Criciúma () is a city in the
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian state of
Santa Catarina. At , it is located
180 km south of
Florianópolis
Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as we ...
, the state capital and around 900 km south of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials industry, and is the second-largest such center in the world.
City data
*Foundation: 214 493 (2022 estimate)
*Area: 209,8 km
2
*Nearby cities:
Siderópolis,
Cocal do Sul,
Morro da Fumaça,
Maracajá,
Araranguá,
Nova Veneza,
Forquilhinha
Forquilhinha is a municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina. In 2020, it had a population of 27,211 inhabitants. It covers an area of 184,557 km2 at an altitude of 42 meters above sea lev ...
,
Içara
The city was founded on January 6, 1880, by
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
. It has an approximate population of 213,000 inhabitants, and an area of
209.8 km². In April 2004, Criciúma was affected by a tropical cyclone, a phenomenon unheard of in recent South Atlantic history, which caused some damage.
It is the Brazilian capital of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
and
ceramic tiles, but also very strong in plastic, textiles (jeans), and chemicals.
Criciúma is 24 km inland from the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
(Rincão beach) and around 40 km from the mountains of the interior of Santa Catarina state.
Criciúma is also the name of the city's
football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team, which plays in the national league. They have won several championship titles, including a national championship in 1991 (
Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...
). Their colors are white, black and yellow, symbols of the state mineral resources, mainly coal.
Several small towns lie around Criciúma forming a metropolitan area of 250 thousand people. The most important are:
Içara (a major producer of
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
),
Urussanga,
Nova Veneza,
Siderópolis,
Orleans and
Araranguá.
The city is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Criciúma. Criciuma's cathedral is Catedral São José.
According to IBGE statistics for 2014, it has 211,369 inhabitants, being the main city of the Carboniferous Metropolitan Region, which has about 600 thousand inhabitants, besides being the most populous city of South Catarinense, the seventh largest in the state of Santa Catarina and the 22nd in the Southern Region of Brazil. Under the Unified Health System, the SUS, Criciúma houses more than 252 thousand registered. It is among the 100 municipalities in Brazil with the best Human Development Index (HDI), calculated as 0.788 in 2010, being the 76th most well-rated municipality in the country and the 14th best evaluated in Santa Catarina that year.
The city is an industrial center in several sectors, among them: confection, packaging, ceramic, plastic and disposable, metalworking, extraction of coal, civil construction and graphic material.
With headquarters in Criciúma, Rede Angeloni is the largest supermarket chain in Santa Catarina and the 10th largest in the country, with 27 stores spread throughout Brazil, the largest hypermarket in the network is located in Criciúma. In addition to having 3 malls, in the service sector - health and education - stands out with three hospitals, two 24-hour care units, the University of Extremo Sul Catarinense, Federal Institute of Santa Catarina and seven other colleges.
Known for being the Brazilian Capital of Coal and Ceramic Coating. In its
subsoil
Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...
it harbors one of the largest mineral reserves of the country. The Visitation Mine Octávio Fontana, allows a view of the historical evolution of the extractive wealth of the city. Colonized by Italians, the city also received Poles, Germans, Portuguese and Arabs at various stages of its development.
Among so many popular festivals that take place in the South, one of them is in Criciúma. The Festival of Ethnicities, which in the first editions was named Quermesse for being held in Nereu Ramos Square, next to St. Joseph's Cathedral, brings together all the ethnic traditions of the region and has as main objectives to promote the manifestations and to integrate the colonizers of Criciúma, thus passing on their cultural history.
Transportation
Criciúma is served by
Diomício Freitas Airport
Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport formerly SBCM, is the airport serving Criciúma, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of Forquilhinha. It is named after Diomício Manoel de Freitas (1911-1981), a local entrepreneur and politician. ...
located in the adjoining municipality of
Forquilhinha
Forquilhinha is a municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina. In 2020, it had a population of 27,211 inhabitants. It covers an area of 184,557 km2 at an altitude of 42 meters above sea lev ...
and
Humberto Ghizzo Bortoluzzi Regional Airport located in
Jaguaruna.
Education
*
College Hermann Spethmann
Notable people
*
Valdomiro, football player
*
Patric Patric may refer to:
* PATRIC, the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center, a bacterial infectious disease information system
* Patric (singer) (born 1947), full name Patrick Martin, French singer
* Patric (footballer, born 1987), full name Ande ...
, football player
*
Paulinho Criciúma, football player
*
Tonho Gil, coach and former footballer
*
Airton Souza, coach and former footballer
*
Rafael, football player
Twin towns – sister cities
Criciúma is
twinned with:
*
Huaibei
Huaibei () is a prefecture-level city in northern Anhui Province (China), Province, China. It borders Suzhou, Anhui, Suzhou (Anhui) to the east, Bengbu to the south, Bozhou to the west, and the provinces of Henan to the northwest and Jiangsu to ...
, China
*
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and ''comune'' situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the Cardinal direction, northeast of Italy, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers, borders with the following municipalities:
Alpa ...
, Italy
Climate
References
External links
City’s official website (in Portuguese)City’s unofficial website (in Portuguese)Soccer team's official weblog (in Portuguese)/ Newspapers of Criciuma (in Portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Criciuma
Municipalities in Santa Catarina (state)