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State of Santa Catarina
State
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Hino do Estado de Santa Catarina
Location of State of Santa Catarina in Brazil
Coordinates: 27°15′S 50°20′W / 27.250°S 50.333°W / -27.250; -50.333Coordinates: 27°15′S 50°20′W / 27.250°S 50.333°W / -27.250; -50.333
Country	Brazil
Largest city	Joinville
Capital	Florianópolis
Government
• Governor	Comandante Moisés (PSL)
• Vice Governor	Daniela Reiner (PSL)
• Senators	Dário Berger (MDB) Esperidião Amin (PP) Jorginho Mello (PR)
Area
• Total	95,346.181 km2 (36,813.366 sq mi)
Area rank	20th
Population (2014)[1]
• Total	6,727,000
• Rank	11th
• Density	71/km2 (180/sq mi)
• Density rank	9th
Demonym(s)	Catarinense or Barriga-Verde (Green Belly)
GDP
• Year	2015 estimate
• Total	US$133 billions (PPP) US$75 billions (nominal) (6th)
• Per capita	US$19.084 (PPP) US$10.783 (nominal)(4th)
HDI
• Year	2010
• Category	0.774[2] - High (3rd)
Time zone	UTC-3 (BRT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2 (BRST)
Postal Code	87000-000 to 89990-000
ISO 3166 code	BR-SC
Website	sc.gov.br

Santa Catarina (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃tɐ kataˈɾinɐ], "Saint Catherine") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. According to the Index of Economic Well-Being calculated between 2002 and 2008, Santa Catarina was the Brazilian state that consistently showed the highest economic well-being in relation to any other state in Brazil.^[3][4]

Florianópolis, the state capital, mostly lies on Santa Catarina Island, while Joinville is Santa Catarina's largest city and a major industrial and business center in Brazil.
Neighboring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west it borders the province of Misiones, Argentina.

The beaches along the coast of Santa Catarina are a great summer attraction.

Florianópolis, the capital, has one of the highest HDI among Brazilian cities.

Florianopolis beaches attract a large flow of domestic and foreign tourists during the summer month. There are several daily direct flights between Florianopolis, Buenos Aires and Santiago (Chile) throughout the summer months (December thru February). Tourists from Northern Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay drive into the state - usually about a 10-hour drive.

The mountain ridge region of the state, centered around São Joaquim and Urupema, becomes an attraction during winter due to its low temperatures and snow over its green canyons.
Blumenau, in the Itajai Valley in Northeast Santa Catarina, is the stage to the largest beer festival in Brazil Southern Region, which possess a strong direct influence from Bavarian culture: the Oktoberfest of Blumenau, a traditional beer party/festival that originated in the 19th century, is the second largest such festival in the world, behind only the one held in Munich.

Joinville is the state's economic engine and a major industrial and tech industry center in Brazil. Joinville's metro area is one of the fastest growing regions in Brazil. ^[5]
Joinville is also home to the Joinville Dance Festival, the largest dance event in Brazil, held in the month of July ^[6]
Joinville is also home to the only branch of the worldly famous Bolshoi Dance Company^[7][8]
With a strong reputation for the strength of its industrial output, Joinville has been slowly changing its focus to the service, tech and educational services - Joinville has become a major college center in the past decade.

Balneario Camboriu is a major beach resort city between Florianopolis and Joinville. It has been nicknamed the Brazilian Dubai, as it keeps on building the tallest residential buildings in Brazil. Some of the most expensive apartment buildings in Brazil are becoming the norm in this popular summer beach resort.

Santa Catarina was one of the few states in Brazil that was mostly populated by a settlement program of immigrants coming from almost every European nation in the 1800s when Brazil had a strong policy of allowing immigrants from Northern Europe to settle in areas of the country that the government at the time deemed in need of settlers; their heritage can be seen in the architecture and the customs of the population of the state.

People of German and Austrian descent make up the largest ethnic group among the population of Santa Catarina, at around 50% - with a considerable portion still speaking the German language.^[9] Speakers of Venetian Italian make up the third most spoken mother tongue, after Portuguese and assorted German dialects.

