Centro-Oeste region

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Região Centro-Oeste in Brazil

The Região Centro-Oeste ( Portuguese for Region Central-West , also Region Mid -West ) is one of five major statistical regions in Brazil . It includes the states of Goiás , Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul as well as the federal district Distrito Federal do Brasil around the capital Brasília .

With 1,612,077 km², the Região Centro-Oeste is the second largest region in Brazil in terms of area, but at the same time the least populous with 15,442,232 inhabitants. It owes its importance above all to its wealth of raw materials. However, it is not particularly well developed. Intensive efforts are being made to strengthen the region, including moving the capital to Brasília.

geography

location

The Região Centro-Oeste borders Bolivia and Paraguay in the west . To the north of the region lies the Região Norte , and to the southeast the Região Sudeste . It has only comparatively small borders with the Região Nordeste and Região Sul regions .

Landscape image

The landscape of the Região Centro-Oeste is characterized by smooth plains, heights of more than 1000 meters are seldom exceeded. The relief of the region consists of three dominant units:

The Planalto Central do Brasil is a plateau that extends over the state of Goiás , the federal district around Brasília and parts of the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul as well as the states of Minas Gerais and Tocantins in the neighboring regions . The highest point of the plateau is the Pouso Alto in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park north of Brasília at 1676 meters .

The Planalto Meridional plateau stretches from the Região Sul to Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. The predominant soil type there is the Terra Roxa .

The Pantanal is one of the largest inland - wetland earth and was 2000 to World Heritage declared. It is located in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul as well as the Mato Grosso Plateau and extends into the neighboring states of Paraguay and Bolivia .

climate

Brasília

The climate of the Região Centro-Oeste is tropical and characterized by a rainy southern summer in the months from October to April and dry weather in the southern winter months from May to September.

In the north of Mato Grosso there is the highest amount of precipitation due to the Amazon with a continental climate , which can reach over 2500 mm annually. The rest of the region has a tropical climate with an average of 1000 to 1500 mm of rainfall per year. In winter the average temperature is around 18 ° C, in summer it reaches over 25 ° C. In the higher parts of the region, temperatures are lower and there are isolated frosts in winter. In the summer months, the Pantanal is one of the hottest areas in South America .

States

State Capital Population
(2015)
surface Municipalities
(2010)
GoiásGoiás Goiás Goiânia 000000006610681.00000000006,610,681 000000000340110.4000000000340,110.4 km² 000000000000246.0000000000246
Mato GrossoMato Grosso Mato Grosso Cuiabá 000000003265486.00000000003,265,486 000000000903198.1000000000903,198.1 km² 000000000000141.0000000000141
Mato Grosso do SulMato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande 000000002651235.00000000002,651,235 000000000357145.5000000000357,145.5 km² 000000000000078.000000000078
Distrito Federal do BrasilDistrito Federal do Brasil Federal District Brasília 000000002914830.00000000002,914,830 000000000005780.00000000005,780.0 km² 000000000000001.00000000001

Important cities

Brasília
Goiânia
Campo Grande

The following are the ten most populous cities in the Centro-Oeste Região.

rank Surname State Population
(2015)
1 Brasília Distrito Federal do Brasil 000000002914830.00000000002,914,830
2 Goiânia Goiás 000000001430697.00000000001,430,697
3 Campo Grande Mato Grosso do Sul 000000000853622.0000000000853.622
4th Cuiabá Mato Grosso 000000000580489.0000000000580.489
5 Aparecida de Goiânia Goiás 000000000521910.0000000000521.910
6th Anápolis Goiás 000000000366491.0000000000366.491
7th Várzea Grande Mato Grosso 000000000268594.0000000000268,594
8th Rondonópolis Mato Grosso 000000000215320.0000000000215,320
9 Dourados Mato Grosso do Sul 000000000212870.0000000000212,870
10 Rio Verde Goiás 000000000207296.0000000000207.296

Rivers

The north of the region is largely located in the Amazon basin . In the state of Mato Grosso , the Teles Pires and the Rio Juruena flow together to form the Rio Tapajós , one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon . The Río Paraguay originates about 150 km north of Cuiabá and is the most important tributary of the Río Paraná, which is the confluence of the Río Paraná in the border area between the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais , São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul . The Rio Xingu also has its origin in Mato Grosso. In Goiás the springs Tocantins , the largest purely located on Brazilian field current, and its tributary Araguaia .

Flora and fauna

The vegetation varies greatly within the Centro-Oeste region. While the north and west are covered by the dense, lush, almost impenetrable vegetation of the Amazon rainforest , large parts of the region belong to the Cerrado , the central Brazilian savanna . This is characterized by evergreen trees that reach heights of 4 to 9 m as well as grasses and shallow-rooted plants that dry up in the dry season. The development of cerrado vegetation is strongly influenced by irregular forest and bush fires , which are naturally triggered by lightning strikes, but increasingly also by humans.

