Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul

Infobox City
official_name = Municipality of Santa Maria
"Município de Santa Maria"

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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_type2 = State
subdivision_name = Brazil
subdivision_name1 = South
subdivision_name2 = Rio Grande do Sul
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Antônio Valdeci Oliveira de Oliveira (PT)
area_note =
area_total_km2 = 1823.1
population_as_of = 2006
population_footnotes =
population_total = 270073
population_density_km2 = 151.8
population_total = 270073
population_metro =
timezone = UTC-3
utc_offset = -3
timezone_DST = UTC-2
utc_offset_DST = -2
latd = 29|latm= 41|lats= 0|latNS=S
longd = 53|longm=48|longs= 0|longEW=W
elevation_m = 113
elevation_ft =
website = [http://www.santamaria.rs.gov.br Prefeitura de Santa Maria]
footnotes =|

Santa Maria is a municipality in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. It is known for the (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria) and a number of other private universities and colleges. Because of the large number of college age students, the city has a relatively young population. Santa Maria is also known for its military contingent - second largest in Brazil.

The name of the city means "Saint Mary" in Portuguese. Santa Maria is also known in the region by being the host city of an important religious festival dedicated to Nossa Senhora Medianeira called "Romaria da Medianeira" (Medianeira is a name of Our Lady that was created in Venice, Italy). Every year, tens of thousands of people from all over Brazil join in the celebrations.

Santa Maria has a population of 270,073 and a total area of 1,823.1 km² (source: IBGE). It has a humid subtropical climate and its annual average temperature is 18°C.

The municipality contains 10 districts. The city of Santa Maria itself is located in the urban Seat District ("Distrito Sede"), which is divided into 8 "regiões administrativas" (administrative regions), and further subdivided into 41 "bairros" (neighbourhoods).

Santa Maria is often referred to as the "heart of Rio Grande do Sul" (from Portuguese: "cidade coração do Rio Grande"), due to its central location in the state — the geographical center of the state is located in the rural District of Santa Maria called Passo do Verde. Santa Maria has been also coined the nickname of "culture city" (Portuguese: "cidade cultura"), mostly because of the local universities, which host a large number of students and young adults who engage in many cultural and political actions, social entrepreneurs, and a number of academic researchers of international reputation.

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Maria.

Santa Maria also has two soccer teams. Inter-SM and Riograndense-SM

Paleontology

The city is the birthplace of Paleorrota and paleontology in Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil. In 1902, a Rhynchosaur was collected in Santa Maria, on what is considered to be the first fossil to be found in South America. Llewellyn Ivor Price, a Santa Maria-born paleontologist and one of the first Brazilian ones, collected a Staurikosaurus, the first Brazilian dinosaur. The city is located on a huge deposit of fossils, with more than 20 Paleontological Sites.

Paleontological Sites of the City

# Paleontological Site Arroio Cancela.
# Paleontological Site Largo Padre Daniel Cargnin.
# Paleontological Site Bela Vista.
# Paleontological Site Jazigo Cinco.
# Paleontological Site Sanga of Alemoa.

External links

* [http://www.santamaria.rs.gov.br/ The City's Official Website (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.ufsm.br/ Federal University of Santa Maria - UFSM (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.unifra.br/ Franciscan University Center - UNIFRA (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.imc.br/fames/ Methodist University of Santa Maria - FAMES (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.fascla.br/ Santa Clara Faculty - FASCLA (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13458a.htm Dioceses of Santa Maria] - Article in the Catholic Encyclopedia
* [http://www.theatro13maio.com.br/ 13th May Theater (in portuguese)]
* [http://amseverino.sites.uol.com.br/bloomsday.html Bloomsday Santa Maria - RS (BRAZIL) / since 1994 a literary party]
* [http://www.cesma.com.br/cineclube Cineclube Lanterninha Aurélio (CESMA) Santa Maria - RS (BRAZIL)/ since 1978]
* [http://www.cesma.com.br Cooperativa dos Estudantes de Santa Maria / Santa Maria - RS (BRAZIL)/ since 1978]
* [http://www.santamaria.rs.gov.br/festival Santa Maria Vídeo e Cinema - Festival / Santa Maria - RS (BRAZIL)/ since 2002]
* [http://www.ufsm.br/cienciaeambiente Revista Ciência & Ambiente (in portuguese)]