Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the

states of Brazil The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Brazil, Federat ...

, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

. Neighboring states (from west clockwise) are:

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

, Amazonas,

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

and

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

. It is divided into 142 municipalities and covers an area of 903,357 square kilometers, consequently the state is roughly 82.2% of the size of its southwest neighbor, the nation of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. A state with a flat landscape that alternates between vast ''

chapada A chapada () is a plateau found in the Brazilian Highlands. The chapadas, which are usually described as mountain ranges, are capped by horizontal strata of sandstone. They show the original surface, which has been worn away by the rivers, leavin ...

s'' and plain areas, Mato Grosso contains three main ecosystems: the

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

, the

Pantanal The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest Flooded grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but i ...

and the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. The

Chapada dos Guimarães National Park The Chapada dos Guimarães National Park () is a national park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is a region of rugged terrain with dramatic cliffs and waterfalls, and contains the geographical centre of the continent. Background The origi ...

, with its caves, grottoes, tracks, and waterfalls, is one of its tourist attractions. The extreme northwest of the state has a small part of the Amazonian forest. The

Xingu Indigenous Park The Xingu Indigenous Park (, pronounced ) is an indigenous territory of Brazil, first created in 1961 as a national park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Its official purposes are to protect the environment and the several nations of Xingu I ...

and the

Araguaia River The Araguaia River ( , Karajá language, Karajá: ♂ ''Berohokỹ'' eɾohoˈkə̃ ♀ ''Bèrakuhukỹ'' ɛɾakuhuˈkə̃ is one of the major rivers of Brazil, and a tributary of the Tocantins River. Geography The Araguaia River comes from ...

are in Mato Grosso. Farther south, the

, the world's largest

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, is the habitat for nearly one thousand species of animals and many aquatic birds.

Geography

The varied terrain of Mato Grosso includes cliffs, canyons, and waterfalls. It is home to the

, its

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

mountains have eroded into a remarkably varied vistas. The biologically rich

, one of the world's largest wetland/prairie ecosystems, is also located within this state. The Paraguay basin is rich in the number and diversity of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

(around 230 species), a fascinating place for fishermen and scholars. In this basin are numerous species classified as "noble" in

sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

, others, including ornamental species, are of great interest to aquarists and still others whose rarity has led to detailed research. The fishing industry in the Pantanal plays an important role in the region's economy and, for local people, fish is a staple food. The Pantanal has a habitat similar to the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

in Florida in the United States, although the Pantanal is much larger.

History

The

Bororo The Bororo are indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Mato Grosso. They also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo live around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers. The Eastern Bororo (Orarimogodoge) l ...

Indians live in the Mato Grosso area. As late as 1880, soldiers patrolled lands on the outskirts of

Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city and the largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America and also forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várz ...

, Mato Grosso's capital and largest city, to protect settlers from Bororo raids. By the end of the 19th century, although severely reduced by disease and by warfare with explorers,

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions o ...

prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting rel ...

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s, and other

indigenous groups There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, as many as five to 10 thousand Bororo continued to occupy central and eastern Mato Grosso, as well as western

. The southwestern part of this state was ceded by Brazil to

in exchange for the then-Bolivian territory of

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, according to the Treaty of Petrópolis in 1903. This historically remote area attracted expeditions of exploration in the early 20th century that sought to find lost civilizations. A notable example was British Captain

Percy Fawcett Percy Harrison Fawcett (18 August 1867 disappeared 29 May 1925) was a British geographer, artillery officer, cartographer, archaeologist and explorer of South America. He disappeared in 1925 (along with his eldest son, Jack, and one of Ja ...

's expedition to find the

Lost City of Z The Lost City of Z is the name given by Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor of the early 20th century, to an indigenous city that he believed had existed in the jungle of the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. Based on early histories o ...

which he believed existed in the jungles of Brazil. Certain proponents of the

Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

hypothesis speculated that the region had sites of access to the interior of the earth and its settlements. In 1977, the state was split into two halves, and the neighboring state of

was created from the other part of its territory.

