Bahia
Bahia names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Bahia the capital of the state of the same name in Brazil
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the capital of the state of the same name in Brazil. It is on the east shore of the Bay of All Saints and is about 800 miles N. E. of Rio Janeiro with which it is connected by steamship and cable. The new city is well built, while the old has narrow and dirty streets. The new city is much higher in elevation than the old and they are connected by hydraulic elevators. The city is the seat of an archbishop. It has several handsome churches, notably the cathedral, and a fine archbishop's palace. There is a university, a normal school, a public library, and a museum. There are electric railways and an excellent harbor, which has been recently improved. The chief industries are the manufacture of cotton cloth, shoes, boots, and hats. Bahia is the second city of Brazil in population. It is the seat of a United States consul. Pop. about 300,000. BAHIA in the southern part of the province of
Bahia a state of Brazil
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a state of Brazil. It has an area of about 165,000 square miles. The coast is well wooded and is fertile. The land in the interior is high and is not well adapted for agriculture. The northern part is composed chiefly of desert land. The chief river is Sao Francisco, which crosses the state from south to north. The climate on the coast is hot and moist, while the interior is dry. The chief products are tobacco, sugar, cotton, fruits, coffee, and cocoa. Rubber trees have also been introduced. Mines of gold and diamonds exist and salt and saltpeter are found. Commerce is chiefly with Great Britain and France. The chief exports are tobacco, sugar, rubber, coffee, and skins. An important railway line is owned by the state. Pop. about 2,500,000. The capital is Bahia.
Bahia a port of Brazil
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a port of Brazil. It is situated on the fine harbor of All Saints' Bay, about 740 miles north from Rio Janeiro. Bahia was the capital of Brazil up to 1763. It is still the seat of an archbishopric. It is the capital of the state of Bahia, 164,000 square miles in extent. Bahia exports forest products, sugar, diamonds, and tobacco. Steamer landings average about two a day. The Brazilian Lloyds maintain a monthly steamship service with New York . The population (1909) is about 200,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts call the city Bahia, the name that clung to the port for centuries; today it is universally Salvador, with Bahia reserved for the state around it. Collier's 1921 figure of about 300,000 people and the claim that it was the second city of Brazil are both long superseded: Salvador now holds roughly 2.9 million within the city and some 4 million in its metropolitan area, but Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Fortaleza have pushed it down the ranking, while the state's 2.5 million has grown to about 15 million. The hydraulic lifts joining the low town to the high one survive as the Lacerda Elevator, still a working part of daily transport, and the old quarter Collier's dismissed as having narrow and dirty streets is the Pelourinho, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985 and the centre of a huge tourist trade. The economy the entries describe, tobacco, sugar and cocoa, was transformed after 1939, when Brazil's first commercial oil was struck near Salvador and petrochemicals came to dominate the region's industry.
Written for this edition, 2026.