It is located 491 km south of the state capital Fortaleza in the semiarid sertão.

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

Juazeiro do Norte was initially a district of the nearby city of Crato, until a young Padre Cícero Romão Batista decided to stay as a cleric in the village.

Because of the so-called "milagre de Juazeiro" ("miracle in Juazeiro", when Padre Cícero gave the sacred host to the religious sister Maria de Araújo, the host became blood), the priest was associated with mystical characteristics and began to be venerated by the people as a saint.

[citation needed] On July 6, 2013, during the worst drought in 60 years in the Brazilian Wilderness (Sertão), a Christian music band Diante do Trono recorded its sixteenth work in Juazeiro do Norte, Tu Reinas album was recorded at Park Events Padre Cicero brought together approximately 50,000 people who came from all parts of Brazil, was the largest event in Juazeiro do Norte and across the Sertão region.