Ilhéus

Machine translation of the Portuguese Wikipedia article (November 2026 version).

Ilhéus is a Brazilian municipality on the coast and in the south of the state of Bahia, in the Northeast Region. It has the most extensive coastline in the state.

Ilhéus was founded in 1534 as “Vila de São Jorge dos Ilheos” and elevated to city status in 1881. Known as the “Capital of Cocoa” and called by its inhabitants the “Princesinha do Sul”, its economy is based on agriculture, tourism and industry. It is known as the setting of the novels of the famous Bahian writer Jorge Amado, such as Gabriela, Cravo e Canela and Terras do Sem Fim.

It was the largest cocoa producer in the world until it suffered an infestation of witches' broom, a disease that attacked the plantations in the 1990s and considerably reduced production.

It is also called “IOS” in the IATA code, which respects the old spelling of the city's name, “São Jorge dos Ilheos”, used on air tickets at Jorge Amado Airport.

Its gross domestic product per capita exceeds 25,000 reais. It is home to an important technology hub in the state and, together with Itabuna, serves as the regional centre for services. It hosts Jorge Amado Airport and is the gateway to sought-after destinations such as Itacaré, Canavieiras, Ilha de Comandatuba, Itabuna and Ilhéus itself.

The city centre is located on an island formed by the Almada rivers, which features beautiful landscapes and high biodiversity, but is threatened by pollution and deforestation of the Cachoeira and Itacanoeira (or Fundão) rivers, and also by the Jacaré and Itaípe canals.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Read the full article on Wikipedia (in Portuguese)