Its economy is based on agriculture, services and some manufacturing industries.

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sobral.

The city is known for being the place where the astronomical observation of a solar eclipse on May 29, 1919, by a team of British scientists led by Sir Frank Watson Dyson was offered as the first proof of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, which had been published in 1916.

There is a monument in Patrocínio Square marking the location of this solar eclipse.

[citation needed] The city has thirteen radio stations.