Cities
Natal
Northern America
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Natal is a Brazilian municipality and the capital of Rio Grande do Norte state, in Brazil's Northeast Region. Its population was about 784,200 in 2025, with the Greater Natal metropolitan area exceeding 1.5 million. Founded on Christmas Day 1599 along the Potengi River and briefly held by the Dutch as New Amsterdam, Natal was judged one of the world's four most strategic points by the United States during the Second World War and later became home to South America's first rocket launch base, earning it the nickname "Space Capital of Brazil."
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