Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form lakes ("lagoas", in Portuguese). There are numerous maceiós and lakes in this part of Brazil; because of this, the city was named Maceió, and the state, Alagoas. The new Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport connects Maceió with many Brazilian cities and also operates some international flights. The city is home to the Federal University of Alagoas. Etymology The name "Maceió" has origin in the term tupi maçayó or maçaio-k, that means "what it covers the swamp". The Aurélio Dictionary says that the term "maceió" means a temporary and cyclic lagoon that is located at the edge of the sea at the mouth of a watercourse small enough to be interrupted by a silicate bar until the high tide opens the way temporarily cyclically related to the season, river flow, lunar seasons, etc. Nineteenth-century shipping reports, which reported on ships bringing cotton from Maceió, spelt it as Macaio. History The city began in an old sugar mill and plantation complex around the 19th century. Its development started with the arrival of ships taking wood from Jaraguá bay. With the installation of the sugar mills, Maceió started to export sugar, then tobacco, coconut, leather, and some spices. Prosperity made it possible for the settlement to become a village on December 5, 1815. Thanks to its continued growth, Maceió became the capital of the Alagoas state on December 9, 1839. Maceió is also a port city and due to its port development about 200 years ago it changed from a village into a city. Geography The city is located between the Mundaú Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean, with a tropical climate with average temperature of . , its metropolitan area had a total population of 1,354,973 inhabitants. Climate Maceió has a typical tropical climate, specifically a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am), with very warm to hot temperatures and high relative humidity all throughout the year. However, these conditions are relieved by a near absence of extreme temperatures and trade winds blowing from the ocean. January is the warmest month, with mean maximum of and minimum of and more sun; July experiences the coolest temperatures, with mean maximum of