The city sits at the foot of the Chapada do Araripe, a large plateau on the border of Ceará and Pernambuco.

In the Portuguese colonial period the larger region of southern Ceará belonged to Francisco Magalhães Barreto (1816-1887), a sugarcane landowner.

Residents of the town participated in the Pernambucan Revolt of 1817 and in the Confederation of the Equator, a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the Northeastern region of Brazil in 1824.

An important festival in Barbalha is the Festa do Pau-da-Bandeira de Santo Antonio (Feast of the Flagpole of Saint Anthony) in June.

The municipality produces famous rapadura (panela) (unrefined whole cane sugar) and cassava flour.

Barbalha experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw) with hot temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons.