Vitória, Espírito Santo, Southeast Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Vitória (Victória), is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. It is located on a small island within a bay where a number of rivers meet the sea. It was founded in 1551. The city proper 93 square km (36 square miles) whilst the Greater Vitória metropolitan area is the 14th largest in Brazil.

Vitória is a riverine island surrounded by Vitória's Bay. In addition to Vitória, the main island, another 34 islands and a mainland portion are part of the municipality, totalling 93.381 square km (36.05 square miles). Originally there were 50 islands, many of which were joined to the largest island by landfill.

In 1998, the United Nations rated Vitória as the fourth best state capital in Brazil to live in, rating cities on health, education, and social improvement projects. Among the Brazilian capitals, Vitória currently maintains the second best human development index (HDI) (after Florianópolis) according to research from the Getulio Vargas Foundation. It was considered the fourth best Brazilian city to live in by the United Nations in 2013, behind São Caetano do Sul, Águas de São Pedro and Florianópolis, and it was ranked as having the highest GDP per capita.

The city has two major ports: the Port of Vitória and the Port of Tubarão. These ports are part of the largest port complex of the country, which are considered the best in quality of Brazil. The city, which lies on the coast, has proximity to the mountains of Espírito Santo. Through the city's port authority, the city council also manages the Trindade and Martim Vaz islands, 1,100 km (680 miles) off the coast, which are important meteorological bases because of their strategic position: located in an area of dispersion of air masses.

Economy Vitória's economy is based on port activities, active trade, industry, and also providing services to tourism. The capital of Espírito Santo has two ports that are the most important of the country: Port of Vitória and the Port of Tubarão. The most important industries are global steelmaker ArcelorMittal Tubarão (formerly CST) and mining company Vale (formerly Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, CVRD).

Vitória's GDP corresponds to 20% of the state economy. The tertiary sector encompasses most of the economy of Vitória, reaching 60% of the value of the local economy. This amount does not include local public administration. The calculation covers commerce and services. Industry accounts for 30% of Vitória's economy, housing large companies in the extractive sectors, such as Petrobras.

Trade The main shopping centre in Vitória is the Shopping Vitória, featuring over 400 shops, a large food court and a cineplex. There is also the Shopping Norte Sul, with 99 stores, the Shopping Centro da Praia, Shopping Boulevard, among others.

Educational institutions • Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) • Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Espírito Santo (IFES) – a.k.a. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Espírito Santo (CEFET-ES) / Escola Técnica Federal do Espírito Santo (ETFES) • Universidade Vila Velha (UVV) • Escola Superior de Ciências da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Vitória (Emescam) • Faculdade de Música do Espírito Santo (FAMES) • Centro Universitário Multivix Vitória (Multivix) • Faculdade Cândido Mendes de Vitória (FCMV) • Faculdades Integradas Espírito-Santenses (FAESA) • Faculdades Integradas de Vitória (FDV) • Faculdade Estácio de Sá de Vitória (Fesv) • Associação Vitoriana de Ensino Superior (Favi) • Faculdade Metropolitana de Vitória (Metropolitana) • Faculdade Batista de Vitória (Fabavi) • Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas de Vitória (Facev) • Fundação Capixaba de Pesquisa em Economia, Contabilidade e Finanças (FUCAPE Business).