Itajaí () 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,

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 ...

. It is located on the northern central coast of Santa Catarina and is part of the Vale do Itajaí Mesoregion, on the right bank of the Itajaí-Açu river mouth. It lies at the mouth of the Itajaí River, at 20 feet (6 metres) above sea level. The city has the 2nd largest

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

and the highest

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

in the State of Santa Catarina.

History

The city was founded on June 15, 1860, but the colonization of Itajaí had started in 1658 when the

Paulista Paulista is a municipality in Pernambuco, Brazil, with a population of 334,376 as of 2020. It has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) of the Recife metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of footballer Rivaldo and is also famous for its beac ...

João Dias D’Arzão arrived in the region. In 1750,

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 ...

colonists coming from Madeira and the

Azores ) , 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 ...

made this region their home. By 1823 it became a prominent region for Portuguese settlers and, at the end of the 19th century, received a great number of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

. Itajaí and most of Santa Catarina State area is prone to torrential storms specially during the Spring season. Floods are frequent and even tornadoes can form. In late November 2008, around 100 people perished in floods due to the long lasting showers that fell in Southeastern and Southern Brazil. 90% of the city was underwater and the port was partially destroyed. Many lost their homes and other possessions and had no ready shelters to turn to, for the rain combined with river waters invaded every section of the city and most of Central and Coastal Santa Catarina State. President Lula da Silva and other officials flew over the area to evaluate the damage and offer help. The state was declared a disaster area by the State and Federal governments.

Demography

The majority of the population is descended from Germans, Italians and Azoreans. The mixture of German, Italian and Portuguese cultures is a landmark of the city. Source:

IBGE The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information ...

Census 2010 It is estimated that of the little more than 200 thousand inhabitants of the city, about 190 thousand live in the urban area and 10 thousand in the rural area. According to the IBGE census, the population is approximately 51% female and 49% male.

Religion

The predominant religions in the municipality are the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

(approximately 61% of the population) and

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

(approximately 28% of the population). There are also practitioners of other religions, such as spiritist,

umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th ce ...

, candomblé and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, but with less representation.

Geography

It occupies an area of 304 km ², 20% urban and 80% rural (or conservation areas). Is located on the north coast of

Santa Catarina State Santa Catarina (, ) is a state in the South Region of Brazil. It is the 7th smallest state in total area and the 11th most populous. Additionally, it is the 9th largest settlement, with 295 municipalities. The state, with 3.4% of the Brazili ...

, specifically at the mouth of the Itajaí-Açu river. It borders onto the cities of Balneário Camboriú, Camboriú, Brusque, Gaspar, Ilhota and

Navegantes Navegantes (, ''Seafarers'') is a coastal and tourist city located in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. The population is 83,626 (2020 est.) in an area of 112.0 km². Ministro Victor Konder International Airport serves the popular be ...

. Headquarters of the largest fishing port in the country and the largest university in the state, the Univali (Universidade do Vale do Itajaí). Itajaí is located in the Lower Valley of Rio Itajaí, the coast and the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated at the mouth of the Itajaí-Açu river, allowing the existence of the port. The city is basically flat - due to being at sea level The highest point is Morro da Cruz, 170 meters above sea level. It was part of the defunct metropolitan area of Foz do Rio Itajaí, together with the neighboring municipalities. Itajaí hosts one of the biggest festivals of Brazilian popular music. The festival is held every October and brings together musicians and artists from around the country. These meetings are a display of the culture of Itajaí. The BR-101 is the main link to the city, and highways SC-100, BR-486, SC-470 and BR-470, Itajaí link to the rest of the state.

Climate

Itajaí has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Cfa'') humid in winter and dry in summer. In summer temperatures can reach 40 °C (Temperature reached in 2000) and during the winter they can get as low as 5 °C. It is very rare to get temperatures outside this range. There are reports that the lowest temperature ever recorded in Itajaí was -1 °C in 1975.

Economy

International trade

] As of 2014, the municipality of Itajaí conducted 1.61% of Brazil , Brazil's total export trade with $3.91B (USD) worth of goods. This figure places Itajaí as the 8th highest exporter in Brazil. Of this, 86% or $3.35B (USD) was made up by the trade of animal products. The top five material goods exported by Itajaí for that year were poultry meat (52%), pork (21%), other prepared meat (9.6%), preserved meat (7.3%), and frozen bovine meat (2.2%).

Port of Itajaí

The Port of Itajaí is the main port of Santa Catarina, and the second largest in Brazil in terms of the movement of containers. It serves as the main port for exports in the region, and almost all production of the state of Santa Catarina moves through it at some point.

Tourism

Itajaí has many

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, among them are the Molhes, Atalaia, Jeremias, Cabeçudas, Morcego, Brava (Angry) Beach and Solidão. One well-known tourist attraction is the Parrot's Beak, a 6-meter-tall rock in the shape of a parrot. The city also has extensive rural areas and natural scenery, with a rich heritage of the

and

immigrants. Itajaí has a píer for passenger vessels, serving the coast of Santa Catarina and used by the customs, which guides ships in by laser. The Marejada, a

festival of fishing and seafood, is the principal festival of the city, showcasing attractions relative to the ocean and the Azores. Itajaí is also the hub of Nautical Club Marcílio Dias, a sport association for both football (soccer) and competitive

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

. In 2013 it has been chosen as the arrival point of the

Transat Jacques Vabre The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after (and sponsored by) a French brand of coffee. The course was drawn up back in 1993 to follow in the wake of ...

and it was a stopover for the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Ra ...

in 2012, 2015 and 2018. The city is served by Ministro Victor Konder International Airport located in the adjoining municipality of

. Each October, yearly celebrate Marejada carried out in Itajaí from 1987.

Twin towns – sister cities

Itajaí is twinned with: *

Melipilla Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean commune and capital city of the province of the same name, located in the Santiago Metropolitan Region southwest of the nation's capital. The commune spans an area of . Demographics Acco ...

, Melipilla Province, Chile *

Pompano Beach Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States * Sodegaura, Chiba, Japan *

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 88,725, in an area of 319.02 km². The urbanized area of the municipality, comprising the city, ...

, North Region, Portugal *

Xinxiang Xinxiang ( ; postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its southeast, Hebi and Anyang to its north, Jiaozuo to its west, and the ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, China

References

External links

The City of Itajaí Website

The Port of Itajaí Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itajaí Populated coastal places in Santa Catarina (state) Populated places established in 1860 Municipalities in Santa Catarina (state) 1860 establishments in Brazil Port cities in Brazil