Costa, Diógenes Félix da SilvaSilva, Abigail Rute da2016-02-032021-10-052016-02-032021-10-052015-12-11SILVA, A.R. Produção artesanal de sal marinho no litoral setentrional do Rio Grande do Norte. 2015, 78 f. Monografia (graduação em geografia bacharelado) - Departamento de geografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2015.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/42837The use of salt evaporation ponds by man is an activity that already exists by millennia, where the first records of extracting salt from seawater came from China, about 2.500 BC. The procedures used to such practice was to store seawater on clay dikes and wait for the salt’s precipitation, with NaCl’s predominance and high amount of magnesium and calcium salts. (BAAS-BACKING, 1931). With regard to the salt production in Brazil, in a historical contexto, the first settlers were unaware of mineral production in the colony, so, for their own use and activities such as leather tanning and to salting meat and fish, the Portugueses settled little salt evaporation ponds in the mouth of rivers that flowed into the Atlantic Ocean, making Cunhaú in Rio Grande do Norte, Itamaracá in Pernambuco and Serigi in Sergipe (ANDRADE, 1995). This research was developed in the localized artisanal salt evaporation ponds (highlighted on the map) on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte (ARAUJO, 2013). The purpose of this research is the profile analysis of sustainability of artisanal salt production in Rio Grande do Norte, featuring the main factors for the permanence of this activity. The methodological procedures were performed in the following steps: 1) bibliographic and cartographic survey of the area; 2) Analysis of the functional dynamics of salt evaporation ponds and characterization of artisanal salt production steps in loco; 3) Using the SWOT matrix in the integrated analysis of the artisanal system. According to data from surveys, we identified two most significant as to handmade salt production, the Corrego’s salt evaporation pond and Boi Morto’s salt evaporation pond. The activity uses traditional techniques developed by salt evaporation ponds workers, may be noted from the structure of the salt evaporation pond until the dynamic operation of the entire production circuit.openAccessSalinas artesanais.Sustentabilidade.Matriz SWOT.bachelorThesis