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Natal is a peaceful city, with around 712.317 inhabitants (according to the census carried out in 2000), however it is a modern one, with shopping malls, bars and restaurants offering international level cuisine and facilities that put it on a par with any Brazilian capital. Its main attraction is its coastline, with over 400km of beaches, dunes and small pieces of paradise.

In recent decades, tourism has become the main activity in Natal. The sun shines almost all year round (the rainy season is concentrated between April and June), but the heat is alleviated by the trade winds, and the temperature varies between 20 and 33 ºC. All the infrastructure for tourism, including hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, etc, has developed quickly. The State Government has stimulated this growth by investing in tourism, both in the capital and in the interior. Cities in the interior and the west of the state are slowly becoming part of the international tourist routes, and such wonders as the Gargalheiras Dam, the Lajedo Soledade rock formation (with its cave paintings) and the Pedra da Boca State Park are being discovered by tourists.

As Natal has only recently been urbanized, this growth was preceded by a fair amount of planning; the city has not grown too much, as has been the case in Brazil’s largest cities; Natal has managed to retain a peaceful atmosphere without failing to provide the comforts of a modern city.

At the present time, two major investments are intended to give a further impulse to the economy: a new airport, in the neighboring city of São Gonçalo do Amarante, to stimulate growth in the North Zone of the city, which lies on the route to several tourist spots, and a large bridge, being built for the same purpose, to join the Center to Redinha Beach thus making it quick and easy to access the braches on the Northern Coast, such as Maracajaú, Santa Rita, Genipabu and Pitangui.

The growth in tourism over the last five years has been most impressive. Many tourists come to enjoy the city’s beauty and excellent climate, and like it so much that they decide to invest in houses, apartments and hotels. The environment here in Natal is perfect for their investment: convenience, beautiful attractions, lovely beaches and the charm of a cosmopolitan city, which combines modernity and calm in a natural way.

A bit of history...

Natal was built on the right-hand bank of the River Potengi, near to where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The city is built on sandy soil, which encourages the formation of dunes; the coastline, which is interrupted by bays, is protected by reefs which are to be found along a good part of the coast.

In December 1597, a fleet commanded by Jerônimo de Albuquerque landed at the River Potengi, with the mission of founding a new city and building a fort to protect the Portuguese colonists from attacks by French pirates, who were trying to negotiate with the indigenous Potiguar people. At the same time, a group led by the then governor of Pernambuco, Manuel Mascarenhas Homem, arrived in the region by land. On 6 January 1598, this group started to build the Fort of the Three Holy Kings (Forte dos Reis Magos); and on 25 December that year, a small village was founded a little more than 2 km from the Fort; this village was called Natal, in reference to its date of foundation.

To start with, unlike Pernambuco, the region developed slowly, because the sandy soil of Natal was not suited to growing sugar cane. In 1633, the Dutch invaded the city; the Fort was renamed Fort Keulen, and so it remained until 1654, when the Portuguese retook it. Like the Portuguese, the Dutch had little interest in developing the Natal region; they also preferred to stay in Recife and Olinda, cities which were much improved by the Dutch, as can still be seen today

Sugar cane was extensively farmed from Bahia to Paraíba, but only a small area in the south of Rio Grande do Norte could be used to grow it. After the sugar cane period, Brazil entered the gold period, during the 18th and 19th centuries, which brought little benefit to Rio Grande do Norte. The Brazilian government moved more and more towards the south and center of the country.

For this reason, the Natal region, unlike others, did not feel that it was a colony of a metropolis; this fact (together with the American presence during the Second World War, see below) probably contributed towards making Natal one of the most liberal regions in Brazil. It was the first state to abolish slavery, ten years before the rest of the country; and the first Brazilian woman to be elected mayor governed Lajes, a city close to Natal.

At the start of the 19th century, Natal was still a small town, divided into two main areas: the Lower Side, near to the docks, where commerce was found; and the Upper Side, at the top of the hills surrounding the port, where the churches and government buildings were situated. It was only in 1922, during the Pedro Velho government, that the city started to modernize. In 1930, after the victory of the Liberal Alliance (which fought against the dominance of the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais), did Natal enter a period of rapid urbanization.

During the Second World War, Natal underwent rapid changes in its lifestyle, when Parnamirim airport was used to house a military base, in view of its strategic position for serving the Allied troops based in North Africa. Thanks to this base, thousands of American soldiers spent the war years in Natal. As well as bringing new products, (Natal was the first Brazilian city to discover chewing gum) their democratic outlook and freedoms had an influence which can still be seen in the Natal lifestyle today.

After the war, a lot of its wealth came from exports through the port; the main products produced in the state were scheelite (a tungsten ore), cotton and carnauba wax. Other products which are relevant to the economy of Rio Grande do Norte are salt (the state is the largest salt producer in Brazil) and, in recent decades, oil (no other state produces as much on-land oil as Rio Grande do Norte) plus, of course, tourism.

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