Arapiraca is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Alagoas, Northeast Region of the country. It is located in Agreste in Alagoas and belongs to the Metropolitan Region of Agreste, being located about 125 km (78 mi) west of state capital. Its population in 2022 was 234,696 inhabitants, making it the second most populous municipality in Alagoas and the ninth in the interior of the Northeast. It occupies an area of just over 345 km² (133 sq mi), being 59 km² (23 sq mi) in urban area.

The development of the city took place mainly in the 1970s, when the culture of producing tobacco, formerly known "Green Gold", one of the main economic activities of the time in the region, elevated the city to the category of municipality. Currently, the city has several large companies and countless small companies that give a great boost to the local economy.

Currently, Arapiraquense City has been standing out for being one of the most generating jobs throughout the national territory. According to data from the General Register of Employees and Unemployed, released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Arapiraca was the fourth largest generator of formal jobs in the country in 2015. According to the MTE, the city generated 2,076 jobs last year, second only to the cities of Canaã dos Carajás, in Pará, which generated 2,801 formal jobs, Pontal do Paraná, in Paraná, which registered 2,265 job openings and Matão, in the state of São Paulo, with the creation of 2,110 formal jobs.

According to a popular belief, the word Arapiraca has indigenous origins and means the "branch that the macaw visits". However, according to Tupinologist Eduardo de Almeida Navarro, the word "Arapiraca" originated from the term Tupi language arupare'aka, which means "barbs".

Although the city of Arapiraca appears to be a recent city, there are records that, around 1848, the Arapiraca lands belonged to Marinho Falcão. He sold them to Amaro da Silva Valente, who moved in with his family. Some time later, Amaro da Silva's son-in-law, Manoel André Correia, began to penetrate the long, untouched virgin forests until he discovered a fertile plain rich in leafy trees, mainly the tree that gives its name to the city, "Arapiraca". It was below Arapiraca, located on the banks of Riacho Seco, where Manoel André Correia rested and had the idea of building a hut.

After some time, with the arrival of other families, the Arapiraca tree was surrounded by a village. The place began to be populated in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1855, Manoel André's wife died, and in her honor, in 1864, Manoel André decided to build the chapel of Nossa Senhora do Bom Conselho over her grave. In 1863, a year before the construction of the chapel, the son of Amaro da Silva Valente and brother-in-law of Manoel André, Manoel Ferreira de Macedo, arrived in the village. Agricultural products produced in the village were sold at the Lagoa dos Veados fair, close to the village of Arapiraca.

Manoel André also contributed to the economic growth of neighboring towns. Manoel opened a trail along which it was possible to take animal convoys to the village of Porto da Folha (today the city of Traipu), as it was known until 1876. This trail became known in the central region of Alagoas and all the products from neighboring towns were shipped through it. In the year 1880, Esperidião Rodrigues, associating with Florêncio Apolinário, settled in the village of Arapiraca with the first business house, in the field of stevedores and fabrics and in 1884 Esperidião created the first fair.

As a district, Arapiraca was successively subordinated to Penedo, Porto Real do Colégio, São Brás and Limoeiro de Anadia. It was elevated to the category of municipality on October 30 1924, consisting of territories dismembered from Palmeira dos Índios, Porto Real, São Brás, Traipu and Limoeiro de Anadia.