Piauí /

Piauí (Portuguese pronunciation: [piaˈwi]) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the non-landlocked Brazilian states at 66 km (41 mi), and the capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the north east to be located inland. The reason for this is, unlike the rest of the area, Piauí was first colonised inland and slowly expanded towards the ocean, rather than the other way around. In the Southeast of the State, the National Park of Serra da Capivara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park has more than 400 archaeological sites and the largest concentration of rock paintings in the world, in a landscape dominated by canyons and caatinga. The state has many highly important archaeological sites, including Serra de Capivara National Park and Sete Cidades National Park, which are rich in remains of prehistoric Amerindian civilisations. The first settlers in Piauí were bandits fleeing from São Paulo, notably Domingos Afonso Mafrense and Domingos Jorge Velho. Mafrense founded what is today Oeiras, whilst the first herds of cattle were taken there by Velho. In the 17th century, many impoverished