Gravataí ( Tupi–Guarani: ''gravatá'', a kind of flower common in the region; ''y'', river.) is a Brazilian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

near

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 List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

at the Rio Grande do Sul State. Its population is approximately 280,000 people, making it the sixth most populous city in the state.

History

The land where Gravataí is located was subject of dispute between Portugal and Spain until 1750, when they signed the Treaty of Madrid. Originally known as ''Aldeia de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos'', Gravataí was founded on April 8, 1763 by settlers designated by the Portuguese to consolidate the crown presence in the region, led by Pedro Gonçalves Sandoval and João Lourenço Veloso. In 1772, the São Pedro province governor José Marcelino de Figueiredo started to develop the town. He built schools, mills and pottery facilities. Then known as ''Aldeia dos Anjos'', in 1806 the town was declared a district of Porto Alegre. By 1880 Gravataí was chartered as a borough ("Vila" in Portuguese). On March 2, 1938, the

Executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of ...

#311 declared Gravataí a city.

Geography

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the city has a total area of 463.5 km²IBGE Cidades@ – Gravataí
Accessed December 12, 2010. (192.2 square miles) divided into five separate districts (boroughs): Gravataí, Barro Vermelho, Ipiranga, Itacolomi and Morungava. The main supply of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...

is provided by the Gravataí River, formed at Banhado Grande and flowing west into the city towards the

Guaíba Guaíba is a city located in the Metropolitan Porto Alegre of Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is on the shores of the Guaíba Lake. History In the current territory of the municipality of Guaíba there ha ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

Climate

The

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 meteorologica ...

in Gravataí is

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° ...

( ''Cfa''). Summers are warm and the hottest month is February, with an average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F). Winters are cold (by Brazilian standards) and the coldest month is July, with an average temperature of 14 °C (57 °F). The wettest months are August and September, with 140 mm (5.51 in) of precipitation, with rain regularly falling all year long.

Neighbor cities

* North: Novo Hamburgo and

Taquara Taquara is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Taquara is located 72 kilometers (44 miles) from Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its popu ...

* South: Alvorada and Viamão * East:

Glorinha Glorinha is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), located in the South Region of Brazil. Rio ...

* West: Cachoeirinha and Sapucaia do Sul

Economy

Agriculture was essential to Gravataí's economy during its first two centuries. After the 1950s the city started a process of industrialization. This process was accelerated in 2000 after the inauguration of a General Motors manufacturing plant. Since its opening 600,000 cars have been built, more than one hundred thousand Chevrolet Celta (also known as

Suzuki Fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, Happiness, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertain ...

) and Chevrolet Prisma per year. Today, manufacturing is the major economic driver and Gravataí has been classified as a

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and ...

city.

Government

The city elects a mayor, who serves a maximum of two four-year terms; Marco Alba is the current mayor. The city council ("Câmara de Vereadores" in Portuguese) is composed of 21

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members th ...

elected to office for four years. The council functions as a parliamentary or congressional style legislative body, proposing bills, holding votes (especially the municipal budget), and passing laws to help govern the city.

Demographics

As of the 2010 Census,Primeiros Dados do Censo 2010
Accessed March 22, 2012. Gravataí had a population of 255,660, with 92,425 households, and 82,442 families residing in the city. The population density was 551.8 people per km² (1,429.16/sq mi). There were 92,425 housing units at an average density of 199.4/km² (480.86/sq mi). The ethnic/racial makeup of the city was 84.7%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 8%

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

, 7%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, 0.2% Asian, and 0.2%

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

.IBGE Censo 2010 - Painel
Accessed March 22, 2012. The

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 ...

for the city was R$18,642 (US$10,965) in 2007.Produto Interno Bruto dos Municípios 2003-2007
Accessed December 16, 2009.

Religion

''Source: IBGE 2010. ''

Education

Gravataí has three colleges and universities offering bachelor's and professional or master's degree programs: Universidade Luterana do Brasil, FACENSA, and Faculdade QI. *

Preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...

: 69 *

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

and

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (d ...

school: 100 *

High school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

: 23

Transportation

By land, Gravataí is practically midway between

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 Ga ...

and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, the two main economic centers of

Mercosur 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 Arge ...

. The interstate highway BR-290 passes through the city and connects to

BR-101 The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.Brazilian Highway System, BR-290 – Runs east-west just south of the city and is accessible from Gravataí via exit 74 (RS-118) and exit 68 (General Motors plant); provides access to Porto Alegre (westbound) and to the coastline (eastbound). *RS-020 – Connects the town to

and the Serra Gaúcha (the Gaucho Highlands). *RS-030 – Runs through the city parallel to BR-290 and connecting Gravataí to

Santo Antônio da Patrulha Santo Antônio da Patrulha is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was established in 1811. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul ( ...

and Osório, ending in Tramadaí City (in the Atlantic Coast). *RS-118 – Is a very important metropolitan perimeter highway connecting Gravataí to

Esteio Esteio is a municipality situated in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, the state capital. About 9.3 miles from Porto Alegre, and neighboring Canoas and Sapucaia do Sul, it has about 83,000 inhabit ...

(northbound) and to Viamão (southbound), crossing by the Alvorada, Cachoeirinha and the Sapucaia do Sul Cities.

Airport

The closest airport to the city is the

Salgado Filho International Airport Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport is the airport serving Porto Alegre and the region of Greater Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is named after the Senator and first Minister of the Brazilian Air Force Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho (1888� ...

, located off BR-290 highway, 14 miles west of Gravataí.

Public transportation

Public transit throughout the region is provided by SOGIL, Unesul, VICASA, and TransCal.

Waterways

Though it is not used for transporting goods and materials, the Gravataí River is a navigable waterway for

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

References

External links

Gravataí Mayor's Office
(in Portuguese)
Sogil: Gravataí's Intercity bus system and schedule
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravatai Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul