Crato is a city of 130,000 inhabitants on the banks of the river Granjeiro in the south of the state of Ceará, in the northeast of Brazil.

Originally it was a small village in which the population were principally native Kariris, it gained official status as a city on October 17, 1817.

Crato has its Roman Catholic Diocese which has contributed to the educational system of the region with schools in the past.

In higher education, in addition to hosting campuses at the Federal University of Cariri (UFCA[3]) and the Federal Institute of Technological Education (IFCE[4]), the city is home to the state institution Universidade Regional do Cariri (URCA[5]), which has around 10,000 students.

Crato is connected to the nearby city of Juazeiro do Norte by a commuter rail line called the Cariri Metro that opened in 2009–2010.