The state's social indicators are among the best in Latin America,^[10] being the Brazilian state with the third highest level of median income, besides exhibiting high levels of education^[11] and public health, and one of the lowest rates of illiteracy.^[12] Santa Catarina boasts Brazil's highest average life expectancy^[13][14] and lowest homicide rate^[15] in addition to lower levels of corruption.^[16] The cities of the state are also considered some of the most livable in the country, enjoying a reputation of being "clean, safe and organized".^[16]

Despite the high standard of living, unemployment is still high and according to data census it's one of the most difficult states in Brazil for foreigners finding jobs.^[17]

Geography

Aerial view of Florianópolis

Santa Catarina is in a very strategic position in Mercosul, the South American Common Market. Its position in the map is situated between the parallel 25º57'41" and 29º23'55" of the Southern latitude and between the meridians 48º19'37" and 53º50'00" of Western longitude. Florianópolis, its capital, is 1,673 km (1,040 mi) from Brasilia, 705 km (438 mi) from São Paulo, 1,144 km (711 mi) from Rio de Janeiro and 1,850 km (1,150 mi) from Buenos Aires.

The Serra Geral, a southern extension of the Serra do Mar, runs north and south through the state parallel to the Atlantic coast, dividing the state between a narrow coastal plain and a larger plateau region to the west.

The Atlantic coast of Santa Catarina has many beaches, islands, bays, inlets, and lagoons. The humid tropical Serra do Mar coastal forests cover the narrow coastal zone, which is crossed by numerous short streams from the wooded slopes of the serras.^[18]

The central part of the state is home to the Araucaria moist forests, dominated by emergent Brazilian pines (Araucaria angustifolia). The drainage of the plateau is westward to the Paraná River, the rivers being tributaries of the Iguaçu, which forms its northern boundary, and of the Uruguay River, which forms its southern boundary.^[18] The semi-deciduous Paraná-Paraíba interior forests occupy the westernmost valleys of the Iguaçu and Uruguay rivers.

The highest point of the state is the Morro da Boa Vista, with an altitude of 1,827 m, and the second highest point is the Morro da Igreja, in the town of Urubici, with an altitude of 1,822 m.

History

See also: History of Santa Catarina (state) [pt]

Pomerode, A Pomeranian-German colony in Santa Catarina

European settlement began with the Spanish settlement of Santa Catarina island in 1542. The Portuguese took control in 1675 and established the captaincy of Santa Catarina in 1738, bringing families from the Azores to populate the shore.

In 1839, during the Ragamuffin War, there was an unsuccessful attempt for Santa Catarina to secede from the Empire of Brazil to form the independent Juliana Republic, allied with the Riograndense Republic to the south, which was defeated after four months.

Map of the State of Santa Catarina, 1907. National Archives of Brazil.

Between early 19th century and mid 20th century, a great number of European immigrants arrived to Santa Catarina; these immigrants were taken in order to populate the south of the Nation by Imperial initiative. About 50% of these immigrants were from Germany and Austria.^[9] The rest came mainly from Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lithuania, France, Finland, Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia;^[9] these immigrants created an abundance of small, family-held farms, many of which continue to exist in the interior of the state.^{[citation needed]}

Late in March 2004, the state was hit by the first hurricane ever recorded in the South Atlantic. Because there is no naming system for such an event in Brazil, Brazilian meteorologists called it Hurricane Catarina, after the state.

Demographics

According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 6,091,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 61.53 inhabitants per square kilometre (159.4/sq mi).

Urbanization: 83% (2006); Population growth: 2% (1991–2000); Houses: 1,836,000 (2006).^[19]

The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 5,297,000 White people (86.96%), 608,000 Brown (Multiracial) people (9.98%), 160,000 Black people (2.63%), 15,000 Asian people (0.25%), 5,000 Amerindian people (0.09%).^[20]

People of Portuguese ancestry, mostly Azoreans, predominate on the coast. People of German descent predominate in the northeast region (Itajaí Valley) and in the north (Joinville region). There are many German communities in the west. People of Italian descent predominate in the south, as well in many areas in the west. People of African, Amerindian or Japanese origin are present in small communities in a few towns.^[21]

According to a genetic study with 20 samples (for 6.7 million people) from 2013, the population of Santa Catarina is made up by 79.7% European, 11.4% African and 8.9% Amerindian ancestry groups.^[22] A genetic study found out an isolated Azorean-Brazilian community from Santa Catarina to have between 80.6% to 93.5% European input, along with 12.6% to 6.8% African and 4.1% to 2.4% Native American ancestries.^[23][24]

v t e Largest cities or towns in Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina (2018 census of Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística)[25]
	Rank		Mesoregion	Pop.	Rank		Mesoregion	Pop.
Joinville Florianópolis	1	Joinville	Norte Catarinense	583.144	11	Balneário Camboriú	Vale do Itajaí	138.732	Blumenau São José
	2	Florianópolis	Grande Florianópolis	492.977	12	Brusque	Vale do Itajaí	131.703
	3	Blumenau	Vale do Itajaí	352.460	13	Tubarão	Sul Catarinense	104.937
	4	São José	Grande Florianópolis	242.927	14	São Bento do Sul	Norte Catarinense	83.576
	5	Chapecó	Oeste Catarinense	216.654	15	Camboriú	Vale do Itajaí	80.834
	6	Itajaí	Vale do Itajaí	215.895	16	Caçador	Oeste Catarinense	77.863
	7	Criciúma	Sul Catarinense	213.023	17	Navegantes	Vale do Itajaí	79.285
	8	Palhoça	Grande Florianópolis	168.259	18	Concórdia	Oeste Catarinense	74.106
	9	Jaraguá do Sul	Norte Catarinense	174.158	19	Rio do Sul	Vale do Itajaí	70.100
	10	Lages	Serrana (Santa Catarina)	157.743	20	Araranguá	Sul Catarinense	67.578

European settlement

One of the Brazilian states that exhibits the most evident signs of 19th-century European immigration, Santa Catarina, where the vast majority of the population descends from European settlers, is also the state with the highest percentage of European phenotype citizens.

The state is also famous for having towns where most of the population belongs to a single main ancestry thanks to the settlement program with European colonists. Here are a few examples of such towns in the Southern region:

Santa Catarina where over 50% of the population has German, Austrian and Luxembourgish ancestry^[31][32][33] (the local Hunsrückisch is known as Katharinensisch,^[34]East Pomeranian is still spoken in the town of Pomerode and Southern Austro-Bavarian by the Tyrolean population in Treze Tílias) was also the main destination for Danes in Brazil and the state that was sparsely populated and had its shore mainly inhabited by Azoreans in the 18th century (e.g. Laguna born Anita Garibaldi, wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian Unification revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi), also received Italians, French, Swedes, Norwegians, Swiss, Lithuanians and Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Poles, Slovenians, Croatians, Belgians, American Confederates and Spaniards to populate its interior during the 19th century. The town of Brusque founded by Austrian Baron von Schneeburg bringing German families from the Grand Duchy of Baden to settle in the northeast of Santa Catarina, besides receiving additional waves of Italians from the Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion, Poles and Swedes, was also one of the destinations in the South and Southeast for American Confederate settlers in 1867, differing from São Paulo and Paraná colonies, where the American Confederate presence gave birth to new towns such as Americana in São Paulo. Neighboring towns such as Nova Trento founded in 1875, similarly received subjects from the Austro-Hungarian Empire due the fact that Italian-speaking Tyroleans known as trentinos and Germans from the Kingdom of Prussia, historic Swabia and Baden faced an immense crisis in the agricultural sector caused by the conflicts of the unification of Italy and Germany respectively, that weakened local trade. Istrian Italians under the Austrian Empire rule also fled Istria to settle in Brazil, and a few towns like Nova Veneza, founded in 1891 still have an over 90% Venetian population of which many still speak the Talian dialect. Most Venetians settled after the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, when Venice, along with the rest of the Veneto, became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy.^{[35][36][37][38][39][40][32][33][41][42]}

Portuguese

Azorean Portuguese house in Florianópolis.

The Portuguese started arriving in the 1750s, mainly from the Azores islands, and colonized the coast. In the late 18th century, half of Santa Catarina's population was Portuguese-born. These Portuguese established many important towns in the state, such as Florianópolis, the capital.

