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Santa Catarina
Flag of Santa Catarina See other Brazilian States Capital Florianópolis Largest City Joinville Area 95,442.9 km² Population
  - Total
  - Density
5,098,448
53.4 inh./km² Governor Luiz Henrique da Silveira(PMDB) Demonym Catarinense HDI (2000) 0.822 – high Timezone GMT-3 ISO 3166-2 BR

Santa Catarina (pron. IPA: // ) is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in the country. Its capital is Florianópolis, which lies on the Santa Catarina's island.

Its largest city is Joinville.

Neighboring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. To the west it also borders Argentina.

Geography

The Atlantic Ocean coast has many beaches, islands, bays and inlets. The center of the State is covered with groves of Brazilian pines, the southwest has prairies, and the east and west strips of forests.

Santa Catarina is considered the coldest state in Brazil. It is also one of the few Brazilian states where it snows, occasionally during the winter, because of its highlands. In the mid 1990s, during a rigorous winter, it snowed on the state's countryside about 2 meters of snow, equivalent to the quantity of snow that falls in the winter of Russia or Canada.

History

European settlement began with the Spanish settlement of Santa Catarina island in 1542. The Portuguese took control in 1675. The captaincy of Santa Catarina was established in 1738. Large numbers of European immigrants, especially from Germany, began arriving in the early 19th century. Immigrants from Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Japan and other parts of Europe later arrived, with one result being an abundance of small, family held farms in the state's interior. In late March 2004, the state was hit by the first ever hurricane recorded in the South Atlantic.

Because there is no naming system for such an event in Brazil, Brazilian meteorologists called it Catarina, after the state.

Ethnic groups

European settlement

Santa Catarina is considered the most European State of Brazil. The vast majority of the population are descendants of European settlers.

Portuguese

The Portuguese started arriving in the 1750s, mainly from the Azores islands, and colonized the coast. In the late 18th century, half of Santa Catarina's population was Portuguese-born. These Portuguese established many important towns of the State, such as Florianópolis, the capital.

Germans

Germans started arriving in 1828. They were peasants that were attracted to Brazil to get their own lands, since Germany was overpopulated and many people had no lands to work. German immigration was very low, until the 1850s, when waves of Germans started arriving in Southern Brazil. To stimulate the development of the German colonization in Southern Brazil, the Brazilian government has created many German colonies. These colonies were ethnically Germanic areas, where people from many parts of Germany settled. Initially, these colonies were rural lands, where the immigrants were able to cultivate their own lands. Many of these German colonies had a great development and became big towns, such as Blumenau and Joinville, the largest city in Santa Catarina.

Germans had been isolated in rural communities for decades. They did not have much contact with other people of Brazil, and for generations they were able to speak German and keep their German traditions in Brazil. This situation changed in the 1930s, when Brazil declared war against Germany in 1942, and the German immigrants were 'obligated' to learn Portuguese and to follow a Brazilian way of life.

Nowadays, the German influence in the State of Santa Catarina is still very strong and visible. Many towns, especially the small ones, still retain many aspects of the German culture, such as Pomerode, a small town where 90% of the population are of German-Brazilian heritage and most of the inhabitants speak German fluently or the Oktoberfest of Blumenau and many other towns in the region. The architecture also shows German influence, as well in people's customs and food.

Italians

Italian settlers started arriving in Santa Catarina in 1875 and immigrated in large numbers until the 1910s. They were peasants from Northern Italy and established themselves in ethnically Italian colonies close to the coast. In the beginning, the Italian settlement had failed, because many Italians died of tropical diseases or left the colonies to find better conditions. However, in Vale do Tubarão region (southern Santa Catarina), Italian immigrants found cooler weather and better lands, and the colonies prospered. Many Italians worked in the coal industry and, unlike the German immigrants, they did not dedicate themselves very much to agriculture. As they were not isolated in rural colonies, Italian immigrants were quickly integrated into the Brazilians of Portuguese descent, that were living there since the 18th century.

Economy

Santa Catarina has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil- comparable to the Iberian Peninsula countries, and is a major agricultural and industrial center.

In the north of the state, electric-mechanical, textile and furniture industries are stronger; in the west, cattle and poultry breeding, and in the south, ceramics and shellfishes.

Santa Catarina has some of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil - Summer months (Dec-Mar) make the state of the most sought after travel destinations in Brazil and South America.

The major cities and their respective fields are:

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Santa Catarina (state)".

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