Bahia (English: , bə-(H)EE-ə; Brazilian Portuguese: [baˈi.ɐ] ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by area. Bahia's capital is the city of Salvador (formerly known as "Cidade do São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos", literally "City of the Holy Savior of the Bay of All the Saints"), on a spit of land separating the Bay of All Saints from the Atlantic. Once a stronghold of supporters of direct rule of Brazil by the Portuguese monarchy, and dominated by agricultural, slaving, and ranching interests, Bahia is now a predominantly working-class industrial and agricultural state. The state is home to 7% of the Brazilian population and produces 4.2% of the country's GDP. It is divided into 417 municipalities.
Bahia is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. The Bay of All Saints is the largest bay on the Brazilian coast. Under the Brazilian Empire, it was bounded on the north by the Rio Real and by the Jequitinhonha on the south, but Bahia now comprises an irregular shape bound by other states of Brazil, some of which were formed from it. In the north, it is now bordered (from east to west) by Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco and Piauí. In the northwest, it is bordered by Tocantins. In the southwest, it borders Goiás, and in the south it is bordered (from east to west) by Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais.
The state is crossed from west to east by many rivers, but the most important is the São Francisco, which starts in Minas Gerais and runs through western Bahia before emptying into the Atlantic between Sergipe and Alagoas. Formerly plied by paddlewheel steamers, the river is only navigable to small modern craft but is still vital to the arid west since it continuously supplies water during seasons. The Sobradinho Dam created one of the largest reservoirs in the world; other major hydroelectric projects along its length include the Paulo Afonso Hydroelectric Complex and the Itaparica or Luiz Gonzaga Dam.
Bahia's geographical regions comprise the Atlantic Forest; the maritime region (Recôncavo) radiating from the Bay of All Saints, the site of sugar and tobacco cultivation; and the Planalto, which includes the sertão region of Bahia's far interior. The state includes the Chapada Diamantina, or Diamantina Tableland, a mountainous area which divides it into two distinct geographical zones. The rain falls regularly in the eastern section. The western area is more arid and its predominate vegetation the cerrado. The natural aridity was greatly worsened over the 19th century by the cowboys' habit of starting wildfires each year to improve the quality of the grass. The Chapada Diamantina National Park is home to picturesque chapadões.
Bahia's climate is tropical. It has the longest coastline of the country: 1,103 km long (685 miles; north coast: 143; Bay of All Saints: 124; and southern: 418). With 68% of its territory located in the semi-arid zone, the State presents diversified climates and an average rainfall that varies from 363 to 2,000 mm (14.3 to 78.7 in) per year, depending on the region.
The Portuguese Pedro Álvares Cabral sighted Monte Pascoal ("Easter Mountain") near Itamaraju and landed at what is now Porto Seguro on the southern coast of Bahia in 1500, claiming the territory for Portugal. In 1549, Portugal established the city of Salvador on a hill facing the Bay of All Saints. The city and surrounding captaincy served as an administrative capital of Portugal's colonies in the Americas until 1763. It remained the religious capital of Brazil's Roman Catholic hierarchy, with its archbishop serving as the national primate until 1907. Salvador holds the country's oldest cathedral and first medical college (1810), and an engineering school was established in 1899.
Bahia's captaincy was the first to fail, with its lands reverting to the Portuguese crown in 1549. While Portugal was united with Spain, the Dutch West India companies tried to conquer Bahia but was unsuccessful in the area, with Dutch Brazil restricted to the area from Pernambuco Northward.
Bahia was a center of sugarcane cultivation from the 16th to the 18th centuries and contains a number of historic towns, such as Cachoeira, dating from this era. Integral to the sugar economy was the importation of a vast number of African slaves: more than a third of all slaves taken from Africa were sent to Brazil, mostly to be processed in Bahia before being sent to work in plantations elsewhere in the country.
The state was the last area of the country to join the Empire of Brazil, as members in the local elite remained loyal to the Portuguese crown after the rest of the country proclaimed independence under Pedro I on 7 September 1822. Control of the province was disputed in several battles, mostly in Pirajá, before the Portuguese were fully expelled on 2 July 1823. It became a Brazilian state in 1889.
Charles Darwin visited Bahia in 1832 on his famous voyage on the Beagle. In 1835, Bahia was the site of an urban slave revolt, the Malê Revolt of 1835 by the predominantly Muslim West African slaves at the time. The term malê was commonly used to refer to Muslims at the time from the Yoruba word imale. The revolt is particularly notable as the greatest slave rebellion in the history of the Bahia. Under the Empire, Bahia returned 14 deputies to the general assembly and 7 senators; its own provincial assembly consisted of 36 members. In the 19th century, cotton, coffee, and tobacco plantations joined those for sugarcane and the discovery of diamonds in 1844 led to large influx of "washers" (garimpeiros) until the still-larger deposits in South Africa came to light. A smaller boom hit Caetité in 1872 upon the discovery of amethysts there. The cattle industry of the interior led to the development of Feira de Santana before collapsing in a series of droughts.
Historically, Bahia's politics and that of the country have been closely intertwined, initially due to Salvador's status as the first capital of Brazil. During the imperial period, several prime ministers originated from Bahia; during the early years of the Republic, Bahia produced some noteworthy national figures, such as Ruy Barbosa, Cezar Zama, and Aristides Spínola, amongst others.
During the First Brazilian Republic (República Velha) the biggest name in the state's politics was José Joaquim Seabra, also known as J. J. Seabra; the Vargas era and the subsequent re-democratization period saw the rise of Juracy Magalhães and Otávio Mangabeira, respectively. During the military dictatorship, the governorship of Antônio Carlos Magalhães (also known by his initials, ACM) marked the politics of Bahia for three decades, with one brief defeat in 1980 by Waldir Pires. Despite this defeat ACM later occupied many other public offices; he died in 2007 while serving as senator. ACM's wide-reaching influence in the state's politics has been dubbed "Carlismo", and is considered an example of a larger phenomenon called coronelismo ("colonel-ism").
After the end of military rule in Brazil in 1985, the government of the state of Bahia oscillated between two parties, the Partido da Frente Liberal (PFL, now the Democrats) and the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). The Workers' Party (PT) was elected to the governorship in 2007 and has held it ever since, through five successive elections (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022).
As a federative unit of Brazil, Bahia has its own three branches of government (executive, legislative, judiciary), which are operated by the Governor, the Legislative Assembly and the Court of Justice of the State of Bahia, respectively. Elected terms last four years, with state and federal elections being held simultaneously. The governor of the state is limited to two consecutive terms. The Legislative Assembly is composed of 63 state deputies. At the federal level, Bahia is represented by three senators and 39 federal deputies. Municipal elections are held two years after the state and federal elections.