Demographics

Mato Grosso had a high rate of population growth in the 20th century due to timber, ranching and agricultural development. The state as a whole has one of the lowest population densities of any Brazilian state. According to the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

(IBGE), 3,441,998 people resided in the state as of 2018. The population density was 3.8 inhabitants/km². *

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

: 76.6% (2006) *

Population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

: 2.4% (1991–2000) *

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s: 836,000 (2006) Ethnically, the state includes a relatively high proportion of

caboclo A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of ' ...

s (persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry), as do other areas of interior Brazil. The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 2,048,782

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 and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

(Mixed) people (56%); 1,181,590

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

people (32.3%); 360,698

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

people (9.9%); 56,687

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

people (1.5%); and 10,813 Asian people (0.3%). At the 2022 census, the most commonly nominated ethnic groups as a proportion of the total population were:

Largest cities

Education

Portuguese is the official national language and the primary language taught in schools. English and Spanish are also taught as part of the official

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

curriculum. More than 58 universities are located in the state of Mato Grosso.

is home to the following universities: *

Federal University of Mato Grosso The Federal University of Mato Grosso (, UFMT) is a public university in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Responsible for serving the entire state, its main campus is in the capital city of Cuiabá. Smaller campuses are located in Barra do Gar� ...

(UFMT); * Mato Grosso State University (Unemat); * (Unic). Rondonópolis also has the , formerly a part of UFMT until 2018.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

is the largest component of the state's

at 40.8%, followed by the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

at 40.2%. The

industrial sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

represents 19% of the GDP (2004). Mato Grosso's major exports include

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. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s (83%),

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

(5.6%),

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

s (4.8%), and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

(3.3%) (2002). The state's share of the Brazilian economy is 1.8% (2014). In 2020, Mato Grosso was the leader in national grain production, with 28.0%. It's the largest producer of

soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

in Brazil, with 26.9% of the total produced in 2020 (33.0 million tons); the largest producer of

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

in the country; the largest producer of

in Brazil, with around 65% of national production (1.8 out of the 2.8 million tons harvested in the country).; the sixth largest producer of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

in the country, 16 million tons harvested in the 2019/20 harvest.; and the third largest producer of

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

, with 10.5% of Brazilian production. In

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

s, the state was the largest national producer in 2019, with 60,000 tons. In

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

production, Brazil produced a total of 17.6 million tons in 2018. Mato Grosso produced 287,000 tons that year. In 2009, the cattle herd from Mato Grosso reached the mark of 30 million cattle, the largest cattle herd in the country, representing almost 14% of national production alone. In 2018, Mato Grosso was the fifth largest pork producer in the country, with a herd of around 2.5 million animals. In 2017, Mato Grosso had 1.15% of the national mineral participation (fifth place in the country). Mato Grosso had production of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

(8.3 tons at a value of R$1 billion) and

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

(536 tons at a value of R$16 million). In addition, in gemstones, the state is the second largest national producer of

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

, having extracted 49,000 carats in the year 2017. The city of

Juína Juína is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. The municipality contains the Iquê Ecological Station. It is served by Juína Airport. See also *List of municipalities in Mato Grosso This is a list ...

is the main one in this activity in the state. The state also has a small production of

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

and

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

. Mato Grosso had an industrial GDP of R$17.0 billion in 2017, equivalent to 1.4% of the national industry. It employs 141,121 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: Construction (32.0%), Food (27.9%), Industrial Services of Public Utility, such as Electricity and Water (18.6%), Beverages (4.5%) and Oil Products Oil and Biofuels (3.9%). These five sectors concentrate 86.9% of the state's industry.

