Bahia has a narrow coastal plain and is otherwise on Brazil's Central Highlands. The São Francisco River(3) flows south to north through the state's center, behind a wall of mountains--an escarpment--separating its basin from the sea. Other lower mountains follow the state's western edge, setting another limit on the river's linear basin. At the north end of Bahia the river turns east and cuts through the barrier on its way to the sea. One of the dams on this river produces the Sabradinho Reservoir, one of South America's largest lakes.
Short coastal rivers drain Bahia's east, including the Paraguaçu, the Contas, the Pardo and the Jaquilinhonha.
In common with Brazil generally
Salvador(4), the state capital, has over two million residents--over three million in the metropolitan area. The city, once a capital of colonial Brazil, has a fort and a cathedral dating from the mid-16th century, though most of the churches and forts date from the 17th and 18th centuries. It divides into a lower part, comercio, and a upper part, Alta (Old), otherwise known as Centro (center).All of the pre-Columbian groups would have been collectively labeled as Amerindian by Joseph Greenberg. Beyond that reconstructing the past is difficult. No-one in Bahia speaks pre-Columbian languages. The known extinct languages include one Macro-Ge language, two unclassified languages and one isolate. There were probably other languages and groups. During the colonial era, Tupi was used as a lingua franca along the coast.
northeast
east
south
west, from the state's south
northwest
(1) Nordeste in Portuguese.
(2) Officially Brasil since the late 19th century.
(3) Translates from Portuguese as Saint Francis; it is South America's fifth longest river.
(4) Translates from Portuguese as Savior.