Arapiraca

Arapiraca is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Alagoas, in the Northeast Region of the country. It lies in the Agreste zone of Alagoas, belongs to the Metropolitan Region of Agreste and sits about 125 km west of the state capital. Its population in 2022 was 234,696 inhabitants, which makes it the second most populous municipality in Alagoas and the ninth in the interior of the Northeast. The municipality occupies just over 345 km2, of which 59 km2 is urban area. The city grew mainly in the 1970s, when tobacco, once called Green Gold, became one of the main economic activities of the region and lifted the place to the category of a municipality. Today it hosts several large companies and many small ones, and in 2015 it ranked among the largest generators of formal jobs in the country.