Salvador, located on a peninsula on the Todos os Santos Bay, is the capital of the federal state Bahia. With more than two million inhabitants, Salvador is the most important economic center of the northeast Brazil. In 1501, just one year after the "discovery" of Brazil, Amerigo Vespucci reached the peninsula on November 1st, (All Saints Day, thus the name Baia de Todos os Santos, or "All Saints Bay"). In 1549, Salvador was made the first capital of Brazil by the Portuguese crown and evolved into the largest city south of the equator, with 25,000 inhabitants at the time.