Germans and Austrians

German people started arriving in 1828, after Brazilian independence. These were peasants attracted by the opportunity to have their own land, as Germanic countries were overpopulated and many people had no land to work. German immigration was very low until the 1850s, when waves started arriving in southern Brazil. To stimulate the German colonization of southern Brazil, the Brazilian government created many German colonies: these were ethnically Germanic areas where people from many parts of what is now Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland settled. Initially, these colonies were in rural areas, where immigrants were able to cultivate their own farms. Many of these German colonies developed greatly and became large cities, Joinville and Blumenau a, among them.

Joinville, the largest city of Santa Catarina, settled by Germans in 1851.

Germans were isolated in rural communities for decades. They did not have much contact with the other peoples of Brazil, and for generations they were able to speak the German language and maintain German traditions in Brazil. This situation changed in 1942, during World War II, when Brazil declared war on Germany, and German immigrants and their descendants were required to learn Portuguese and to culturally integrate their respective states.

Still, German influence in the state remains very strong and visible. Many towns and cities retain notable aspects of German culture: in Pomerode, for example, a small town in which nine-tenths of the population is of German-Brazilian descent, most inhabitants still speak German fluently; and Oktoberfest continues to be celebrated in Blumenau and in many other towns in the region. Architecture, too, shows German influence, as do popular customs and local cuisine.

People of German and Austrian descent make up the largest ethnic group among the population of Santa Catarina, at around 40% in 1950.^[9]

Italians

Stone house in Nova Veneza, southern Santa Catarina, landmark of Italian immigration.

Italian settlers started arriving in Santa Catarina in 1875 and immigrated in large numbers until the 1910s. They were peasants from Northern Italy and established themselves in ethnically Italian colonies close to the coast. In the beginning, Italian settlements failed, because many Italians died of tropical diseases or left the colonies to find better conditions. However, in the Vale do Tubarão region (southern Santa Catarina), Italian immigrants found cooler weather and better lands, and the settlements prospered. Many Italians worked in the coal industry and, unlike the German immigrants, they did not dedicate themselves very much to agriculture. As they were not isolated in rural colonies, Italian immigrants were quickly integrated into the Brazilian population of Portuguese descent that had been living in Brazil since the 18th century.^{[citation needed]}

Economy

The industrial sector is the largest component of GDP at 52.5%, followed by the service sector at 33.9%. Agriculture represents 13.6% of GDP (2004). Santa Catarina exports: aviculture 26.1%, wood products 15.4%, compressors 8.5%, cotton 6.8%, and vehicles 5.8% (2002).

Share of the Brazilian economy: 4% (2005).

Downtown Chapecó.

Sunset in Criciúma.

Santa Catarina has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil, and is a major industrial and agricultural center.

The capital city, Florianópolis, has a diversified economy, being an important pole for the technology industry and a major touristic destination. Commerce and services are also very strong in the capital. Cities from Florianópolis metro area, like São José, Palhoça and Biguaçu are important and diverse industrial poles, as well as strong commerce areas.

In the northeast of the state, electric-mechanical, textile and furniture industries are strong; in the west, cattle and poultry breeding predominate, while in the south it is ceramics and shellfish.

The corridor between Joinville, Jaraguá do Sul and Blumenau is heavily industrialized - more than 50% of the state's industrial output is concentrated in this small, but highly developed area.

Santa Catarina has some of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil - Summer months (Dec-Mar) make the state one of the most sought-after travel destinations in Brazil and South America. Hundreds of thousands of Argentines, Uruguayans and Paraguayans flock to the state's beaches from mid December to late February followed by Western European and American tourists.

The major cities and their respective fields are:

• 
  Florianópolis, technology; tourism; services; commerce; government; education.


• 
  Joinville, metal-mechanic; automobile; tourism/events; software development; commerce; plastic; textile; chemistry; education.


• 
  Blumenau, textile; software; commerce and beer.


• 
  São José, industry; commerce and services.


• 
  Criciúma, ceramics.


• 
  Chapecó, cattle and poultry breeding.


• 
  Lages tourism and wood industry.


• 
  Itajai, seaport.


• 
  Jaraguá do Sul, electric motors and textile.


• 
  Palhoça, industry.


• 
  Balneário Camboriú tourism; commerce.


• 
  Tubarão.ceramics


• 
  Brusque, textile.


• 
  Rio Negrinho, furniture.


• 
  Caçador, furniture; metal-mechanics; agribusiness.


