Talk:Sertão

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Isn't this the same is the Cerrado? Anyways, i'll put a link on it.. Dreadnought9 17:06, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Sertão, Cerrado & Caatinga are words that frequently overlap, especially in the pen of those not familiar with specifically Brazilian geographic terminology -- but they are not synonyms.
  • Sertão, according to Aurelio, the most scholarly Brazilian dictionary, is "an uncultivated place, far from densely populated areas; jungle in the hinterland of a continent; (Brazilian Northeast) the innermost and drier part of the country, far from the coast." The word is used by the Brazilian media as a popular synonym for what the IBGE terms semi-árido nordestino and refers to the valley of the São Francisco River, as well as South Piauí, South Ceará, West Paraíba, West Pernambuco, South-West Rio Grande do Norte and North Minas Gerais.
  • The same dictionary gives for Cerrado the following meaning (related to Geography, the word has other meanings): "vegetation composed by low, crooked trees intertwined with low bushes and grass". The word is used by IBGE to name the original vegetation of West Minas Gerais, Goiás, South Tocantins, South Mato Grosso, East Mato Grosso do Sul, West São Paulo and the Federal District.
  • Caatinga is defined as "forest-like vegetation of the Brazilian North-East composed by trees that lose their leaves during the drought, usually thick with pricks, cacti and bromelias". The dictionary also state that the regions where this vegetation was originally found are still called such.
We have, then, three words that refer to three different geographical areas: Sertão is the innermost part of the North-East, Caatinga is the are between the Green Belt (Zona da Mata) and Sertão, in the Same North-East, while Cerrado is a vegetation found elsewhere, in the Center-SouthEast.
BTW, the words are so translated by my dictionary: Cerrado = Thickets; Sertão = Backlands, Backwoods, Badlands or Outback (depending on context); Caatinga = no equivalent term in English.
I hope this will help. References: Pequeno Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, by Aurélio Buarque de Hollanda Ferreira. Dicionário Escolar Português-Inglês, Inglês-Português by Oswaldo Serpa. jggouvea 13:53, 24 February 2007 (UTC)