Santa Catarina (state)

Santa Catarina is one of the 27 states that make up Brazil, located in the country's Southern region. It is bordered by Paraná to the north, Rio Grande do Sul to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Argentine province of Misiones to the west. The state covers about 95,730 square kilometers, an area similar to Hungary, and has a population of 7.6 million people.

Santa Catarina is known for its beautiful landscapes, with much of the land lying above 600 meters in elevation. The climate varies, with humid subtropical conditions along the coast and oceanic climates in the higher plateau areas. The state's capital is Florianópolis, though the largest city is Joinville.

Historically, Santa Catarina is one of Brazil's oldest states, having separated from São Paulo in 1738. It was originally settled by indigenous peoples and later became a key destination for European immigrants from Portugal, Italy, Germany, and others. Over time, it developed strong socioeconomic indicators, leading in areas such as life expectancy, public safety, and quality of life.

Etymology

See also: Catherine of Alexandria

A long time ago, around 1675, a man named Francisco Dias Velho arrived on an island now called Santa Catarina. He built a chapel there to honor a saint named Catherine of Alexandria. Some people believe he named the place after one of his daughters. Others think a explorer named Sebastian Cabot, who passed through the area between 1526 and 1527, gave the island its name. He may have dedicated it to Saint Catherine or to his wife, Catarina Medrano. The state got its name from this island.

People who live in this state are called Catarinenses or Barrigas-Verdes, which means "Green-Belly." This name comes from the uniforms worn by soldiers from Santa Catarina who traveled to fight in Rio Grande do Sul in 1753.

The name comes from Catholicism and honors the state's patron saint. The name Catherine comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "pure" or "immaculate."

History

Indigenous peoples, colonial and imperial era

In the early 1500s, the land that is now Santa Catarina was home to the Carijós, a group of Indigenous people. Explorers from Portugal and Spain began visiting the coast soon after Brazil was discovered. In 1526, a sailor named Sebastian Cabot named an island Santa Catarina. For many years, few people lived there.

Slowly, small settlements grew. In 1658, people founded the first lasting village. More villages appeared over time, and in 1738, Santa Catarina became its own region. New settlers came from places like Madeira Island and the Azores. Later, many people from Germany and Italy settled here, shaping the state's culture.

Republican period

After Brazil became a republic, Santa Catarina experienced some unrest. In 1893, a group tried to change the government but were stopped. A bigger conflict called the Contestado War happened from 1912 to 1916, when local people fought against government forces.

During World War II, there were concerns about influences from Nazi groups among some German communities, but these were handled without major issues. Since the 1950s, more people from other parts of Brazil have moved to Santa Catarina, helping the state grow.

Geography

Santa Catarina is one of the three states in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is bordered to the north by the state of Paraná, to the south by the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by the Argentine province of Misiones. The state covers an area of approximately 95,730.69 square kilometres, similar in size to Hungary, and is the seventh smallest state in Brazil by area.

The land in Santa Catarina is mostly above 300 metres, with many areas rising above 600 metres. This gives the state varied landscapes, from coastal lowlands to plateaus. The climate includes well-defined seasons, with temperatures ranging from cool winters to warm summers. Some areas can even see frost or snow during winter. The state is home to many rivers and forests, with a rich variety of plants and animals.

Relief

Santa Catarina has many hills and mountains, with 77% of its land above 300 metres and 52% above 600 metres. The landscape includes coastal lowlands, mountain ranges, and plateaus. The coastal lowland is wide in the north but narrows toward the south. The Serra do Mar mountain range runs along the coast, with some peaks over one thousand metres tall. Behind this range lies the Palaeozoic plateau, which slopes downward from north to south. The Basaltic plateau covers much of the state and includes lava flows and sandstone deposits. Rivers have carved deep valleys into these areas, creating fertile lands for farming.

