Campo Grande

Campo Grande is a city in the central and western region of Brazil, and it is the capital and largest city of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The city was built in the middle of a big green space, with wide streets and tree-lined avenues.

In the past, the area was a place where travelers stopped when going from São Paulo or Minas Gerais to northern Mato Grosso by land. In the early 1900s, a railway was finished, linking Campo Grande to Corumbá near the Bolivian border and to Bauru in São Paulo. The city also became an important military center when the Western Brazilian Army Headquarters was set up there.

The population of Campo Grande grew quickly, from 140,000 people in 1970 to 750,000 people in 2007. In 1977, the state of Mato Grosso was divided, and Campo Grande became the capital of the new state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Today, the city has its own special culture, which comes from many different groups of people, including immigrants from Okinawa, Middle Easterners, Armenians, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Paraguay, along with Asian and European Brazilians, native Amerindian peoples, and Afro-Brazilians.

History

Campo Grande began as a small village in 1877. Farmers José Antônio Pereira and Manoel Vieira de Sousa founded it after the end of the Paraguayan War. They came from Minas Gerais and built the village near some cliffs and two small streams. The village was first called Santo Antônio de Campo Grande.

The city grew quickly because of its good weather and central location. People moved there from many parts of Brazil. In 1899, the government officially recognized Campo Grande as a city and gave it its current name. In 1930, there was a small conflict in the city, but it was resolved when more government forces arrived.

Geography

Vegetation

The plants in Campo Grande and Central Brazil grow in a tropical savanna called the "Cerrado". This area can look like open grass fields or have many trees, but it is not a thick forest. Scientists are still learning why this type of plant life grows here.

Starting in the 1960s, people began using large areas of land in the Cerrado for agriculture. The state now grows a lot of soybeans.

The city has two special parks: the 178 hectares (440 acres) Matas do Segredo State Park, made in 2000 to protect cerrado plants, and the 135 hectares (330 acres) Prosa State Park, made in 2002.

Climate

Campo Grande has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw), which means it has warm, wet summers and dry, cooler winters. The city can get very rainy in January, with temperatures around 29 °C (84 °F) during the day and 20 °C (68 °F) at night. In July, days are sunny but cooler, around 25 °C (77 °F), and nights can be as cool as 14 °C (57 °F). Sometimes it gets very cold at night in winter. The city gets about 1,465 millimetres (57.7 in) of rain each year.

Economy

Most of Campo Grande's jobs are in commerce and services. However, farming and other industries, like growing crops and raising animals, are also very important. The city is known for its beef, which is sent to other parts of Brazil and other countries. Important crops include soy, rice, and manioc, with sugar cane becoming more important recently.

In 2013, Campo Grande had a strong economy, being the richest city in its state and one of the richest in the whole country.

Education

Portuguese is the main language taught in schools, but English and Spanish are also part of the high school curriculum.

The city has several universities, including the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande College, and the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Transportation

International Airport

The Campo Grande International Airport shares its operations with the Campo Grande Air Force Base. It has two runways and can handle medium-sized jets like the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Most flights are within Brazil, but there are also some flights to Bolivia and Paraguay.

The Campo Grande Air Force Base - ALA5 is one of the important bases of the Brazilian Air Force and is located in Campo Grande.

Railroad

Campo Grande has a railway system run by the Novoeste company. It connects to other cities in the state, stretching from Bauru and São Paulo state through Campo Grande to Corumbá and into Bolivia. This railway helps move goods but does not currently offer passenger services—only freight trains travel on this line.

Highways

Three major federal highways meet in Campo Grande. BR-262 connects the city to Corumbá and Bolivia to the west, and to the State of São Paulo to the east. BR-163 links Campo Grande to Cuiabá and the Amazon region to the north, and to Dourados near the border with Paraguay to the south. BR-060 goes from Campo Grande to the state of Goiás and the capital city of Brasília to the northeast. There are also many state highways that meet here.

Culture

Festas Juninas are fun celebrations brought to Brazil by the Portuguese. In Campo Grande, people enjoy these festivities with special foods, decorations, rural costumes, music, dancing, a bonfire, and fireworks.

The Campo Grande Film Festival happens every year in January and February since 2004. It shows many films from Brazil and other countries, including short films and regional movies.

Sports

The city has a car racing and a kart racing track. Orlando Moura International Autodrome has a long runway, and Kartódromo Ayrton Senna has a shorter one.

As in all of Brazil, the most popular sport in Campo Grande is football. The city has a major football stadium, Estádio Universitário Pedro Pedrossian, known as "Morenão". The stadium opened in 1971 and can hold up to 45,000 people. There are also five smaller stadiums in the city. The main football teams are Esporte Clube Comercial and Operário Futebol Clube.

There are also many places in the city where people can play different sports.

Notable people

Some well-known people from Campo Grande include Rafael Silva, a judoka, Leonardo de Deus, a swimmer, Müller, a footballer, Hoover Orsi, a racing driver born in 1978, and Aracy Balabanian, a Brazilian actress of Armenian descent born in 1940.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Brazil

Twin towns – Sister cities

Campo Grande has special friendships with other cities around the world. It is connected with:

• Pedro Juan Caballero, in Paraguay
• Turin, in Italy