It runs through the Amazon forest and the Brazilian states of Paraíba, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão, Tocantins, Pará, and Amazonas, from the proximities of Saboeiro up until the town of Lábrea.

Another main goal of the project was to alleviate the effects of the drought affecting the Northeast region of the country by providing a route to largely empty land in the middle of the rainforest,[3] which could be settled.

[5] In particular, because of high construction costs and Brazil financial crisis in the late 1970s, only a part of the highway was paved, from its beginning to 200 km ahead of Marabá.

Today construction vehicles can be seen traversing the road east and west bringing dirt and gravel to prepare for paving operations.

[8] In September 2022, the Brazilian government finished restoration on a paved 33.3-kilometer section of BR-230 located in the arid northern Tocantins between Aguiarnópolis and Trevo de Nazaré.

In Paraíba it represents the main axis of movement of people and goods between its municipalities, having as reference the port of Cabedelo and the cities of João Pessoa, Campina Grande, Patos, Pombal, Sousa and Cajazeiras, the largest economic centers in the state.

[10][11][12] Designed to better integrate the north of Brazil with the rest of the country, it was inaugurated on August 27, 1972, still unfinished and there are several sections to be paved.

Initially designed to be an 8,000-kilometer-long paved highway, connecting the north and northeast regions of Brazil with Peru and Ecuador, it has not undergone major changes since its inauguration.

Paraíba's economy is the 19th richest in the country and the sixth in the Northeast (behind Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará, Maranhão and Rio Grande do Norte, and ahead of Alagoas, Sergipe and Piauí).

Still in the same year, taking into account the employed population in the same age group, 40.30% worked in the services sector, 23.38% in agriculture, 15.55% in commerce, 7 96% in manufacturing industries, 7.09% in civil construction and 1.15% in public utility.

Cabedelo, in the João Pessoa Metropolitan Region, is the third largest economy in the state and the highest GDP per capita in Paraíba.

[120] In permanent cultivation: banana (134,606 t), coco-da-bay (36,385 t), papaya (30,810 t), mandarin (15,304 t), mango (11,306 t), passion fruit (8,287 t), orange (5,424 t), sisal (5,035 t), grape (2,196 t), guava (2,023 t), lemon (1,882 t), cashews (960 t), avocado (624 t), annatto (395 t) and black pepper ( 58t).

In 2011, the municipalities with the highest agricultural gross domestic product in the state were, in descending order, Pedras de Fogo, Santa Rita, Itapororoca and Araçagi.

The highest GDP in the secondary sector are João Pessoa, Campina Grande, Santa Rita, Cabedelo and Caaporã.

Some of these cities are: Maracanaú (5.19%), Juazeiro do Norte (3.31%), Caucaia (3.25%), Sobral (2.83%), Eusébio (1.56%), Horizonte ( 1.39%), Maranguape (1.07%), Crato (1.07%) and São Gonçalo do Amarante (1.02%).

The five municipalities with the highest GDP per capita in Ceará are: Eusébio (R$23,205), Horizonte (R$15,947), Maracanaú (R$15,620), São Gonçalo do Amarante (R$14,440) and Fortaleza ( R$11,461), all well above the state average, which is R$7,112.

[30] There has recently been a shift towards irrigated agriculture mainly for export, in areas close to the Chapada del Apodi, devoting itself especially to the cultivation of fruits such as melon and pineapple.

Some of the large companies in Ceará with national scope linked to the FIEC are: Aço Cearense, Companhia de Alimentos do Nordeste, Grendene, Café Santa Clara, Grande Moinho Cearense, Grupo Edson Queiroz, Indústria Naval do Ceará, J. Macêdo, M. Dias Branco, Troller and Ypióca.

Some commercial chains affiliated with Fecomercio with national prominence are Rede de Farmácias Pague Menos, Cone Pizza, Otoch and Esplanada.