Palhoça is a

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' ...

in Santa Catarina,

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 ...

History

Palhoça was founded in 1793, when the city was part of the way between

Lages Lages is a Brazilian municipality located in the central part of the state of Santa Catarina, in the region known in Portuguese as "Planalto Serrano". It is located in the mountain region of and is also the largest municipality of Santa Catari ...

and

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 ...

in order to protect the capital state from possible invasions. Its name comes from "straw roof", named such because of the large number of houses with this kind of roof when the first Palhoça citizens were natives.

Geography

Palhoça is located in the greater Florianópolis region. It is bordered on the north by São José, on the west by Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, on the south by Paulo Lopes, on the east by Santa Catarina Island south bay and on the southeast by 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 ...

. Its coast consists of a long

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

and beaches on the south. The municipality contains part of the Serra do Tabuleiro State Park, a protected area created in 1975. The lushly-forested park protects the sources of the Vargem do Braço,

Cubatão Cubatão is a city in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil, 12 kilometers away from Santos (São Paulo), Santos seaport, the largest in Latin America. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population i ...

and D'Una rivers, which supply most of the drinking water for greater Florianópolis and the south coast region. The highest point of the city is Cambirela mountain, located in the state park.

Economy

The most important industries of the city are located in the industrial area in the neighborhood of Jardim Eldorado. The commerce plays an important role mainly in the Ponte do Imaruim and downtown, although Pagani started to become important for the city's economy since the City Hall and the City Chamber moved there in 2005. The south region has developed tourism and fishing as a way to improve the local economy since this region is not so integrated to the rest of the city due to geographical and political reasons. The economy has been growing, and an important national clothing company and a multinational beverage company have built their centers of distribution in Palhoça. A shopping mall was inaugurated in 2010 together with a large supermarket, a hotel, and recently a middle-sized department store downtown. For that reasons, the number of jobs has increased. New private neighborhoods have been built, concerned about natural preservation and quality of life, increasing the number of the population and jobs opportunities.

Transportation

BR-282 highway connects the city with Santo Amaro da Imperatriz while

BR-101 The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.São José and Paulo Lopes. The bus is the only means of public transportation in Palhoça. Jotur, Imperatriz and Paulo Lopes are the bus companies that operate in Palhoça.

Notable people

* Ricardo dos Santos (surfer), Ricardo dos Santos (1990—2015), surfer who defeated

Kelly Slater Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer who has been crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. He is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, and holds 56 Championship T ...

References