Climate

Santa Catarina has two main climate types. The coastal areas and lower parts of the plateau have a humid subtropical climate, with average temperatures around 20 °C. Higher areas have a subtropical oceanic climate, with averages between 16 and 18 °C. The state experiences four distinct seasons, with noticeable differences between summer and winter temperatures. Some regions can get cold enough for frost, and in the southern plateau, snow sometimes falls during winter. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Brazil was in Santa Catarina, reaching −14 °C. Summers can also get very hot, especially in the west and south, where temperatures can exceed 40 °C.

Hydrography

The rivers in Santa Catarina belong to two large systems. Some flow into the South Atlantic Ocean, including the Itajaí-Açu, Tubarão, Araranguá, Tijucas, and Itapocu rivers. Others join the Plata basin, such as the Paraná and Uruguay River, along with their tributaries like the Pelotas, Canoas, Chapecó, and Do Peixe rivers.

Fauna and flora

Santa Catarina is part of the Atlantic Forest biome and has many different plants and animals. The region includes mixed forests with coniferous trees like Araucaria and broadleaved trees, as well as grasslands. The state is home to about 600 kinds of birds, 150 mammals, and many species of amphibians, butterflies, and plants.

Flag

The flag of Santa Catarina is a rectangle split into three horizontal parts. The top and bottom parts are a dark green color, while the middle part is silver. In the center of the flag is a green diamond shape that holds the state's coat of arms. The flag was created on August 15, 1895, by José Artur Boiteux. It originally had thirteen stripes to represent the districts in the state, and small yellow stars inside the green diamond stood for the towns.

Demography

According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Santa Catarina has a population of 7.6 million people and a population density of 79.5 people per square kilometre. This makes it the tenth most populous state in Brazil. The largest city is Joinville with 616,317 people, and the capital, Florianópolis, has 537,211 people.

The population grew by about 1.3 million since 2010, a rise of 21.79%. In 2022, around 50.71% of the people were female, and about 49.28% were male.

The Human Development Index for Santa Catarina is high. It ranks 3rd among all states in Brazil with an index of 0.792. The state is strong in income, education, and life expectancy. Santa Catarina also has good public safety, with low rates of homicide, poverty, and extreme poverty. It has the third-highest GDP per capita and very low infant mortality and illiteracy.

.jpg)

Overview of Florianópolis

Overview of Joinville

Castelinho of Moellmann in Blumenau

Partial view of Balneário Camboriú

Ethnicity

In 2022, most people in Santa Catarina were White Brazilians (76.28%), followed by mixed race individuals (19.22%), Black Brazilians (4.07%), indigenous peoples (0.25%), and Asian Brazilians (0.18%).

Historically, the area was home to the Kaingang, Xokleng, and Guarani peoples. During colonial Brazil, Spanish settlers arrived first, followed by Portuguese settlers and African slaves. Later, many Europeans arrived, including Italians, Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, and others, as well as Japanese.

Languages

Santa Catarina has both indigenous languages and languages brought by settlers. The three indigenous languages are Kaingang, Mbyá-Guarani, and Xokleng. The most common language is Portuguese, but other languages are spoken too, such as Talian (an Italian dialect), High German, and Low German. There are also smaller groups speaking Spanish, Polish, Lithuanian, Japanese, Arabic, and more.

Religions

In 2010, most people in Santa Catarina were Roman Catholics (73.07%), with Protestants or Evangelicals making up 20.4%. Other groups included Spiritists (1.58%), Jehovah's Witnesses (0.74%), and smaller numbers of Mormons, Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church members, Buddhists, and followers of other faiths. About 3.27% had no religion.

Economy

Santa Catarina is an important state in Brazil for growing crops like corn and soybeans. In 2017, it was the eighth-largest producer of corn and eleventh-largest for soybeans in the country. The state also grows a lot of rice, apples, onions, bananas, garlic, barley, wheat, and yerba mate.

Santa Catarina is a big producer of pork and chicken. It also makes a lot of milk and eggs. The state has many farms with cattle and is known for fishing, especially for oysters, scallops, and mussels.

