Southern Region, Brazil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The southern region of Brazil (Sul in Portuguese) is characterized by its relatively high standard of living compared to the rest of the country; as of 2004, the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul had an average of ~0.805 in the Human Development Index.
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[edit] General Information
- Area: 577,214 km² (6.2%)
- Population: 25,107,616
- GDP: ~91,5bi US$ (16.5%)
- HDI: ~0.875
- Climate: Temperate in almost the entire region, warm in the summer and mildly cold in the winter (sometimes there is snow in the southern parts of the region, especially in elevated areas or serras in Portuguese). The northeast part of the region has a subtropical climate, being hot in the summer and warm/cool during the winter, with some cold days.
- States: Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina
- Largest cities: Curitiba (1,586,848); Porto Alegre (1,360,033); Londrina (446,822); Joinville (429,004); Caxias do Sul (360,223); Florianópolis (341,781); Pelotas (323,034); Canoas (305,711); Maringá (288,465); Ponta Grossa (281,000); Blumenau (277,500); Cascavel (273,000); Foz do Iguaçu (269,585); Santa Maria (243,396), Rio Grande (238,000)
- Economy: Machinery and automobile industry, textiles, tourism, energy production, computer programming, soil, orange, apple, grapefruit.
[edit] Population and ethnic diversity
The region is highly urbanized (87%) and many cities are famous for their urban planning, like Curitiba, Londrina, and Maringá. 85% of Southern Brazil's population is made up of whites, due to strong European immigration in the past.
[edit] Coast
The population of Southern Brazil's coast is mainly of Portuguese descent, tracing their roots back to the middle XVIII century, when waves of Portuguese colonists, from the Azores islands, settled in the region.
[edit] Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul
In the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, most of the population is of Italian, German and Portuguese descent, tracing mostly their roots back to the late 19th century, when immigrants from Germany and Italy populated the region.
[edit] Paraná
The state of Paraná also received strong German, Italian and Portuguese immigration. But a distinctive characteristics of the European imigration to this state is the large influx of people from Eastern Europe, mainly from Poland, but also from Russia and Ukraine. In fact, this state hosts the largest number of inhabitants with Eastern European descent among all Brazilian states.
Paraná also have received imigration from East Asia, particularly from Japan, and from Middle East (Syria and Lebanon). The Japanese population of Paraná is the second (to São Paulo) largest in Brazil.
[edit] Economy
The Sul is one of the most highly industrialized regions of the country.
In Curitiba, automobile manufacturing and machinery manufacturing are the most important economy factors of the city.
In the north of Santa Catarina (Blumenau, Jaguará do Sul), textiles are produced. It is the main textile center of Brazil. The region (Joinville) also is known for computer programming.
Rio Grande do Sul produces mainly machinery equipment.
Food processing is a major industry in the area, many cities have its economy heavily relying on it (Chapecó, Cascavel, Santa Maria). The region is a major producer of grapefruits, soil, apples and cow meat.
Tourism is also a heavy economy factor, either by its natural beauty (Balneário Camboríu, Foz do Iguaçu, Florianapólis) or by the beauty and historical attractions of the region (Curitiba, Gramado, Maringá). Also, one of the biggest thematic parks of the world, the Beto Carrero Thematic Park, is installed in the region, in Balneário Camboríu) contributes significantly to the economy of Santa Catarina.
[edit] Independence
There are movements in South Brazil that claim for independence, like O Sul é o Meu País.