In Mato Grosso do Sul is the wetland Pantanal , where there are about 665 estimated species are of birds, including the giant stork Jabiru . It has a large population of hyacinth macaws and is an important refuge for the critically endangered giant otter . In addition, over 120 species of mammals - including the predators jaguars , puma and ocelot as well as their prey marsh deer , peccaries and capybaras - live there, at least 2000 species of plants, around 270 species of fish and numerous reptiles , amphibians and insects .

history

The first inhabitants of the Centro-Oeste Região were indigenous peoples . Gold was discovered in the area by Goiás Velho as early as 1592 . After a gold rush was triggered from 1693 by the discovery of large gold deposits in the area of ​​what is now the neighboring state of Minas Gerais , the search for gold in the Midwest gained an upturn from the second half of the 18th century, when larger deposits were also found there. At the same time, Portuguese settlers founded the first villages in the region.

The move of the Brazilian capital to Brasília in 1960 triggered a strong settlement in the region, which was further strengthened in the following years by the construction of railways and roads. Gold discoveries have repeatedly triggered a gold rush, most recently in 2015, when it is estimated that around 2000 people searched for gold in the state of Mato Grosso without security measures and in some cases contrary to current mining rights.

Transport and infrastructure

Road traffic

While the road network in large parts of the region is poorly developed and of poor quality, the road network of the state of Goiás is considered the second best in Brazil after São Paulo . The most important road connection is the road from Acre in the Região Norte to the capital Brasília , which crosses large parts of the mid-west region. Other important roads lead from Cuiabá , the capital of Mato Grosso , to Porto Velho (Região Norte) and Corumbá ( Mato Grosso do Sul ).

Rail transport

The east of the region is connected to Bolivia by a railway line. Beyond that, however, the rail network is not very well developed.

Air traffic

Brasília Airport, which opened in 1957, is the third largest airport in Brazil with twelve million passengers. There are two other international airports in the Centro-Oeste region: Campo Grande Airport in Campo Grande and Marechal Rondon Airport in Cuiabá .

In Goiânia , the second largest city in the region, which is Santa Genoveva Airport is home, are served by the several major cities in Brazil.

economy

The economy in the Região Centro-Oeste has a share of around ten percent of Brazil's gross domestic product . In addition to livestock, the most important economic sector is agriculture. Within Brazil, the region is the largest producer of soybeans, sorghum, cotton and sunflower. The most important part of animal husbandry is cattle production . With 80 percent, cattle make up the largest proportion of animals used for economic purposes, followed by pigs.

Mining is particularly important in the areas away from the big cities, especially in Mato Grosso do Sul . Iron and manganese, among other things, are mined and exported to Argentina , Uruguay and the United States . In Mato Grosso are gold and diamond recovered.

The industry is mainly located in Goiás and the Distrito Federal do Brasil . Food, textile, mineral products, medicines and beverages, among other things, are produced there. Other important industrial locations are in Campo Grande (food industry) and Cuiabá (food and rubber industry). The automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Mitsubishi as well as the agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere operate plants in Goiás . Several run-of-river power plants were built in Mato Grosso do Sul .

tourism

The tourism sector in the region has grown rapidly over the past decades. Above all, the rich and distinctive nature attracts tourists from different parts of Brazil and the world. The main destinations are the Pantanal wetland , declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site , which extends over the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Alta Floresta and the city of Bonito , which is of great importance in ecotourism , and the national park in the Chapada dos Veadeiros plateau . In Goiás, the historic town of Pirenópolis is a frequent destination for tourists.

society

Federal University of Mato Grosso

Colleges

There are six universities in the Região Centro-Oeste:

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Estimativas da População Residente no Brasil e Unidades da Federação com Data de Referência em 1 ° de Julho de 2015. (PDF; 381 kB) In: ibge.gov.br. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística , September 15, 2015, accessed September 21, 2016 (Portuguese).
  2. a b c d Brasil - Região Centro-Oeste. In: portalbrasil.net. Retrieved September 21, 2016 (Portuguese).
  3. a b The Midwest of Brazil. In: brasilienportal.ch. Sabiá brasilinfo, October 16, 2009, accessed September 21, 2016 .
  4. Área Territorial Brasileira. In: ibge.gov.br. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística , accessed September 21, 2016 (Portuguese).
  5. Table 1.1 - Número de municípios nos Censos Demográficos, segundo as Grandes Regiões e as Unidades da Federação - 1960/2010. (PDF; 53.3 kB) In: ibge.gov.br. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística , accessed September 21, 2016 (Portuguese).
  6. Ilse Silberbauer-Gottsberger: Brazil: The Cerrado needs protection. In: regenwald.org. Rainforest Rescue , 2009, accessed September 24, 2016 .
  7. Michael North : The Money and Its History . CH Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 978-3-406-38072-3 , p. 121 ( excerpt (Google) ).
  8. Gabriela Bergmaier Lopes: After a spectacular find: West Brazil in a gold rush. In: brasilienmagazin.net. International Affiliate Press, October 16, 2015, accessed September 23, 2016 .
  9. Gabriela Bergmaier Lopes: A lack of storage facilities and inadequate infrastructure make Brazil's agricultural products more expensive. In: brasilienmagazin.net. International Affiliate Press, September 2, 2015, accessed September 23, 2016 .