The state has many industries. It makes textiles, food products, cars, wood products, paper, ceramics, and household appliances. Major cities like Florianópolis, Joinville, and Blumenau have different kinds of industries and services.

Infrastructure

Roads

In 2019, Santa Catarina had 62,871 kilometers of roads, with 9,321 kilometers paved. Some of these roads were duplicated, with 556 kilometers being two-way roads.

The main road is BR-101, which runs along the coast and connects many of the state's busiest cities. Other important roads include BR-470, BR-280, BR-116, BR-282, BR-153, and BR-158, some of which are currently being improved.

Airports

Santa Catarina has several important airports even though it does not have very large cities. Five of these airports have regular flights:

Florianópolis, the capital, uses Hercílio Luz International Airport for both domestic and international travel. A new airport opened in October 2019 to handle more passengers.

In Navegantes, Navegantes Airport is the second largest in the state and serves a key area with many businesses. It can handle up to 3.5 million passengers each year.

In Joinville, Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport serves the largest city in the state. The area around Joinville is very important for industry and business. This airport can handle up to 800,000 passengers a year.

In Chapecó, Chapecó Airport serves the biggest city in the western part of the state. It handles around 500,000 passengers each year.

Near Criciúma, Jaguaruna Regional Airport opened in 2014 and now serves around 120,000 passengers a year.

Ports

The state has five specialized ports: Itajaí, São Francisco do Sul, Itapoá, Imbituba, and Navegantes. The ports at Itajaí and São Francisco do Sul are especially important. São Francisco do Sul exports things like soybeans and wood and imports steel and fertilizers. Itajaí exports chicken, wood, and meat products and imports machines, chemicals, and textiles. Imbituba is a place where coal is loaded onto ships, and Laguna is a port for fishing. In 2021, Itajaí handled 18.9 million tons of cargo, and São Francisco do Sul handled 13.6 million tons, making them among the busiest in the country.

Tourism

Santa Catarina is a beautiful place to visit, with many different things to see and do. You can enjoy rural areas, warm water resorts, nature walks, and exciting adventures. There are also old monuments, parks like Beto Carrero World and Unipraias in Balneário Camboriú, and lovely beaches in places like Florianópolis, Laguna, Porto Belo, and Itajaí.

Some sights are best seen when fewer people are around, like snow on the Catarinense Mountain Range. Between July and November, southern right whales visit the coast. Timbó is a great place for adventure sports like rafting. In October, Blumenau hosts a big party called Oktoberfest, which is the largest in Brazil. Joinville holds a famous dance festival and a flower show in November.

Urubici is a wonderful spot in the mountains, known for its amazing views, waterfalls, and cool weather. It’s one of the coldest places in Brazil and has tasty local food. Florianópolis, the state capital, is popular in summer for its many beaches.

Smaller towns like Itapema, Piçarras, Barra Velha, and Penha also attract visitors. In Laguna, an interesting friendship exists between dolphins and fishermen. The dolphins help the fishermen catch fish by driving them towards the shore.

The Turvo State Park in the northwest of the state has the impressive Yucumã Falls on the Uruguay River, near the border with Argentina. Many tourists visit to see these tall, wide waterfalls.

Sports

Santa Catarina has produced many talented athletes. Some famous names include Gustavo Kuerten, one of Brazil’s greatest tennis players, and Fernando Scherer, an Olympic medalist in swimming. The state is also home to several important football clubs.

The biggest football clubs in Santa Catarina include Criciuma EC from Criciúma, which won a major national cup in 1991. Figueirense FC and Avaí FC are both from Florianópolis. Another club, Joinville Esporte Clube, has moved between different levels of Brazilian football over the years. Associação Chapecoense de Futebol plays in Brazil’s top league.

Santa Catarina is also well known for surfing. Campeche Beach near Florianópolis is famous for its great waves and hosts an important international surfing competition each April.