Rio Grande do Norte

Rio Grande do Norte (UK: /ˌriːuː ˌɡrændi duː ˈnɔːrti/, US: /- ˌɡrɑːn-/, Portuguese: [ˈʁi.u ˈɡɾɐ̃dʒ(i) du ˈnɔʁtʃi] ^ⓘ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", referring to the mouth of the Potenji River.

The state is divided into 167 municipalities and the capital and largest city is Natal. The state has 410 km (254 mi) of sandy beaches and contains Rocas Atoll, the only atoll in the South Atlantic Ocean. The main economic activity is tourism, followed by the extraction of petroleum (the second largest producer in the country), agriculture, fruit growing and extraction of minerals, including considerable production of seasalt, among other economic activities. The state is home to 1.7% of the Brazilian population and produces 1% of the country's GDP. In 2017, the murder rate rose by 655%, making Rio Grande do Norte the state with the highest murder rate in Brazil: 63.9 per 100,000. But since then, it has experienced a gradual decline, dropping 6 percentage points in 2023 to 21.65.

Tourist attractions in the state include the Cashew of Pirangi (the world's largest cashew tree), the dunes and the dromedaries of Genipabu, the beaches of Ponta Negra, Maracajaú and Pipa, the Carnatal, Natal's carnival, the sixteenth-century Forte dos Reis Magos fortification, the hills and mountains of Martins, the Natal Dunes State Park, and others. The folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo was born and worked in the state. The state is the closest part of mainland Brazil to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.