The Captaincy of Pernambuco or New Lusitania is 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 becomes a province of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve.
Captaincies are originally horizontal tracts of land fifty leagues wide extending from the Atlantic ocean to the Torsedillas meridian.At the time of colonial Brazil, the Captaincy of Pernambuco is one of only two prosperous captaincies (the other being the Captaincy of São Vicente), due to the cultivation of sugar cane.At its height, the Captaincy of Pernambuco includes 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), thus having its southern border with Minas Gerais.