• 
  Campos Novos, agribusiness.


• 
  Concórdia, Swine industry.


• 
  Curitibanos, Agribusiness, wood industry, education.


• 
  São Joaquim, tourism.

See also agriculture in Santa Catarina.

Statistics

Vehicles: 2,489,343 (March/2007);
Mobile phones: 3.7 million (April/2007); Telephones: 1.6 million (April/2007). Cities: 293 (2007).^[43]

Education

Federal University of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis.

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. English, Spanish and sometimes German are part of the official high school curriculum.

There are more than 105 universities within the state of Santa Catarina.^[44]

Colleges and Universities

Contestado Museum

• 
  Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) (Federal University of Santa Catarina) (Public);


• 
  Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS) (Federal University of the Southern Border)(Public);


• Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC) (University of the State of Santa Catarina) (Public);


• Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina (IFSC) (Federal Institute of Santa Catarina) (Public);


• Instituto Federal Catarinense (IFC) (Santa Catarina's Federal Institute) (Public);


• Fundação Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB) (Regional University Foundation of Blumenau) (Public, but paid);


• Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (UNISUL) (University of Southern Santa Catarina) (Private);


• Universidade do Vale do Itajaí (UNIVALI) (University of the Itajaí Valley) (Private);


• Universidade da Região de Joinville (UNIVILLE) (University of the Region of Joinville) (Private);


• Universidade para o Desenvolvimento do Alto Vale do Itajaí (UNIDAVI) (University for the development of the upper valley of the Itajaí) (Private);


• Centro Universitário Leonardo da Vinci (UNIASSELVI) (University Center Leonardo da Vinci) (Private);


• 
  Universidade Católica de Santa Catarina (Catholic University of Santa Catarina) (Private);


• Universidade do Contestado (UnC) (University of Contestado) (Private);


• Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina (Unoesc) (University of Western Santa Catarina) (Private);


• Universidade do Planalto de Santa Catarina (Uniplac) (University of the Plateau of Santa Catarina) (Private);


• Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (Unesc) (University of Southernmost Santa Catarina) (Private);


• 
  Sociedade Educacional de Santa Catarina (SOCIESC) (Educational Society for Santa Catarina)(Private);

Infrastructure

International Airport

Florianópolis is served by Hercílio Luz International Airport for both domestic and international flights. The traffic has grown significantly at the airport and therefore the city will shortly build a new airport able to serve 2.7 million passengers a year.
The architectural design of the new airport was chosen by a public competition held by Infraero in partnership with the Brazilian Architects Institute (IAB).
Among the over 150 original entries, the proposal of São Paulo architect Mário Bizelli was chosen. The construction work will be tendered in 2005 and should be finished in two years.

Tourism

Balneário Camboriú.

Snow in the Alps of Santa Catarina.

Southern right whale at Morro das Pedras

Santa Catarina offers a number of sights and events throughout the year: rural tourism, thermal mineral resorts, ecological tourism and adventure sports, historic monuments and sights, religious tourism, Beto Carrero World and Unipraias parks in Balneário Camboriú, and beach resorts of Florianópolis, Laguna, Porto Belo and Itajaí.

Some of these sights can only be seen in the off-season, like the snow on the Catarinense Mountain Range - one of the places in Brazil where it snows every year.

Between July and November, southern right whales visit the state's coast. And during the winter, flocks of penguins migrate from Antarctica.

The municipality of Timbó is a center for adventure sports like rafting and canyoning.

The great festivities take place in October. The main Oktoberfest of Blumenau is Brazil's largest and the world's second largest (after Germany's Munich).^[45]

Joinville is the host city in July to the widely acclaimed "Joinville Dance Festival", the annual "Festival of Flowers" in November which showcases orchids produced in the region, and several business events in its Convention Center.

Florianópolis, the city/island State Capital attracts a large numbers of tourists during the summer months who visit its 42 beaches.

There are also many smaller resort towns, including the capital of the microlight aircraft tour flights Itapema, Piçarras, Barra Velha and Penha, home to the famous amusement park "Beto Carrero World".

