Araquari is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of Santa Catarina in the South region of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The municipality of Araquari was basically colonized by Azorean

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

, who arrived at the coast of Santa Catarina between 1748 and 1756, and since then, the

Azorean culture ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

rooted up and walked hand in hand with the most diverse cultures, as with the Indigenous peoples in Brazil and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

ns, both important in this region thus creating a cultural and religious mosaic. Like many coastal cities Araquari has its founding myth linked to the European occupation process in America, in the first phase of the age of discoveries. According to information from the municipal Department of Culture the European foundation of Araquari is set 40 years after the discovery of Brazil in 1500. The Spanish navigator

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (; 1488/90/92"Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (1492?-1559?)." American Eras. Vol. 1: Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Decembe ...

landed what is now

Barra Velha Barra Velha is a resort town and county seat of about 30,000 inhabitants in the Northern region of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Its nine beaches extend from the Rio Itapocu in the North to the resort town of Piçarras on its Southern border. Additiona ...

and encouraged the exploration of the northern region, until then inhabited by Indios. The expedition consisted of 250 men, 40 horses, some slaves and indoctrinated group of Indios by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. A month later, they came what they called first ''Paranaguá Mirim'', ("small cove") in Tupi-Guarani. In 1658, the first

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

pioneers settled in the region inhabited by Carijós, but the actual foundation of the town only happened in 1848, when a Portuguese ship arrived in

Paraty Paraty (or Parati, ) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality with a population of about 43,000. Indeed, the name "Paraty" originates from the local Guaianá Indians' Indigenous Tupi ...

under the command of

Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar (28 April 1776 – 14 June 1833 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese nobleman who served first as Captain General in the colony of Brazil, but ultimately as the 9th Captain General of the archipelago of the Azores. ...

, who founded a small colony. Another pioneer, Joaquim da Rocha Coutinho, joined him and the two decided to found a village, but failed to reach an agreement on the site. The Judge of the District of São Francisco ruled in favor of Rocha Coutinho who built homes on the banks of the river Parati, surrounding pastures and crops. Both are considered to be the founders of the parish Senhor Bom Jesus do Paraty (''Good Lord Jesus of Paraty'') in 1854, but still part of the municipality of

São Francisco do Sul São Francisco do Sul is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It covers an area of 540 km² (208 miles2) and had an estimated population of 53,746 in 2020. Location It was founded as a village by the Portuguese in 1658. ...

BMW plant

First BMW manufactured in Brazil SAO 2014 0419

The town is home of a BMW automobile plant since October 2014 when the first BMW 328i ActiveFlex car was assembled. Over the course of the next few years, more than

EUR The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens ...

200 million will be invested in the plant, resulting in a production capacity of more than 30,000 vehicles annually. The BMW 328i ActiveFlex car is a flex fuel version of

BMW 3 series The BMW 3 Series is a line of compact executive cars manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. It is the successor to the 02 Series and has been produced in seven generations. The first generation of the 3 Series was only avail ...

specifically designed for the Brazilian market, which allows the vehicle to run on any blend of gasoline and ethanol up to E100 ethanol.BMW Group assembles first car in Brazil
press.bmwgroup.com, retrieved 21 July 2015

References

{{Santa Catarina Municipalities Populated coastal places in Santa Catarina (state) Municipalities in Santa Catarina (state) 1848 establishments in Brazil

BMW plant

See also

References