Areia Branca

The town of Areia Branca began as a fishermen’s village in the island Maritataca, on the right bank of the river Mossoró, in front of the heights of Pontal that establishes the division of waters between the river and the ocean. The first brick house was built there in 1867. Areia Branca today is a municipality of 23 000 inhabitants and 374 square kilometers. State and federal roads connect the town with other towns of Rio Grande do Norte and of the neighboring state of Ceará. Roads RN-012 and RN013 reach the federal road BR-304 that goes to Natal and Fortaleza. BR-110 connects Areia Branca and Mossoró and other places on the region.

In 1974 the island-port of Areia Branca, the main outlet for the salt produced in Rio Grande do Norte for the Brazilian market. Situated 26 km northeast of the town and 14 miles of the coast, the it consists of facilities to load ships and a bridge 398 m long. The quay for docking the barges that come from Areia Branca is 166 m and the water is 7m deep. At this quay rhe salt is unloaded to be stocked on a 15 000 square meters yard that can hold 100 000 tons of salt. The port handles an average of 7000 tons a day.

See the site about Tourism and the Island-port

Town port

Airview of the town, surrounded by the river and the sea