The Captaincy of Pernambuco or New Lusitania () was a hereditary land grant and administrative subdivision of northern Portuguese Brazil during the colonial period from the early sixteenth century until Brazilian independence. At the time of the Independence of Brazil, it became a province of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Captaincies were originally horizontal tracts of land (generally) 50 leagues wide extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Tordesillas meridian. During the earliest years of colonial Brazil, the Captaincy of Pernambuco was one of only two prosperous captaincies in Brazil (the other being Captaincy of São Vicente), primarily due to growing sugar cane. As a result of the failure of other captaincies, in part due to the invasion of the Northeast coast of Brazil by the Dutch during the Seventeenth Century, Pernambuco's geographical area grew as failed captaincies were attached. At its height, the Captaincy of Pernambuco included the territories of the modern states of Pernambuco, Paraiba, Alagoas, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará and the western portion of Bahia (north and west of the São Francisco River) having thus a southern border with Minas Gerais. In the years surrounding Brazilian independence, the captaincy was reduced by repartitioning of several previously merged territories, until today's state with the same name was left. History Etymology Recent research indicates that the name Pernambuco derives from "Boca de Fernão" (Fernão's Mouth). The place, now known as Canal de Santa Cruz, is where Fernão de Noronha loaded his ships with Brazilian wood to trade in Europe. The name was spoken by the Tupi as "Pernãobuka," and was recorded by French writers as "Fernambouc"; the two pronunciations have been combined into the name most common today. Colonial period: the Captaincy of Pernambuco In 1630, at the close of this initial period of Portuguese colonization of Pernambuco, then the richest and most successful colony in Brazil, the Dutch attacked with sixty-seven ships, 7000 men, and 1,170 guns. The size of the force they mounted is a witness to the wealth and success of the Captaincy of Pernambuco after just 95 years of colonization. The foundation of the Captaincy of Pernambuco While no single person was solely responsible for the success of Pernambuco during this period, much of the credit belongs to Duarte Coelho Pereira, the first Donatário (Lord Proprietor). Duarte Coelho arrived in Nova Lusitânia (or "New Lusitania") in 1535 along with his wife