That, this local one won great prominence in the creation of the Managing Plan, that is processing in the City hall. Among the main ones proposed of structuring from the position, it is intended: to Clean up the area, to protect the rivers that cut it; to duplicate the access highways; and it is clear, the point more critic of the Plan, the number of floors that each building can have, the manufacturers diverge with the city hall the maximum height and minimum removal of the buildings, it is worth to remind that the physical, mental and economic well-being of the population is what should weigh. Maceió has, according to researches, the second best drinkable water of Brazil, possesses tropical climate, the smallest temperature registered in the capital it was 16ºC, the sun heats up the city during 270 days of the year. Economy THE city is rich in salt-yolk, and he/she has a diversified industrial section (chemical industries, açúcareiras and of alcohol, of cement and nutritious), besides the agriculture, pecuária and extraction of natural gas and petroleum. In 2003, GDP of the capital rotated around 5,8 billion Real, significant number that it deserved prominence for having come before the " boom " of the trade and tourism in Maceió, that happened with the opening of several hypermarkets, hotels, of the Center of Conventions and of the International Airport Zumbi of Palmares. The expectation is that the next numbers are still more exciting. Tourism Beach of Pajuçara. Maceió/AL.Outro strong point in the economy of the city is the tourism, because the city possesses a great potential of attracting tourists, for its natural beauties and great cultural diversity, besides offering several lazer options and modern spaces for business, such as the new Cultural Center and of Exhibitions of Maceió, in the neighborhood of Jaraguá. In September of 2005, the International Airport was inaugurated Zumbi of Palmares, one of the most modern of Brazil. The neighborhood of Jaraguá was very frequented during the end of the nineties, with great investments of the city hall of Maceió, nowadays it is just a commercial neighborhood. Agriculture Even being quite urbanized, the city has many unoccupied areas, appearing space for the creation of great canaviais, as what exists in Benedito Bentes's neighborhood (200 thousand inhabitants). Industry THE city counts with the Pólo Cloroquímico, that shelters the largest company of the state, Braskem, that extracts salt-yolk of a great mine, it also counts with the Industrial District of the Board, that there are some years it possessed 60 industries of small and medium load, but what lacks for D.I. to attract new industries is improvements in the infrastructure and advantages offered by the government to the investors. Maceió also bill with several industries of the nutritious branch. Marechal Deodoro's Pólo Multifabril, in the Metropolitan Area of Maceió, it has been attracting a lot of industries, especially of the chains of chemical and plastic products. Os canaviais, como atividade monocultora, são o grande destaque do setor primário em Maceió.