Statistics

*Vehicles: 1,614,797 (January 2015) *Mobile phones: 4,500,000 (January 2015) *Telephones: 527,000 (April 2007) *Cities: 142 (2025)

Infrastructure

Roads

Mato Grosso had, in 2020, 141,171 km of municipal roads; on the roads of the state of Mato Grosso there were 22,399 km of unpaved roads, 7,281 km of paved roads and 81 km of duplicated highways. In the federal road network, there were 3,649 km of roads, including 330 km of duplicated highways. Mato Grosso, despite being a more recently occupied state, already has a 2-lane highway in each direction connecting the capital

to one of the largest cities in the state,

Rondonópolis Rondonópolis (formerly known as Rio Vermelho (Red River)) is the third-largest Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is located around from Cuiabá, the capital of the state. The city is named for military officer and ...

, then to the border with

. Some of the main roads are: *

BR-070 BR-070 is a federal highway of Brazil. The road connects Brasília to Porto Corixó, Cáceres, Mato Grosso. Duplication BR-070 is duplicated in the 52 km between Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federa ...

* BR-173 *BR-174 *BR-158 *

BR-163 BR-163 is a highway in Brazil, going from Tenente Portela, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to Santarém, Pará, on 3579 kilometers (the stretch between Santarem and Brazil-Suriname border is only a project, the highway would have a total s ...

*BR-197 *BR-242 *BR-252 *

BR-364 BR-364 is an inter-state highway in Brazil connecting the southeast state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo to the western state of Acre (state), Acre. The highway was opened in the 1960s and paved in the 1980s. It has brought economic development ...

*MT-100 *MT-358

Airports

Marechal Rondon International Airport Várzea Grande–Marechal Rondon International Airport is the airport serving Cuiabá, located in the municipality of Várzea Grande, in the state of Mato Grosso. It is named after Marshall Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon (1865–1958), a Bra ...

, located from the city center of

, in the suburb of Várzea Grande, started receiving international flights in 1996. It now serves more than half a million passengers a year. The runway at Marechal Rondon was opened to traffic in 1956. In February 1975,

Infraero Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária (abr. Infraero) is a Brazilian government corporation founded in 1973, authorized by Law 5,862, that is responsible for operating the main List of the busiest airports in Brazil, Brazilian com ...

took over the airport's administration and began various upgrades to meet the needs of the airport complex.

Railways

The connects Mato Grosso with the

state of São Paulo State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and sea ports.

Rumo Logística Rumo, formerly known as América Latina Logística (ALL), is a Brazilian logistic company, mainly focused in the railway line logistics in Brazil, being the largest company in Latin America in this segment. The company also provides transportati ...

only operates freight trains on the line, which runs as far inland as

. An extension northward to Cuiabá and Lucas do Rio Verde is planned as of 2021. It crosses the large Rollemberg–Vuolo Bridge over the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

when passing into

Flag

The state flag has similar colors to the

flag of Brazil The national flag of Brazil is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Crux, Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the List of national mottos, national motto ('Order and Progress'), within a yellow rhombus, on ...

, with blue symbolizing the sky, green vegetation, and white standing for peace. The star is yellow to symbolize the

which attracted the first settlers. The flag was adopted by Decree No. 2 of January 31, 1890, just a few days after the adoption of the national flag. The Mato Grosso state flag was abolished by Law No. 1.046 of October 8, 1929, but reinstated by Article 140 of the Constitution of the State of Mato Grosso on July 11, 1947.

Tourism and recreation

Alta Floresta

Fishing in the

Teles Pires The Teles Pires () is a long river in Brazil. The river flows through the state of Mato Grosso and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. At its mouth it joins Juruena River and together they form the Tapajó ...

São Benedito São Benedito is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. Transportation The city is served by Walfrido Salmito de Almeida Airport. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará Ceará (CE) is a state located ...

and

Azul Azul, meaning "blue" in Spanish and Portuguese, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Azul'' (Los Piojos album), 1998 * ''Azul'' (Cristian Castro album), 2001 ** "Azul" (song), the title song * Azul Azul, a Bolivian pop-dance music group * " ...

rivers is productive practically all year long.

Chapada dos Guimarães

The largest sandstone

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

rn in Brazil, Aroe Jari, extends nearly , and several prehistoric inscriptions can be found inside.

