Canoas, Rio Grande Do Sul

Canoas (), which earned city status in 1939, is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. With more than 340,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Porto Alegre conurbation and has the second highest GDP in the state. It is also the fourth largest city in the state by population. Canoas boasts a strong manufacturing-based economy and is the home to Canoas Air Force Base - ALA3, one of the most important bases of the Brazilian Air Force.

According to the IBGE, Brazil's Geography and Statistics Institute, Canoas currently has no rural areas, but it started as a village of large landowners. The first of them was ''conquistador'' Francisco Pinto Bandeira, who received from the Portuguese Crown, in 1740, an area north of the Gravataí River.

History has that 1871 was the beginning of the village of Canoas, when the first section of the railway that would link Porto Alegre to São Leopoldo was inaugurated. Canoas was then part of the municipalities of Gravataí and São Sebastião do Caí. Soon large farms would lose space to small properties.

After obtaining city status, Canoas experienced rapid growth, especially after 1945. At that time, it would be called a (Portuguese for ' bedroom city'), because thousands of people would commute to neighboring Porto Alegre to work. However, de-industrialisation in Porto Alegre, the setting-up of numerous manufacturing plants in Canoas and a strong demographic growth have reverted that situation and nowadays Canoas has a per capita GDP higher than Porto Alegre.

City conditions and subdivisions

Canoas ('canoes' in English) consists of mostly large sprawling neighborhoods and a lively business district, as well as numerous large factories, among them the Refinaria Alberto Pasqualini (REFAP), a Petrobras oil refinery. The city's neighbourhoods follow a common pattern in Brazil, combining new high-end districts showing rapid urban development with working-class areas which turn into slums as one moves away from the city centre.

The city's poorest neighbourhoods were originally unplanned. The Guajuviras subdivision, the old Guajuviras Farm that was developed by the government, was originally settled by squatters before the government officially opened the property for inhabitation. Although traditionally crime-ridden, Guajuviras has experienced lower criminality levels as of lately due to government intervention and the better living conditions experienced by Brazilians in general.

Canoas has one of the richest and most important universities in southern Brazil: the Ulbra (Lutheran University of Brazil), as well as Catholic La Salle University ( UnilaSalle) and Centro Universitário Ritter dos Reis. In sports, the volleyball team Canoas Vôlei plays in the Brazilian Superliga de Vôlei, whereas the football team Canoas Futebol Clube plays in the Campeonato Gaúcho.

Pictures of Canoas

Image:Canoasmap.png, Canoas subdivisions
Image:Guajuviras canoas rs brazil.jpg, Guajuviras neighbourhood
Image:Base canoas.jpg, Canoas Air Base
Image:Centro canoas.jpg, Canoas Downtown
Image:Bairro Getulio Vargas Canoas.jpg, Getulio Vargas neighbourhood
Image:Jogo Ulbra X Joinville Serie C.jpg, Soccer game at the Ulbra Sport Club in the São José neighbourhood
Image:Ulbra canoas.jpg, Ulbra University
Image:Museudaulbra.jpg, ULBRA Technological Museum
Image:CapelaUlbragr-1-.jpg, Chapel at the ULBRA
Image:Unilasalle.jpg, La Salle University
Image:Estrada de ferro na tabaí.jpg, Old rail line in the Industrial neighbourhood
Image:Postoagasnatural.jpg, Gas station in the Igara neighbourhood
Image:Zaffaribourbon.jpg, Zaffari Bourbon grocery store in the Getulio Vargas neighbourhood
Image:Fundaçao cultural de Canoas.jpg, Cultural Foundation of Canoas

Image:Base canoas.jpg, Canoas Air Force Base
Image:DCP Canoas.jpg, Getulio Vargas Federal Boulevard (BR-116) in Canoas
Image:Trensurb.JPG, Urban Train (Trensurb) which passes through Canoas
Image:Rodoviaria de Canoas.jpg, Canoas Intermunicipal Bus Station (Rodoviária)
Image:Estaçãoferrea.jpg, Canoas' train station, in 1874
Image:Igrejamatriz1931.jpg, Main Catholic Church in downtown in 1931
Image:Vegetaçaocanoas.jpg, Typical vegetation in Canoas

See also

*Porto Alegre
*Alvorada

External links

Canoas Mayoral Office
(in Portuguese)
Satellite view of Canoas


(in Portuguese) Images of homes are not representative of the rest of the city - the homes shown are part of one wealthy subdivision in the city

SOGAL - Sociedade de Ônibus Gaúcha: Canoas City's Bus Transport
(in Portuguese)

ULBRA - Lutheran University of Brazil
(in Portuguese)

References

{{Authority control

Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul