Paraibuna 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 ...
(''município'') in 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 GaW ...
in
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 part of the
Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 18,263 (2020 est.) in an area of 809.58 km². The elevation is 635 m. The
SP-99
Rodovia dos Tamoios (official designation SP-099) is a highway in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.
The highway is partly dual-lane, part single-lane, and runs from the city of São José dos Campos, located in the Paraíba River valley in t ...
highway passes through the town.
The municipality contains part of the
, created in 1982 to protect the sources of the
Paraíba do Sul river.
History
The city was founded on June 13, 1666, with the construction of a hut and a chapel in honor of St. Anthony. On June 3, 1773 Manuel Antonio assumed the administration of the settlement Santo Antonio da Barra de Paraibuna. In 1812 the parish was established by the Prince Regent, and made a village, which was raised to a town in 1857. From 1830 to 1870 the area was known for its coffee plantations, and many farms, including the Fazenda São Pedro, were created for that purpose. With the decline of coffee plantations, farmers started to grow cotton. During this time Paraibuna began its financial decline.
A fresh impetus came to the county with the initiation of dairy-cattle breeding since 1922. Other economic progress derived from the construction of the President Dutra Freeway (Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo) and the Tamoios Highway. Construction of the Paraibuna-Paraitinga Dam in the 1960s brought new difficulties to the community: the inundation of prime land and the exodus of agricultural workers. Today the county invests in tourism in order to improve its economy.
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20051211232800/http://www.paraibuna.sp.gov.br/
*
citybrazil.com.br*
Municipalities in São Paulo (state)
{{SaoPauloState-geo-stub