Crato, Commercial center in southern Ceará, Brazil
Crato is a commercial city in southern Ceará, sitting at about 426 meters (1,400 feet) above sea level across roughly 1,117 square kilometers (430 square miles) near the Balança Mountains. The municipality spreads over hilly terrain with residential neighborhoods, business streets, and farming areas where sugarcane and cotton grow.
A Capuchin friar named Carlos Maria de Ferrara founded the settlement in 1764 at a place where indigenous Kariri lived. The town received its official status in 1817 and gradually grew into a regional trade hub.
The name likely comes from the indigenous Kariri language and recalls that people lived in this area long before colonial times. Today you see students in the streets, as several higher education institutions draw young people from across the region.
The Cariri Metro links the municipality with neighboring Juazeiro do Norte and makes it easier to move around the area. The population is about 130,000 people, and central neighborhoods offer access to shops, services, and educational facilities.
Gypsum and marble are extracted in the area, and you can see quarries and processing plants on the outskirts. Rice and cattle also belong to the local economy and shape the rural patches outside the center.
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