North Pantanal

The

's backbone is the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (''Ysyry Paraguái'' in Guarani language, Guarani, ''Rio Paraguai'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Río Paraguay'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bol ...

, which cuts through the region from north to south. The Miranda, Aquidauna, Taquari, and

rivers flow into the Paraguay River. From October to April, the high waters reveal outsized lakes, bays, river branches, and outlets. The Transpantaneira Highway connects the town of

Poconé Poconé is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region of Brazil. The Bento Gomes River passes within a few kilometers of the village. The municipal ...

to Jofre Port, along the

Cuiabá River The Cuiabá River (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Cuiabá'') is a Brazilian river in the western state of Mato Grosso that flows in the Río de la Plata Basin. It is a tributary of the São Lourenço River (Mato Grosso), São Lourenço Rive ...

bank. It is a dirt road with 126 wooden bridges, and extends for . On the way, it is possible to observe wild animals, especially

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

capybara The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus '' Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmi ...

s, and birds, among other wild animals.

Águas Quentes State Park

The

Águas Quentes State Park The Águas Quentes State Park () is a state park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil Location The Águas Quentes State Park is in the municipality of Santo Antônio do Leverger, Mato Grosso. It has an area of . The MT-455 highway runs through th ...

, the first protected area in Mato Grosso, is known for the healing powers of its thermal waters.

Lagoa Azul State Park

The

Gruta da Lagoa Azul State Park The Gruta da Lagoa Azul State Park () is a state park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Its primary attraction is a limestone cave with a pool of blue water and unusual cave formations. These have suffered from vandalism, causing the cave to be ...

( Portuguese: ''Parque Estadual Gruta da Lagoa Azul'') is a state park in the municipality of

Nobres Nobres is a city in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is located approximately 140 kilometers from Cuiabá on the south slopes of the Serra Azul. Tourists are encouraged to visit the region for its beautiful waterways and limestone caves. Th ...

, Mato Grosso, with an area of . Its primary attraction is a limestone cave with a pool of blue water and unusual cave formations. These have suffered from vandalism, causing the cave to be closed until measures to protect it could be implemented. The blue lagoon cave holds a pool of blue water formed from underground water of the Saloba River. The main entrance is filled in part by the water. The hall contains columns over in size and in diameter. There may be archaeological remains in the cave. The park has several other limestone caves. It is covered with deciduous forests, and is home to

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropical realm, Neotropics and are among the largest of the New World monkey, platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyte ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

s, and

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

Gallery

File:Serra_do_Amolar_Rio_Paraguai.jpg,

File:Lagoa_das_araras.jpg, Lagoon of Araras File:Cuiabá - State of Mato Grosso, Brazil - panoramio (56).jpg, Canyons of Chapada dos Guimarães National Park File:Pantanal_em_Itiquira.jpg,

in Mato Grosso File:Cuiabá vista do rio.jpg,

Sports

was one of 12 cities chosen to host the games of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, which took place in Brazil. In the state were born the medalists of the World Championships Felipe Lima in swimming and

David Moura David Moura Pereira da Silva (born 24 August 1987) is a Brazilian judoka. He won a silver medal at the 2017 World Judo Championships, was the gold medalist at the 2015 Pan American Games, the 2015 Pan American Judo Championships and ended 201 ...

in judo, in addition to the world champions of futsal

Vinícius Vinícius is a Portuguese masculine given name and surname from the Roman family name ''Vinicius'', meaning "victorious" derived from the latin 'vinco'. The name is possibly also derived from Latin ''vinum'' "wine". Notable people with the name in ...

and

Lenísio Lenísio Teixeira Júnior (born 23 October 1976), commonly known as Lenísio, is a former Brazilian futsal player. Honours *1 FIFA World Cup (2008) *1 runner FIFA World Cup (2000) *2 Brazilian champion (1999 and 2002) *1 Spanish cup (2003) *3 B ...

.Aos 34 anos, David Moura oficializa aposentadoria dos tatames
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References

Sources

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External links

Official website of Mato Grosso
{{Authority control Federative units of Brazil