- Paraná (state)
Infobox Brazilian State
name = State of Paraná
motto =
anthem =
capital =Curitiba
latd= |latm= |latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW=
largest_city =Curitiba
demonym = Paranaense
leader_name1 = Roberto Requião
leader_name2 = Orlando Pessuti
area = 199.314,9
area_magnitude = 1 E10
area_rank = 9th
population_estimate = 10,387,378
population_estimate_rank = 6th
population_estimate_year = 2006
population_census = 10,217,684
population_census_year = 2005
population_density = 52.1
population_density_rank = 12th
GDP = R$ 126,622,000,000
GDP_rank = 5th
GDP_year = 2005
GDP_per_capita = R$ 12,339
GDP_per_capita_rank = 8th
HDI = 0.820
HDI_rank = 6th
HDI_year = 2005
abbreviation = BR-PR
time_zone = BRT
utc_offset = -3
time_zone_DST = BRST
utc_offset_DST = -2:"Other meanings:
Paraná, Argentina ,Paraná River "Paraná (pronounced|paɾaˈna [In
Brazilian Portuguese . TheEuropean Portuguese pronunciation is IPA| [pɐɾɐˈna] .] ) is one of the states ofBrazil , located in the South of the country, borderingParaguay andArgentina . Cut by the Tropic of Capricorn, Paraná has what is left of the araucarias forest, one of the most important subtropical forests of theworld . At the border withArgentina is the NationalPark of Iguaçú, considered byUNESCO as Patrimony of the Humanity and the spectacle of the Cataratas do Iguaçú attracts about 700 thousandtourist s per year. At only 40 km (24 miles) from there, at the border withParaguay , the largestdam of theworld was built, the Hidroelétrica de Itaipú. The StatePark of Vila Velha near the city ofPonta Grossa , is another attraction, with great rocky formations sculptured by the erosion ofrain andwind .Curitiba , the capital, is famous for its excellent quality oflife , and the Ilha do Mel, next to the historicalParanaguá , is another destination for eco-tourists.Geography
Paraná is bounded on the north by
São Paulo state , on the east by theAtlantic Ocean , on the south bySanta Catarina state and theMisiones Province ofArgentina , and on the west byMato Grosso do Sul and the republic ofParaguay , with theParaná River as its western boundary line.It state includes two geographic regions, a narrow coastal zone that that is home to the
Serra do Mar coastal forests , and a high plateau (2500 to 3000 ft.) whose precipitous, deeply eroded eastern escarpments are known as theSerra do Mar . ecoregion.The larger rivers of the state comprise the Paranapanema and its tributaries the Cinza and Tibagi, the Ivaí, Piquiri, Jejuí-Guaçu, and the Iguaçu with its principal tributary the Rio Negro. The Paranapanema and a small tributary, the Itararé, form the boundary line with São Paulo west of the Serra do Mar, and the Iguaçu and Negro, the boundary line with Santa Catarina and Argentina - both streams having their sources in the Serra do Mar and flowing westward to the Paraná. The other streams have shorter courses, and all are obstructed by falls and rapids. Twenty miles above the mouth of the Iguaçu are theIguaçu Falls , convert|215|ft|m|abbr=on. high, broken into twenty or more falls separated by rocks and islands, and surrounded by a wild, unsettled and wooded country. The surface of the plateau is undulating and the greater part is adapted to agricultural and pastoral purposes.Municipalities
See "
List of municipalities in Paraná "History
Paraná was first settled by gold prospectors from
São Paulo and formed part of the captaincy and province of São Paulo.The first missions of the
Jesuit s on the Paraná were situated just above the Guaíra Falls in this state and had reached a highly prosperous condition when the Indian slave hunters ofSão Paulo (calledBandeirante s) compelled them to leave their settlements and emigrate in mass to what is now the Argentine territory of Misiones. Their principal mission was known as Ciudad Real.The territory was set apart from São Paulo in 1853.
Pedro II of Brazil did so as a punishment for São Paulo support of the insurrection of 1842.Waves of
Europe animmigrants started arriving after 1850, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians. The development of the state is closely linked to the arrival of theimmigrant s.By the early 20th century, the state had two railway systems: the Paranagua to Curitiba (69 miles) with an extension to Ponta Grossa (118 miles) and branches to Rio Negro (55 miles), Porto Amazonas (6 miles) and Antonina (10 miles); and the São Paulo and Rio Grande, which crosses the state from northeast to south-west from União da Vitória, on the Iguaçu, to a junction with the Sorocabana line of São Paulo at Itararé. The junction of the two systems was at Ponta Grossa, north-west of Curitiba.
Demographics
According to the
IBGE of 2007, there were 10,410,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 52.1 inh./km².Urbanization : 84.5% (2006);Population growth : 1.4% (1991-2000);House s: 3,177,000 (2006). [Source: PNAD.]The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 7,620,000 White people (73.1%), 2,394,000
Pardo (Brown) people (23.0%), 270,000 Black people (2.6%), 124,000 Asian or Amerindian people (1.2%). [cite book|url=ftp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Indicadores_Sociais/Sintese_de_Indicadores_Sociais_2007/Tabelas|title=Síntese de Indicadores Sociais 2007|publisher=IBGE |location=Peraná, Brazil|format=PDF|isbn=85-240-3919-1|accessdate=2007-07-18|year=2007|language=Portuguese]People of Polish descent predominate in the central and south regions, mainly around
Curitiba . Italians predominate in the capital, Curitiba and in the coast. People of Ukrainian descent predominate in a few cities, such as Prudentópolis; many Ukrainians are found throughout the state. Germans predominate in a few cities, such as Rolândia. The Portuguese and their descendants are present in large numbers in almost all towns. [ [http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/regioes/7tipos/etniasl.html Imigrantes: Outras Etnias ] ]People of mixed-race ancestry predominate in a few towns in the north. There is a sizeable
Muslim Lebanese and Syrian community aroundFoz do Iguassu . In the north, Japanese people are very numerous. [ [http://www3.pr.gov.br/e-parana/pg_etnias.php :Governo do Estado do Paraná: ] ]The main cities of the state are:
*Curitiba (Capital and largest, east)
*Londrina (2nd largest, north)
*Maringá (3rd largest, north)
*Foz do Iguaçu (4th largest, west)
*Ponta Grossa (5th largest, center-east)
*Cascavel (6th largest, center-west)
*Guarapuava (9th largest, center)
*Paranaguá (10th largest, east-coast)Economy
The
service sector is the largest component ofGDP at 41.6%, followed by theindustrial sector at 40%.Agriculture represents 18.4% ofGDP (2004). Paraná exports:soybean 34.2%,vehicles 21.4%,wood 10%, frozenmeat 8.2%, others agriculture products 8.8% (2002).Share of the Brazilian economy: 5.9% (2005).
Its per capita GDP in 2005 was R$12,339, or US$5,400, 8th in Brazil and comparable to that of
Turkey [ * Cite web| url= http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/noticia_visualiza.php?id_noticia=1039&id_pagina=1 | title= Regional Accounts 2005 | author= IBGE | language= Portuguese | authorlink= Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics | year=2007 | month= November| accessdate=2007-11-26 ] .Trivia
Vehicles : 3,808,298 (March/2007);Mobile phone s: 5.9 million (April/2007);Telephone s: 2.7 million (April/2007);Cities : 399 (2007). [Source:IBGE .]Education
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official
high school curriculum.Educational institutions
*
Centro Universitário Curitiba (UNICURITIBA);
*Centro Universitário Franciscano do Paraná (UNIFAE);
*Faculdade de Tecnologia (FATEC) (College of Technology);
*Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR);
*Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) (State University of Londrina);
*Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) (State University of Maringá);
*Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná (UENP) (State University of North of Paraná);
*Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (Unioeste) (State University of West of Paraná)
*Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG) (State University of Ponta Grossa);
*Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) (Federal University of Paraná);
*Universidade Paranaense (UNIPAR)
*Universidade Positivo (Positivo University);
*Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR);
*Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná (UTP) (Tuiuti University of Paraná);
* and many others.Infrastructure
International airports
*
Curitiba Afonso Pena International Airport is Curitiba's main airport. It is located in the nearby city of São José dos Pinhais and all commercial flights operate from this airport. It is integrated into Curitiba's transportation system, with rapid buses and executive buses connecting the airport to the city.Small aircraft may also use the Bacacheri airport, which today hosts a flight school and a national airbase.*
Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu International Airport .Brazil ’s main airlines serve the city daily, connecting it with the rest of the country and foreign cities. Regional routes also serve local traffic. The airport is equipped for both visual and instrument operations, and has received charter flights from various continents. Its runway can servejumbo jet s such as theBoeing 747/100 and 747/200.AtFoz do Iguaçu there are currently four daily flights by Varig, two by Vasp, two by Tam and one by Ocean Air.The combination of transport by highway, air, river and railway makes Foz do Iguaçu an excellent, perhaps unique, location in theSouthern Cone of theAmericas . Its geographic location makes it a natural port forMercosur . In the future it also will be an obligatory port of entrance and exit of the bi-ocean central corridor.Highways
BR-116, BR-153,BR-158,BR-163, BR-272, BR-277,BR-280, BR-369,BR-373, BR-376, BR-467, BR-469, BR-476, BR-487.
ocial care
Paraná has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil with relatively low crime levels, a special attention given to
education andhealth and aHuman Development Index of ~0.820, the 5th highest in Brazil.In October 2003 the communist government of Mr. Roberto Requião, the state governor, tried to impose to Paraná a ban in both the cultivation and transportation of genetically modified crops. This was stricter than the Brazilian standard, and eventually found unconstitutional and overruled by federal courts. The claim of Paranian farmers blocked such insane initiative and today at least 80 % of the soybeans produced on the state are OGM, and OGM corn is coming as well.
The official propaganda of Mr. Requião has tried to sell Paraná as Brazil's largest exporter of organically-grown crops.
Nevertheless, and apart of chemiophobia, the point is that agriculture in Paraná still keeping by itself his heritage of high technological grounds, being concerned today in saving precious resources, like fuel, water, land and fertilizers, as well in cleaning the atmosphere by the sequestration of carbon result of the largest no-tillage move in history. This demand well qualified and paid jobs, and the result has being an all around development of the countryside related to agriculture, with an impressive decline in poverty on the last decade.
Must be stated that this great social improvement, like all children in schools, improved healthcare, homing and standard of living of the people as all, elimination of hungry, shining cities, paved roads, all has being acquired none by gift of whatever government but by the Paranian way of doing: Working hard, being righteous, loving and protecting family and land and never expecting nothing from nowhere but his own work
ports
Curitiba provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several soccer clubs based in Curitiba, such as:
*Coritiba Foot Ball Club ;
*Clube Atlético Paranaense ;
*Paraná Clube .Stadiums
* Clube Atlético Paranaense:
Kyocera Arena
* Coritiba Foot Ball Club: Couto Pereira
* Paraná Clube: Vila CapanemaCuritiba is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games of the2014 FIFA World Cup , for whichBrazil is the onlySouth America n bidder.Album
References
ee also
*en icon Flag of Paraná
*en iconBrazil
*pt icon [http://www.pr.gov.br Official Website]
*en icon [http://www.braziltour.com/site/gb/home/index.php Brazilian Tourism Portal]
*pt icon [http://www.webhotel.com.br Official Hotel Guide]
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