Paraná (state)

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Paraná

Flag of Paraná

See other Brazilian States

Capital Curitiba
Largest City Curitiba
Area 199,544 km²
Population
- Total
- Density
9,150,000
48 inh./km²
Governor Roberto Requião(PMDB)
Demonym Paranaense
HDI (2000) 0.787 – medium
Timezone GMT-3
ISO 3166-2

Other meanings: Paraná, Argentina, Paraná River

Paraná (pron. IPA: /pa.ɾa.'na/ The presented pronunciation is in Brazilian Portuguese. The European Portuguese pronunciation is: /pɐ.ɾɐ.'na/.) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the southern part of the country, bordering Paraguay and Argentina. The territory was set apart from the province of São Paulo in 1853, as a punishment for the latter's support in the insurrection of 1842. It is in the Southern region of Brazil.

The main cities of the state are:

Curitiba (Capital and largest, east)
Londrina (2^nd largest, north)
Maringá (3^rd largest, north)
Foz do Iguaçu (4^th largest, west)
Ponta Grossa (5^th largest, center-east)
Cascavel (6^th largest, center-west)
Guarapuava (9^th largest, center)
Paranaguá (10^th largest, east-coast)

Ethnic groups

Whites make up 75% of the population. Waves of European immigrants started arriving in the late 19th century, mainly from Portugal, Poland, Italy, Germany and Ukraine. In the early 20th century more immigrants arrived from Japan, Lebanon and Syria. Among all Brazilian states, Paraná has the largest number of inhabitants of Eastern European descent and the second (to São Paulo) largest number of inhabitants of Japanese descent.

Social Care

Paraná has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil, with a relatively low criminality rates, a special attention given to education and health and a HDI of ~0.785, the 4th highest in Brazil.

Ukrainian architecture in Parque Tingüi

In 2001, with the new governor, Roberto Requião, the state of Parana started a huge educational program, called "Paraná Digital". This program will install about 5,000 laboratories using GNU/Linux to every state student.

In October 2003 Paraná banned both the cultivation and transportation of genetically modified crops. This is stricter than the national standard, which prohibits commercial cultivation of such crops, but allows experimental cultivation and permits transport. Paraná, Brazil's largest grain producing state, is now also Brazil's largest exporter of organically-grown crops.

Notes

External links

[Paraná]; info from its local government.
[Paraná]; Official Hotel Guide.
[Curitiba].
[Brazil Pictures];
[Fundação Cultural de Curitiba]

States of Brazil
Brazilian Federal District
Acre \| Alagoas \| Amapá \| Amazonas \| Bahia \| Ceará \| Espírito Santo \| Goiás \| Maranhão \| Mato Grosso \| Mato Grosso do Sul \| Minas Gerais \| Pará \| Paraíba \| Paraná \| Pernambuco \| Piauí \| Rio de Janeiro \| Rio Grande do Norte \| Rio Grande do Sul \| Rondônia \| Roraima \| Santa Catarina \| São Paulo \| Sergipe \| Tocantins

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