Campina Grande

History

The founding of Campina Grande is credited to Captain Teodósio de Oliveira Ledo who led a group of Ariús Indians to settle the land and begin farming on December 1, 1697. However, some historians do not agree with this version and suggest that the place was already a settlement and named Campina Grande when Teodósio arrived with the Ariús. This position is certainly supported by the fact that Campina Grande is in a critical geographic location for people travelling between the highlands and the coast. The political actions of Teodósio in mentioning Campina Grande to the king of Portugal in May 1699 went a long way to establishing the location as place of importance. The Ariús inhabited a small farm made up of shacks which became the first street in the new community. Later, this street was called Rua do Oriente (Street of the East) and today it is known as rua Vila Nova da Rainha (New Village of the Queen). The Cathedral of Campina Grande was constructed on one of the higher slopes in the area. It formed the Matriz plaza which later also became one of city's most important streets: Avenida Marechal Floriano Peixoto. The village soon became a town because of the commerce it attracted and the fact that there were few settlements in Paraíba. Campina Grande began as a small village situated in front of an old lake called Açude Velho. These people were known as tropeiros because they were traveling merchants who traded and sold goods such as meat, cotton clothes and corn flour among the cities and villages they passed by. Campina Grande became the village (Vila Nova da Rainha) that they rested in as they were coming from the coast to the west, and vice versa. The introduction of the railroad caused this tiny village to develop into a bustling city. At the beginning of…

Geography

A list of 15 plants commonly found in the Campina Grande area. Of the 132 species of trees found, 51.2% originate from other countries and 32.8% are native species. {|class="wikitable" !Scientific name !Popular Name |- |Senna siamea |Yellow Cássia |- |Prosopis juliflora |Algaroba |- |Clitoria fairchildiana |Sombreiro |- |Terminalia catappa |Castanet |- |Pithecellobium dulce |Hunger Killer |- |Pachira aquatica |Cocoa-bravo |- |Tabebuia chrysantha |Yellow Ipê |- |Delonix regia ||Flamboyant Tree |- |Licania tomentosa |Oitizeiro |- |Ficus benjamina |Benjamina Fig |- |Syzygium cumini |Jambul |- |Roystonea oleracea |Imperial Palm Tree |- |Schinus terebinthifolius |Aroeira-da-praia |- |Spathodea campanulata |Espatódia |- |Adenanthera pavonina |Brazil Cássia |} Campina Grande has a dry-summer tropical savanna climate (Köppen: As) that borders on a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh).

Most-observed species

• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  46
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  39
• Sayaca Tanager

  Thraupis sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  38
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33
• Blue-winged Parrotlet

  Forpus xanthopterygius (Spix, 1824) · Aves
  31
• Burnished-buff Tanager

  Stilpnia cayana (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  29
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  28
• Southern Caracara

  Caracara plancus (J.F.Miller, 1777) · Aves
  26