Paraná (state)

State of Paraná
—  State  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location of State of Paraná in Brazil
Coordinates: 24°0′S 51°0′W
Country	Brazil
Capital and Largest City	Curitiba
Government
• Governor	Beto Richa
• Vice Governor	Flávio Arns (PSDB)
Area
• Total	199,314.9 km2 (76,955.9 sq mi)
Area rank	9th
Population (2007)
• Total	10,279,545
• Rank	6th
• Density	Bad rounding here52/km2 (Bad rounding here130/sq mi)
Demonym	Paranaense
GDP
• Year	2006 estimate
• Total	R$ 136,681,000,000 (5th)
• Per capita	R$ 13,158 (7th)
HDI
• Year	2011
• Category	0.823 – high (7th)
Time zone	BRT (UTC-3)
• Summer (DST)	BRST (UTC-2)
Postal Code	80000-000 to 86990-000
ISO 3166 code	BR-PR
Website	pr.gov.br

Paraná (Portuguese pronunciation: [paɾaˈna]) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay, with the Paraná River as its western boundary line. Cut by the Tropic of Capricorn, Paraná has what is left of the araucaria forest, one of the most important subtropical forests in the world. At the border with Argentina is the National Park of Iguaçu, considered by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and the spectacle of the Cataratas do Iguaçu attracts about 700 thousand tourists per year. At only 40 km (25 mi) from there, at the border with Paraguay, the largest dam in the world was built, the Hidroelétrica de Itaipu (Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam). The State Park of Vila Velha near the city of Ponta Grossa, is another attraction, with great rocky formations sculpted by the erosion of rain and wind. Curitiba, the capital, is famous for its high quality of life, compared to the Brazilian average, and the Ilha do Mel, next to the historical Paranaguá, is another destination for eco-tourists.

History

Historic Center of Curitiba

Colonisation of the state by settlers started in the 16th century, but was mainly confined to the coasts. In the 1940s the northern part of the state as a result of the expansion of the São Paulo coffee industry. The south-eastern part of the state was settled as a result of migration from Rio Grande do Sul.

By the early 20th century, the state had two railway systems: the Paranaguá to Curitiba (69 miles) (111 km) with an extension to Ponta Grossa (118 miles) (190 km) and branches to Rio Negro (55 miles) (89 km), Porto Amazonas (6 miles) (10 km) and Antonina (10 miles) (16 km); 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.

Geography

Paraná is bounded on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay, with the Paraná River as its western boundary line.

The state can be separated into five main topographic areas, from east to west: a coastal zone, the mountains of Serra do Mar, and then three plateaus, each lower than the other, until the Paraná River is reached.

The largest rivers in the state comprise the Paranapanema and its tributaries the Cinza and Tibaji, the Ivaí, Piquiri, Jejuy-guassu, and the Iguaçu with its principal tributary the Rio Negro. The Paranapanema and a small tributary, the Itarare', 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 the Iguaçu Falls, 215 ft. (66 m) 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.

Demographics

Botanical Garden of Curitiba Population of Curitiba's Metropolitan area: 3,168,980 (IBGE 2010)

According to the IBGE of 2010, the state population is 10,439,601. The population density was 51.48 inhabitants per square kilometre (133.3 /sq mi).

Urbanization: 84.5% (2006); Population growth: 1.4% (1991–2000); Houses: 3,177,000 (2006).

The 2005 IBGE survey gave the following breakdown by race for the state: White (Branca) (73.0%), Pardos (Multiracial) (23.3%), Black (Preta) (2.5%), Amerindian (1.2%).

City of Campo Mourão.

Parana's population is primarily of Eastern European origin, but Germans, Portuguese and Japanese also settled in the state.

Economy

Since the 1950s Paraná is one of Brazilian agriculture powerhouses. First as the biggest producer of coffee, the main product that dominated the state agriculture, especially in the highly cultivated northern part of the state. That situation remained until a big natural disaster, the big frost of 1975, that destroyed most of the coffee trees. After that, the sector diversified its plantations, and soybeans, corn, sugarcane, cattle, pork and chicken became the main products. Coffee lost most of the land dedicated to its production, but remains an important item of the state exports. Today the Paraná state production of all these commodities ranks among the top three, or five, biggest state producers in the country. That's a great achievement, given that Brazil is the biggest or second world producer of all of them, except pork, in which the country ranks number five.

The state industry at first was created based in agrobusiness: meat, coffee, dairy, lumber, tea and chicken processing were the first industries created in the state, some already in the end of 19th century, but most after the 1940s. Still today they are responsible for a large part of the industrial production. But the 1970s inauguration of the Volvo Factory in Curitiba began a car manufacturing industry, which today is huge. Plants of several different brands and industries are installed around the metropolitan Curitiba, producing around 450.000 cars, buses, and trucks a year. The whole industry today is very diversified; the Curitiba Metropolitan Area has a whole range of industries some of then the top in the country, including computers, freezers and cosmetics. There are also several industries around the main cities, in particular Ponta Grossa (Soybean products), Londrina (Coffee and Cattle), Maringá (Soybeans and Cattle), Telemaco Borba (Lumber and Cellulose) and Cianorte (Textiles and Clothing).

The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 38.6%, followed by the industrial sector at 36%. Agriculture represents 25.4% of GDP (2008).

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.

Statistics

• Vehicles: 3,808,298 (March 2007)
• Mobile phones: 12 million (August 2011)
• Telephones: 2.7 million (April 2007)
• Cities: 399 (2007)

Education

Federal University of Paraná.

Educational institutions

Federal universities:

• Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) (Federal University of Paraná);
• Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) (Federal Technological University of Paraná);
• Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Paraná (IFPR) (Paraná Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology)

State universities:

• Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste (UNICENTRO) (State University of West Center);
• 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 Paraná (Unioeste) (Western Paraná State University)
• Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG) (State University of Ponta Grossa);
• Universidade Estadual do Paraná (UNESPAR) (State University of Paraná);

Private universities:

• 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 Paranaense (UNIPAR)
• Universidade Positivo (Positivo University);
• Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná (UTP) (Tuiuti University of Paraná);
• Faculdades Opet (OPET) ;
• and many others.

Infrastructure

Afonso Pena International Airport in Metropolitan Region of Curitiba

Foz do Iguaçu International Airport in Foz do Iguaçu.

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.

• 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.

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.

Social care

Paraná has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil with relatively low crime levels, a special attention given to education and health and a Human Development Index of ~0.820, the 5th highest in Brazil.

Sports

Paraná provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. There are several soccer clubs based in Paraná, such as:

• Clube Atlético Paranaense (Curitiba);
• Coritiba Foot Ball Club (Curitiba);
• Paraná Clube (Curitiba);
• Atlético Clube Paranavaí (Paranavaí);
• Arapongas Esporte Clube (Arapongas);
• Cianorte Futebol Clube (Cianorte);
• Cascavel Clube Recreativo (Cascavel);
• Toledo Colônia Work (Toledo);
• Iraty Sport Club (Irati);
• Operário Ferroviário Esporte Clube (Ponta Grossa);
• Rio Branco Sport Club (Paranaguá);
• Roma Esporte Apucarana (Apucarana).

Curitiba is one of the 12 host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Album

• 

  Pico Paraná

• 

  Art Museum designed by Oscar Niemeyer

• 

  Itaipu dam

• 

  Vila Velha stone formation

• 

  Bus station in Curitiba

• 

  Brejatuba beach

See also

• Flag of Paraná
• Military Police of Paraná State

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• (Portuguese) Official Website
• Brazilian Tourism Portal
• (Portuguese) Official Hotel Guide