Santa Maria 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 central region of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...

, the southernmost state of

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 ...

. In 2020, its population was 283,677 inhabitants in a total area of . Santa Maria is the 5th biggest municipality in the state, and the largest in its micro-region. Santa Maria is often referred to as the "heart of Rio Grande" (from Portuguese: "''Coração do Rio Grande''"), because the city is located in the geographical center of the State.

History and Importance

The first inhabitants of Santa Maria were the Minuano Indigenous People, who lived in a region of the municipality known as Coxilha do Pau Fincado, and the Tapes, who lived in the hills. With the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese colonizers this border region was witness to innumerable battles between rival groups. Finally, in 1797 the border between the two colonies was established by a commission (''1ª Subdivisão da Comissão Demarcadora de Limites da América dat lit Meridional)''. This commission set up camp on the site of present-day Santa Maria. The camp was known as ''Acampamento de Santa Maria'', later adding ''Boca do Monte'' to the name. 1828 saw the arrival of the 28th Battalion of Foreigners, made up of hired Germans to fight against the inhabitants of present-day

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War (), also known as the Argentine-Brazilian War () or, in Argentine and Uruguayan historiography, as the Brazil War (''Guerra del Brasil''), the War against the Empire of Brazil (''Guerra contra el Imperio del Brasil'') or t ...

. After the war many of the soldiers decided to stay in Santa Maria, beginning the cycle of German colonization. In 1857, Santa Maria was separated from Cachoeira do Sul and elevated to town (''vila'') status. The municipality was created on 16 December 1857 and installed on 17 May 1858. Since 1910, the city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Maria, and annually hosts an important

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 ...

festival dedicated to Nossa Senhora Medianeira, called "''Romaria da Medianeira''" (''Medianeira'' or Mediatrix is a name of Our Lady that was created in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

). Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over Brazil join in the celebrations. Due to its strategic geographical location, Santa Maria has a large military force, including the

Santa Maria Air Force Base Santa Maria Air Force Base – ALA4 is a base of the Brazilian Air Force, located in Santa Maria, Brazil. It shares some facilities with Santa Maria Airport. History In 1944 the then President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas allocated an area of ...

of the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

, which houses four units, and the 3rd Army Division of the Southern Military Command. In 2011, the German defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) closed a deal to renovate old tanks and produce new ones for the Brazilian Army, opening a factory in Santa Maria. This earned the city its new nickname, "Armoured Capital" (from Portuguese: ''Capital dos Blindados''). On 27 January 2013, a fire broke out in the ' 'Kiss"'' nightclub'' during a band performance, due to misuse of pyrotechnics, which got in direct contact with the acoustic foam used in the club. In total, 242 people died due to suffocation or trampling while trying to escape, or of complication in days and months following the event. It has been reported that as many as 1,500 people were in the nightclub when the fire broke out.

Population

Santa Maria is the fifth largest city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, after

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

Caxias do Sul Caxias do Sul (), is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, situated in the state's mountainous Serra Gaúcha region. It was established by Italian immigrants on June 20, 1890. Today it is the second largest city in the state of Rio Grand ...

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and municipality (''município''), the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located 270 km (168 mi) from Porto Alegre, the state's capital city, and 130 km (80.8& ...

, and

Canoas 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 th ...

. Many of the city's inhabitants are 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 ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestries. It is the largest city in the central region of the state, concentrating 36.40% of this region's population. During the period between 2000 and 2010, Santa Maria had a demographic growth rate of 6.00%. The municipality contains 10

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. The city of Santa Maria itself is located in the urban Seat District (''Distrito Sede''), which is divided into 8 ''regiões administrativas'' (

administrative regions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

), and further subdivided into 40 ''

bairro A ''bairro'' () is a Portuguese word for a quarter or a neighborhood or, sometimes, a district which is within a city or town. It is commonly used in Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and other Portuguese-speaking places. ''Bairro'' ...

s'' ( neighbourhoods). About 95% of the municipality's total population is concentrated in the Seat District. One of the districts is

Palma Palma or La Palma means palm in a number of languages and may also refer to: Geography Africa * Palma, Mozambique, city ** Palma District * La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain ** La Palma (DO), a ''Denominación de Origen'' for wines from ...

Economy

The economy is based on services, industry, government services, and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. In 2006, there were 934 transformation industries employing 6,344 workers.

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...

employed 12,180 workers,

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment ( public governance), management of non-profit es ...

employed 4,783 workers, the health sector employed 3,799 workers, and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

employed 6,362 workers. In the agricultural sector, there were 2,335 establishments employing 7,000 workers. The main activities are cattle raising with over 100,000 head in 2006, and growth of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...

, and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

.IBGE Cidades

Transportation

Santa Maria is a major

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

and

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

hub. The city has a strategic location in connecting Brazil to other

Mercosul The Southern Common Market, commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur, and Portuguese Mercosul, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentin ...

countries, mainly through the following highways: BR 158 Itaara BRESIL

BR-158 BR-158 is a federal highway of Brazil. One of the longest highways in the country, the road connects Altamira, Pará, to Santana do Livramento on the Uruguayan border where it joins Route 5 (Uruguay). In the original planning of the Ministry o ...

– connects Santa Maria to northern and southwestern

, allowing access to Uruguaiana, in the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

border, and to

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

. * BR-287 – east-west highway, connecting the city to the capital of the state,

. Railways are used for cargo transportation, mainly of agricultural products, automobile parts and food. Santa Maria is away from the River Terminal of

Cachoeira do Sul Cachoeira do Sul () is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southernmost Brazil. Its Marian Catedral da Nossa Senhora da Conceição http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/brazil/2666.htm GCatholic is the episcopal see of the Roman Catho ...

, which allows ship transport until the port of Porto Alegre through the

Jacuí River The Jacuí River () is a river in Rio Grande do Sul state of southern Brazil. The Jacuí empties into the Guaíba River, an estuarine arm of the Lagoa dos Patos, a large coastal lagoon connected to the Atlantic Ocean. Sources The Jacuí River, k ...

, and from there to 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 ...

, through the Lagoa dos Patos. Santa Maria Airport is located away from downtown, in the neighborhood of Camobi. It has capacity for large airplanes and offers daily flights to Porto Alegre,

Santo Ângelo Santo Ângelo is a municipality located in northwestern Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. It has about 77,568 inhabitants (according to 2020 IBGE estimate) and the total area of the municipality is about 679 km². It borders Giruá to the no ...

and Uruguaiana. Santa Maria Air Force Base - ALA4, one of their most important bases of the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

, is located in Santa Maria and shares some facilities with the airport.

Distances to other cities

*Santa Maria—Porto Alegre: . *Santa Maria—Pelotas: . *Santa Maria—Cruz Alta: . *Santa Maria—Uruguaiana: . *Santa Maria—Passo Fundo: . *Santa Maria—Caxias do Sul: .

Education

Fachada do Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria

A popular nickname for Santa Maria is "University City" (Portuguese: "C''idade Universitária''") or "Culture city" (Portuguese: "C''idade Cultura''"), due to its large student population. The largest university, the

Federal University of Santa Maria The Federal University of Santa Maria ( pt, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, UFSM) is a Brazilian public university located in Santa Maria, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, funded by the federal government of Brazil. It was founded in 1 ...

, was founded in 1960 by José Mariano da Rocha Filho; while the private university center Universidade Franciscana was founded in 1951. The city also has a number of other smaller private colleges, such as the Methodist University of Santa Maria (FAMES).

Climate

Santa Maria has a

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

and its annual average temperature is . In January, the warmest month, highs frequently surpass with the average low dropping to . In June, the coldest month, highs reach and lows usually go below , reaching up to , but snow is a rare occurrence. Rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year with a monthly average of .

Quality of life

According to the United Nations (PNUD 2000), Santa Maria ranks 45th in quality of life in Brazil and 9th in the state. According to data from 2006, from Fundação de Economia e Estatística – FEE, life expectancy at birth is of 74.01 years and the demographic density of the municipality is . The level of atmospheric pollution in Santa Maria is low, since the urban area, for the most part, is composed of retail commerce and services, without polluting sectors.

Sport

Santa Maria has two football teams, Inter-SM and Riograndense-SM, one

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team, th
Santa Maria Soldiers
and one Rugby team, the Universitario Rugby.

Paleontology

The city is the birthplace of

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and

. The Paleontological Sites of Santa Maria are internationally known. In 1902, a Rhynchosaur was collected in Santa Maria, one of the first fossil collections made in South America since Darwin's voyage on the Beagle between 1831 and 1836.

Llewellyn Ivor Price Llewellyn Ivor Price (October 9, 1905 – June 9, 1980) was one of the first Brazilian paleontologists. His work contributed not only to the development of Brazilian but also to global paleontology. He collected ''Staurikosaurus'', the first ...

, a Santa Maria-born paleontologist and one of the first

ian ones, collected a

Staurikosaurus ''Staurikosaurus'' (Pronounced "STORE-ee-koh-SAWR-us", " Southern Cross lizard") is a genus of herrerasaurid dinosaur from the Late Triassic of Brazil, found in the Santa Maria Formation. Description Colbert (1970) described ''Staurikosa ...

, the first Brazilian

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

. The city is located on a huge deposit of

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

, with more than 20 Paleontological Sites. In October 2009, free distribution of one thousand copies of the book Vertebrados Fósseis de Santa Maria e Região (''Vertebrate Fossils of Santa Maria and surrounding regions'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

). The book will be delivered to institutions, schools and libraries in Santa Maria, in order to spread the teaching of this subject in the region. The book was published by the council of the city.Vertebrate Fossils of Santa Maria and surrounding regions.
/ref> Already published two

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s with titles Xiru Lautério e Os Dinossauros I and II, in order to disclose the

and

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

culture among children of city and region.

References

External links

The city's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria, Rio Grande Do Sul Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul