Greater Natal

The Greater Natal (lit. Grande Natal, officially Natal Metropolitan Region, lit. Região Metropolitana de Natal) is a metropolitan area located in Rio Grande do Norte state in Brazil. It consists of nine municipalities, including the capital, Natal.

Greater Natal area in Rio Grande do Norte state.

The metropolitan area of Natal is known as a historical, cultural and economic center of state, with a total population of 1,263 million inhabitants.[1] The region was first officially defined on January 16, 1997. Only a few municipalities show a high level of agglomeration — namely, Natal-Parnamirim and Natal-São Gonçalo do Amarante.

The state government's greatest challenge is connecting all the cities in the metropolitan area by bus. There is a plan called "Via Metropolitana" (Metropolitan Highway) to connect all cities.

Municipalities in Greater Natal
Natal
Municipality Area (km²)
[2]		 Population
(2007)[3][4]		 GDP R$
(2006)[5]
Natal 170,298 774.230 7.508.466
Ceará-Mirim 739,686 65.450 247.860
Extremoz (pt) 125,665 21.792 96.887
Macaíba (pt) 512,487 63.337 527.652
Monte Alegre (pt) 200,000 20.590 63.266
Nísia Floresta (pt) 306,051 22.906 95.767
Parnamirim 120,202 172.751 1.269.568
São Gonçalo do Amarante 251,308 77.363 677.341
São José de Mipibu (pt) 293,877 36.990 172.328
Total 2.719,574 1.255.409 10.659.135

References
  2. IBGE, Área Territorial Oficial, Resolução nº 5 de 10 de outubro de 2002. Acessado em 26 de fevereiro de 2008.
  3. IBGE, População residente, em 1º de abril de 2007, Publicação Completa. Acessado em 26 de fevereiro de 2008.
  5. IBGE, Produto Interno Bruto dos Municipios 2002-2006. Acessado em 22 de dezembro de 2008.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.