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 ...
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 ...
.
History
Palhoça was founded in 1793, when the city was part of the way between
Lages
Lages is a Brazilian municipality located in the central part of the state of Santa Catarina, in the region known in Portuguese as "Planalto Serrano".
It is located in the mountain region of the state and is the largest municipality of it. It ...
and Florianópolis in order to protect the capital state from possible invasions. Its name comes from "straw roof", named such because of the large number of houses with this kind of roof when the first Palhoça citizens were natives.
Geography
Palhoça is located in the greater Florianópolis region. It is bordered on the north by São José, on the west by Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, on the south by Paulo Lopes, on the east by Santa Catarina Island south bay and on the southeast by the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
Its coast consists of a long
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
and beaches on the south.
The municipality contains part of the
Serra do Tabuleiro State Park
Serra do Tabuleiro State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Serra do Tabuleiro) is a state park in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
It protects a mountainous area near the city of Florianópolis, covered in Atlantic Forest, which is an important so ...
, a protected area created in 1975. The lushly-forested park protects the sources of the Vargem do Braço,
Cubatão
Cubatão is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, 12 kilometers away from Santos seaport, the largest in Latin America. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista. The population is 131,626 (2020 est.) in an area of 142.88 k ...
and D'Una rivers, which supply most of the drinking water for greater Florianópolis and the south coast region. The highest point of the city is Cambirela mountain, located in the state park.
Economy
The most important industries of the city are located in the industrial area in the neighborhood of Jardim Eldorado. The commerce plays an important role mainly in the Ponte do Imaruim and downtown, although Pagani started to become important for the city's economy since the City Hall and the City Chamber moved there in 2005. The south region has developed tourism and fishing as a way to improve the local economy since this region is not so integrated to the rest of the city due to geographical and political reasons.
The economy has been growing, and an important national clothing company and a multinational beverage company have built their centers of distribution in Palhoça. A shopping mall was inaugurated in 2010 together with a large supermarket, a hotel, and recently a middle-sized department store downtown. For that reasons, the number of jobs has increased.
New private neighborhoods have been built, concerned about natural preservation and quality of life, increasing the number of the population and jobs opportunities.
BR-101
The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.São José and Paulo Lopes.
The bus is the only means of public transportation in Palhoça. Jotur, Imperatriz and Paulo Lopes are the bus companies that operate in Palhoça.
Notable people
* Eli Heil (1929—2017) painter, sculptor, ceramicist, tapestry maker and poet