South Region
- Area: 577,214 km² (6.75%)
- Population: 25,800,000 (43,46 people/km², 12.5%)
- GDP: R$503 billion / US$313,8 billion (2008; ~15%)
- HDI: 0.967
- Climate: Subtropical in all region, hot to moderately hot in the summer, mild (though very cold for Brazilian standards) and very humid winters. Snow is very common, mainly in the highlands (for example in Santa Catarina state's São Joaquim).
- States: Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina
- Largest Cities: Curitiba (1,828,092); Porto Alegre (1,441,554); Londrina (510,707); Joinville (429,004); Caxias do Sul (360,223); Florianópolis (341,781); Pelotas (323,034); Canoas (305,711); Maringá (288.,465); Ponta Grossa (281,000); Blumenau (277,500); Cascavel (273,000); Foz do Iguaçu (269,585); Santa Maria (243,396), Rio Grande (238,000)
- Economy: Machinery and automobile industries, textiles, tourism, energy production, information technology, orange, apple, grapefruit.
- Transport: There are many developed highways and railways throughout the region, although the latter is mainly used for freight. Rivers are used when possible.
- Vegetation: Rainforests along the coast (Mata Atlântica), tropical semiciduous in the north and west (Araucárias) and prairie-like vegetation in the south (Pampas). Little native vegetation still remains due to deforestation.
- Notable characteristics: The South region is characterized by its high standard of living, with by far the best social indicators of the country. This region contains the cities with the highest HDI levels: Florianópolis has an HDI of 0.975; Porto Alegre has an HDI of 0.969; Curitiba has an HDI of 0.980 (information accurate as of 1996). The region, along with the state of São Paulo, is also characterized by its strong immigrant presence, with many inhabitants descended from mainly Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swedish immigrants, and have added to the local culture, especially in architecture, cuisine and forms of agriculture.
Read more about this topic: Regions Of Brazil
Famous quotes containing the words south and/or region:
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Then, that no region of the universe
Should remain void of life, the floor of heaven
Was peopled with the stars and godlike forms,
The seas became the abode of glittering fish.
Earth took the beasts and mobile air the birds.
A holier animal was wanting.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)