Dourados is a Brazilian

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 ...

, situated in the state of

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...

, Southwest of

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour ...

(the state's capital). It has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture (particularly Soya, Maize and Sugar Cane) and in cattle ranching. Dourados is also the second most populous and important city of this state. Its media, commerce, and services more than take care of the thirty cities of Mato Grosso do Sul, including a part of

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. For its size and importance, it is an economic and

social capital Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...

of a region that possesses approximately a million inhabitants (Vestibule of the Mercosul – the Common Market of the South). Its development was slow until the first half of the 20th century, because of transportation limitations (highways and roads), especially with

and the State of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. From 1950, it increased its development with the construction of roads. With this, it received migrants from other parts of the country (especially Sulistas and São Paulo) and immigrants (mainly Japanese). The city has a close relationship with

its next door neighbor, which is away. This is a strong factor in the ethnic and cultural union between the city and the neighboring country. This explains why 30% of the inhabitants of Dourados have some Paraguayan family link.

Fun

Dourados has a modern shopping mall with 191 stores and 500 parking spaces. This city also offers to its citizens recreational parks and squares. Dourados is well-served with many other shops, including those selling top Brazilian jeanswear brands such as Forum, Triton and Ellus and the middle-market clothes and homewares store Riachuelo. There are nightclubs and many restaurants in the city centre which offer a broad range of cuisines including a number of

Churrascaria A ''churrascaria'' () is a place where meat is cooked in ''churrasco'' style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese word for "barbecue". ''Churrascaria'' cuisine is typically (but not always) served '' rodízio'' style, where roving ...

s (

Churrasco ''Churrasco'' (, ) is the Portuguese and Spanish name for beef or grilled meat more generally. It is a prominent feature in the cuisine of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The related term ''churrascaria'' (or ''churrasquería'') is mostly under ...

is most commonly beef but also lamb and pork carved at the table from joints on skewers) as well as Pizza parlours and numerous places catering to the substantial Japanese community. On Saturday night and Sunday morning there is a large open-air market (Feira

offering locally produced fruits and vegetables. At the Feira there are restaurants providing Brazilian and Japanese food as well as stalls selling popular local delicacies such as

sugarcane juice Sugarcane juice is the liquid extracted from pressed sugarcane. It is consumed as a beverage in many places, especially where sugarcane is commercially grown, such as Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North Africa, and Latin America. Sug ...

(Caldo de Cana),

Doce de Leite Doce was a Portugal, Portuguese female band from the 1980s. It was one of the first girl bands in Europe. The girls took part in the Portuguese national final in order to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song " ...

(a type of caramel made from milk and sugar and cooked until it is either a thick syrup or it can formed into fudge-like pieces) and cocada (coconut and condensed milk cooked until either sticky or hard). Many locals make regular trips to the Paraguayan border town of

Ponta Porã Ponta Porã is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Its population is 93,937 (2020) and its area is 5,329 km2. It has a dry border and a conurbation with the city of Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay. Ponta Po ...

/ Pedro Juan Caballero where they are able to buy relatively low-cost low-duty imported items such as electronic goods, perfumes and designer clothing.

Education

Dourados has five universities, and more than 200 schools, and is considered an education pole of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. * Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) * Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD) * Centro Universitário da Grande Dourados (UNIGRAN) * Faculdades da Anhanguera (UNIDERP) * Universidade Paulista (UNIP – Interativa) * Instituto Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS)

Sports

Clube Recreativo Desportivo 7 de Setembro and

Ubiratan Esporte Clube Ubiratan Esporte Clube, commonly known as Ubiratan, is a Brazilian football club based in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul state. They won the Campeonato Sul-Matogrossense three times, competed in the Série B twice and also competed in the Série ...

are two

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

clubs based in the city. Both clubs play at Estadio Fredis Saldivar. Another stadium located in the city is named Estádio Napoleão de Souza.

Transportation

Dourados is served by Francisco de Matos Pereira Airport located 14 km from downtown Dourados.

People

Notable people

Lucas Leiva Lucas Pezzini Leiva (born 9 January 1987), known as Lucas or Lucas Leiva (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Grêmio. Lucas began his career as a box-to-box midfielder at Grêmio where he won the ...

Keirrison de Souza Carneiro Keirrison de Souza Carneiro (born 3 December 1988), nicknamed "K9", is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker, most recently for Londrina. Club career Coritiba Keirrison became a regular in Coritiba's main squad in 2007, he ...

* Matheus Mariotti de Abreu

Sister cities

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191, ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

* Kearney,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, United States

References

External links

* {{Municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul Municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul