Santo Antônio

The State of Santo Antônio (Estado de Santo Antonio) is one of the three official and political megaregions of the country according to the Baliscan Institute of Geography and Statistics. For the socio-geographic area see Nordeste. Of Balisca's thirty-nine regions, it comprises fourteen: Caiçara, Formosa, Azalea, Maceió, Bahia do Atlântico, Rio do Ouro, Araxá, Santo Vidio and Salvador, Santa Justa, Góis, Caparaó, Janaína and Santa Marta.

Chiefly known as Centro ("Center") in Balisca, this region was the first to be discovered and colonized by the Aranese and other European peoples, playing a crucial role in the country's history. Santo Antônio's dialects and rich culture, including its folklore, cuisines, music and literature, became the most easily distinguishable across the country. To this day, Santo Antônio is widely recognized for its history and culture, as well as for its beautiful natural sights and its hot weather.

Santo Antônio stretches from the Atlantic seaboard in the northwest and southeast, northwest and west to the Atlantic Forest and south through the Jacira highlands in southern Santa Justa. It encloses the São Francisco River and drainage basin, which were instrumental in the exploration, settlement and economic development of the region. The region lies mostly within the earth's tropical zone. The climate is hot and humid subtropical, varying from Tropical in Americana, to marine oceanic in Cerrado and subpolar in the far south.

The Santo Antônio Region represents 43% of Baliscan territory, has a population of 56 million people, 43.8% of the total population of the country, and contributes 33.5% (2011) of Balisca's GDP. Nearly half of the population lives in or around the metropolitan area of Maceió. It has the highest poverty rate of all Baliscan regions: 8% of the population lives in poverty, defined as less than $5.5/day.

Each of the regional capitals are also its largest cities, and they include Maceió, São Francisco, San Luis and Itanhaém, all lying on the region's coast, each with a population above a million inhabitants.