An interesting collaboration between men and Nature that can be watched has been developed in Laguna (birthplace of Anita Garibaldi, the wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian Unification revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi): a pod of bottlenose dolphins drive fish towards fishermen who stand at the beach in shallow waters. Then one dolphin rolls over, which the fishermen take as sign to throw out their nets. The dolphins feed on the escaping fish. The dolphins were not trained for this behavior; the collaboration has been going on at least since 1847.^[46][47]Southern right whales also can be seen in Laguna from shores during winter to spring seasons.^[48]

The 17,491 hectares (43,220 acres) Turvo State Park, created in 1947, is in the northwest of the state.^[49]
It contains the Yucumã Falls (Portuguese: Salto do Yucumã, Spanish: Saltos del Moconá), a dramatic waterfall on the Uruguay River on the border with Argentina.
Many tourists come to the park to see the falls, which are 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) long and up to 20 metres (66 ft) high.^[50]

Sports

Football

The major football clubs of Santa Catarina are:

Criciuma EC from Criciúma. Criciúma EC, also known as "Tigre" (Tiger) has the most important championship won by a Santa Catarina Team in a very long time, being champion from the Copa do Brasil (Brazilian Cup) in 1991. Criciúma is the only team from Santa Catarina that played Libertadores of America Cup, in 1992, when it was 5th. Criciúma also won the Brazilian 2002 second series, and 2006 C series. Criciuma is currently playing Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the Brazilian national second division.

Figueirense FC black and white from Florianopolis. Its nickname is Figueira (Fig tree) and it is also known as O Furacão do Estreito (The Hurricane of Estreito). Its stadium is the Orlando Scarpelli, located in the Estreito neighborhood, in the continental part of the city. Figueirense is currently playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football.

Avaí FC, blue and white from Florianopolis. It is also known as O Leão da Ilha (The Lion of the Island). Its stadium is the Aderbal Ramos da Silva, popularly known as Ressacada, located in the Carianos neighborhood, in the south part of the island. Avaí is currently playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football.

Joinville Esporte Clube from Joinville. It is also known as "Tricolor" or "JEC". Joinville is currently playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first division of Brazilian football. JEC won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football, in 2014, but currently plays in Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third division of Brazilian football, after two consecutive relegations.

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol from Chapecó. Chapecoense is playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first and major division of Brazilian football. The club is currently recovering from the loss of virtually all of its first team in a 2016 plane crash.

Surfing

Campeche Island in Florianópolis.

The Island, Island of Santa Catarina, is generally considered to have the best and most consistent waves in Brazil, and in April of each year hosts what is currently South America's only ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Championship Tour professional surfing competition. Brazil has played host to many an ASP tour event over the past 30 years. Former contest sites include Rio de Janeiro, Barra de Tijuca and Saquarema, but the past four years have seen the tour set up shop in Florianopolis. Previously held towards the end of the tour, the past few years have seen several ASP world champions crowned in Brazil. In 2004 it was Andy Irons, and in 2005 it was Kelly Slater (who had his 2006 ASP World Title already stitched up by Brazil).

Tennis

Florianópolis is the hometown of Brazilian former tennis player Gustavo Kuerten.

Minority languages

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

• Autoctone Languages or Indigenous Languages: Kaingang; Guaraní;


• Extoctone Languages or Immigration Languages: German (Hunsrückisch, East Pomeranian, Plautdietsch, Austro-Bavarian, including more specifically Southern Austro-Bavarian); Italian (Talian or Venetian), Slavic (Polish, Ukrainian, Russian) and others, including Dutch, Scandinavian (Norwegian, Swedish and Danish), Lithuanian, Yiddish, English and Japanese minorities.

In some cities and villages, German or Talian are still the main spoken language and enjoy co-official status.^{[51][52][53][54]}

See also

• Comandante Moisés


• Hino do Estado de Santa Catarina


• 
  List of cities in Brazil (all cities and municipalities)

Notes

External links

• 
  Media related to Santa Catarina at Wikimedia Commons


• 
  (in Portuguese) Official State of Santa Catarina website
  


• 
  (in English) Santa Catarina on YouTube
  


• 
  (in Portuguese) Guia Catarina - Guia de informações sobre Santa Catarina
  


• 
  (in Portuguese) Informações sobre as Cidades de Santa Catarina, Eventos, e Diretório de empresas
  


• 
  (in Portuguese) Bela Santa Catarina