Iridescent Carnival dancers moving to the beat of Afro-Brazilian music add sizzle to the streets of Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Nearly the size of Texas, Bahia holds the roots of the Brazilian nation. Portuguese conquerors arrived here in the 16th century and soon imported captives from Africa to work plantations of sugarcane, tobacco, and coffee. Wealth generated by their labors helped make Salvador Brazil’s first capital. Today this coastal city swells with more than two million people.