Statistics
Capital:	Florianópolis
Area:	95,442.9 km²
Inhabitants:	5,098,448 (2000)
Pop. density:	53.4 inh./km²
Timezone:	GMT-3
ISO 3166-2:	BR-SC
Map

Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil. Its capital is Florianópolis, which lies on the island named Santa Catarina. Neighboring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. To the west it also borders Argentina.

Contents

1 Geography 2 History 3 Economics 4 Flag 5 Minority languages 6 Cities 7 External links

Geography

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

History

The state dates from 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, and the state remains a center of German culture in Brazil. Immigrants from Italy, Poland, Russia, 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, Brazilian meteorologists called it Catarina, after the state.

Santa Catarina is considered the coldest state in the country of Brazil because of its highlands.

Economics

Santa Catarina has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil, and is a major agricultural and industrial center. Cattle breeding and mineral mining are predominant.

Other key cities apart from the captital include Chapecó, Joinville, Blumenau, the site of a major annual Oktoberfest (the 2nd biggest of the world), and the resort town of Balneário Camboriu.

Flag

The central shield in the flag shows the coat of arms of the state. It is located on a green lozenge, which itself is located on red-white-red horizontal stripes. The flag was adopted on October 29 1953 by law no. 975.

Minority languages

The minority languages of the state of Santa Catarina can be divided into two distinct groups:

The Autoctone Languages or Indigenous Languages: Kaingang; Guaraní; others...

The Extoctone Languages or Immigration Languages: German (Hunsrückisch, Pomeranian/Plautdietsch); Italian (Italian or vêneto); others (Polish, etc.)

Cities

• Araranguá
• Blumenau
• Chapecó
• Criciúma
• Florianópolis
• Imbituba
• Itajaí
• Joinville
• Laguna
• São José
• Palhoça

External links

• Official homepage (http://www.sc.gov.br) (Portuguese)
• Brazilian Embassy in London (http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=252)

de:Santa Catarina eo:Sankta Katarino fr:Santa Catarina gl:Santa Catarina la:Sancta Catarina no:Santa Catarina pt:Santa Catarina