Right now, you’re here.
Bellow there is a map which situates the city, state and country:
Perspective map of Brazil to the State of Paraíba and to João Pessoa
Geospatial Location
Right now, you’re here.
Bellow there is a map which situates the city, state and country:
Perspective map of Brazil to the State of Paraíba and to João Pessoa
Source: Batista e Lima (2020)
João Pessoa is the capital of the State of Paraíba, which is in the northeast region of Brazil. The city has around 800 thousand inhabitants, and together with its metropolitan region, 1,1 million inhabitants.
The other cities that are in the metropolitan area are: Bayeux (approximately 100 thousand inhabitants), Cabedelo (approximately 60 thousand inhabitants) and Santa Rita (approximately 104 thousand inhabitants).
Still close, there are the cities of Lucena (approximately 15 thousand inhabitants) and Conde (approximately 22 thousand inhabitants).
The region is located along the state’s coastal strip (beach and sea) and thrives in the trading and services sector, especially tourism and their supporting services (hospitality, gastronomy, cultural services and craftsmanship, receptive tourism, etc.) and construction (real estate), which is growing.
There is also the industrial sector, farming sector (especially family farming with subsistence products along with small and medium sized animals) and extractive sector (fishing, prospecting, etc.).
In the city center there are general businesses, service providers and public services. It’s the so-called old city, in which everything started almost five centuries ago.
Because of that, you will find what we call “casarões” and old buildings, many of which are well preserved.
The city center's business and service focused characteristic makes it so that, during daytime, there is a heavy flow of people and vehicles, but at night it is more deserted and there is only a small amount of people walking the streets.
Almost all the collective ways of transportation (bus, because there is no subway in João Pessoa) lead their passenger to the city center, in special to a place called “Terminal de Integração” that is located in a neighborhood called “Bairro do Varadouro”, right next to the city center.
This is the most indicated place to change buses by the number of different ones that pass there, going to every place in the city.
It is important to know that it is only possible to do this “integração” (changing bus without paying again) if someone has the bus card, which is sold in these places or in ticket windows close to them.
There is also the possibility of “integração” with the cities adjacent to João Pessoa using the same card and paying only half the price of the second passage.
To know the itineraries and at what time the bus will pass, there is an app called "Mobe", in which you can download on your phone, and with Internet access you can see the bus’ path and the time it will take for it to arrive where you are.
The “Terminal de Integração” is located near the Estação Rodoviária (Bus Station), allowing that, once you get out, you can go to the station and buy a bus ticket to other cities in Paraíba or in the country.
Next to the station there is also a bus stop, from there you can go to the other cities in the metropolitan region, such as Santa Rita and Bayeux. If you do go to those cities, it is important to know which neighborhood you want to go, and it is informed by the buses.
There are also some buses who can take you to the airport, the only one in the region, which has both national and international flights.
Also close to “Terminal de Integração” and “Estação Rodoviária”, there is an urban train station, which allows you to traverse in Light Rail Vehicles (LRV/VLP) to the cities of Bayeux, Santa Rita and Cabedelo.
So, if you want to go to the proper business center, it's best that you go to the Lagoa (the Lake, almost all the buses pass through there) and walk there. But in the case you want to go somewhere else, and in the place you currently have no buses which go there, you should go to “Terminal de Integração'' and take a different bus to the place you actually want to go.
At nighttime, João Pessoa and Cabedelo’s coastlines are the most crowded places in both cities. Even though each neighborhood carries its own crowds, Tambaú, Cabo Branco and Manaíra usually stand out.
The majority of shopping malls in the city open at 10 a.m. and stay open until 10/11 p.m. The biggest shopping malls in the city are: Manaíra, o Mangabeira and Tambiá. There are some other smaller ones for specific purposes: Sul, Mag, Pátio Altiplano, Bessa, Lagoa, Terceirão.
Almost all neighborhoods have market-places or public markets, in which they usually sell food and other utilities for more affordable prices.
Map with some Market-Places and Public Markets in João Pessoa.
Following, there is a list of a few of those places, feel free to check which one is closer to your current location.