Santa Leopoldina 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 central

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

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 ...

. Its population was 12,885 (2015) and its area is 718.1 km².

IBGE 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 ...

/ref> It is 16 meters above sea level, and is located 44 km from the state capital of Vitória, Brazil, Vitória.

History

Santa Leopoldina was founded in 1856 by around 60

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

immigrant 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- ...

s who came up the Santa Maria River, closely followed in 1857 by roughly 200 immigrants from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The old extended version of the name, "Cachoeiro de Santa Leopoldina", was given in 1860 by the emperor Pedro II, in honour of his mother Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria. During the 19th century the town was, for a period, the biggest commercial centre of the state, but its influence declined after the arrival of roads which took traffic away from the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

, which was then the town's biggest advantage. Santa Maria River was navigable right through to the Atlantic from this point. The first highway (''rodovia'') in the state was built between Santa Leopoldina and Santa Teresa and was completed in 1918, which was extended to Vitória, Brazil, Vitória in 1924. Cachoeiro de Santa Leopoldina first became a municipality in 1887 and dropped "Cachoeiro de" (Portuguese for ''

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

of'') from its name in 1943. In 1890 Santa Teresa separated from Santa Leopoldina, and in 1988

Santa Maria de Jetibá Santa Maria de Jetibá is the name of a municipality in central Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil. It was founded in 1857 by Pomeranian immigrants who arrived through the state capital Vitória by going up the river Santa Maria. Geography Loc ...

also separated, leaving a much smaller area under its power.

References

Municipalities in Espírito Santo 1856 establishments in Brazil {{EspiritoSanto-geo-stub