Macaé - Brasil

Macaé
Macaé skyline

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): "Futuro com qualidade de vida"
Future quality of life
Location in the state of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil
Macaé is located in Brazil
MacaéLocation in the state of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil
Coordinates: 22°22′15″S 41°47′13″W
Country Brazil
Region Southeast
State Rio de Janeiro
Founded July 29, 1813
Government
• Mayor Riverton Mussi (PMDB)
Area
• Total 1,216 km (469 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total 212,433
• Density 159.88/km (413.91/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-3 (UTC-3)
• Summer (DST) UTC-2 (UTC-2)
HDI (2000) 0.79 - medium
Website www.macae.rj.gov.br

Macaé is a city located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. Its population was recorded as 206,748 in 2010 and the municipal covers an area of 1,216 km².

Macaé is generally considered to be the centre of the Brazilian offshore petroleum industry. As a consequence it is often referred to as "Cidade do Petróleo" ("City of Petroleum"). The Brazilian state-controlled oil company - Petrobras - has many facilities within the town. Macaé is one of the fastest-growing cities in Brazil, with a growth of 600% within the last 10 years. Benedito Lacerda Airport is served by scheduled flights and concentrates operations to off-shore platforms.

Other economic activities in the city include tourism and fishing. These two sectors were very important for the city's revenues before the 1980s. The city has a growing reputation for high-quality technical education and training.

Although the city has some touristic potential, the lack of investiments on this area makes its growth to be very small.Its most famous beaches are Cavaleiros and Pecado. The interior of the municipality has small rural towns such as Sana and Frade.

Contents

Demography

In 2009 the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimates the population of Macaé as 194.413 inhabitants. The National Department of Transit (Denatran) census in 2003 recorded a fleet of 36.821 vehicles. According to the Electoral Regional Court (TRE-RJ) the number of voters registered in Macaé was 97.184 in 2004, divided in two electoral zones and 268 sections. In the last elections, 84,054 (200.49%) people voted.

The city has an expatriate community (mainly English speakers) of around 1,000 people - many of whom are connected directly or indirectly to the oil and gas industry.

Economy

Since the 1970s, when Petrobras chose Macaé to site its headquarters in the Campos Basin, the city has had a population boom. More than four thousand companies have set up offices the city and the population has tripled. High-quality hotels have been constructed and a wide variety of service industries have recently sprouted up.

The city has the biggest tax generation of new ranks of work of the interior of the state, according to research conducted for the Federation of Industries of Rio De Janeiro (Firjan): 13.2% to the year. The economy of the city has grown 600% since 1997. Surveys conducted in past years for IBGE demonstrated that the Internal Gross Product (in Portuguese, Produto Interno Bruto - PIB) per capita of the city in 2007 is R$37.667,00 per year, 200% greater than the national average- and the average salary is 8.2 times the minimum salary, making Macaé the city with the highest wages in the Rio de Janeiro State.

Education

The International School of Macaé serves both national and international families living in Macaé. Providing exceptional K-12 instruction in English. The Upper School, 9th-12th grade, program is an accredited program, in which students receive a United States certified diploma and council towards University studies in the US. The International School of Macaé is dedicated to educating children through experiential and interactive education. The International School of Macaé strives to unlock students' imagination and encourage each student to learn to question and investigate our physical and social world.