The
states forming
the
South
of Brazil -
Paraná ,
Santa Catarina
and
Rio
Grande do Sul
- are generally
considered to be
the most
developed part
of the country.
The smallest of
Brazil's regions,
the South
maintains an
economic
influence
completely out
of proportion to
its size. This
is largely the
result of two
factors: the
first is an
agrarian
structure that,
to a great
extent, is based
on highly
efficient small
and medium-sized
units; and the
second is the
economically
over-active
population which
produces a per
capita output
considerably
higher than the
national
average. With
little of the
widespread
poverty found
elsewhere in the
country,
Brazilians tend
to dismiss the
South as being a
region that has
more in common
with Europe or
the United
States than with
South America.
Superficially,
at least, this
view has much
going for it.
The inhabitants
are largely of
European origin,
anyway, and live
in well-ordered
cities where
there's little
of the obvious
squalor
prevalent
elsewhere.
Beneath the
tranquil setting,
however, there
are tensions:
due to land
shortages people
are constantly
forced to move
vast distances -
as far away as
Acre in the
western Amazon -
to avoid being
turned into mere
day-labourers,
and favelas
are an
increasingly
common sight in
Curitiba, Porto
Alegre and the
other large
cities of the
South. From time
to time these
tensions explode
as landless
peasants invade
the huge, under-used
latifúndios
found in the
west and south
of the region,
and it is no
coincidence that
it was here that
the Landless
Movement (the
MST) first
emerged.
For the
tourist, though,
the region
offers much
that's
attractive. The
coast has
a subtropical
climate that in
the summer
months (November
to March)
attracts people
who want to
avoid the
oppressive heat
of northern
resorts, and a
vegetation and
atmosphere that
feel more
Mediterranean
than Brazilian.
Much of the
Paranaense coast
is still
unspoilt by the
ravages of mass
tourism, and
building
development is
virtually
forbidden on the
beautiful
islands of the
Bay of
Paranaguá .
By way of
contrast,
tourists have
encroached along
Santa Catarina's
coast, but only
a few places,
such as
Balneário
Camburiú ,
have been
allowed to
develop into a
concrete jungle.
Otherwise,
resorts such as
most of those on
the Ilha de
Santa Catarina
around
Florianópolis
remain small and
do not seriously
detract from the
region's natural
beauty.
The
interior is
even less
frequently
visited. Much of
it is
mountainous, the
home of people
whose way of
life seems to
have altered
little since the
arrival of the
European
pioneers last
century. Cities
in the interior
that were
founded by
Germans (such as
Blumenau
in Santa
Catarina),
Italians (
Caxias do Sul
in Rio Grande do
Sul) and
Ukrainians (
Prudentópolis
in Paraná) have
lost much of
their former
ethnic character,
but only short
distances from
them are
villages and
hamlets where
time appears to
have stood still.
The highland
areas between
Lages and
Vacaria ,
and the
grasslands of
southern and
western Rio
Grande do Sul,
are largely
given over to
vast cattle
ranches, where
the modern
gaúchos keep
alive many of
the skills of
their forebears.
Travelling
around the South
is generally
easy, and
there's a fine
road
network. Most
north-south
buses stick
to the road
running near the
coast, but it's
easy to devise
routes passing
through the
interior,
perhaps taking
in the Jesuit
ruins of São
Miguel or
the spectacular
Iguaçu
waterfalls.
