Chapecó

Chapecó

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): Capital do Oeste (Capital of the West)

Location of Chapecó
Country Brazil Brazil
Region South
State Santa Catarina (state) Santa Catarina
Founded August 25, 1917
Government
 • Mayor Luciano José Buligon (PSB)
Area
 • City 624.308 km2 (241.047 sq mi)
 • Urban 113.24 km2 (43.72 sq mi)
 • Metro 4,938.15 km2 (1,906.63 sq mi)
Elevation 674 m (2,211 ft)
Population (2015)(metro pop IBGE/2010)
 • City 209,553
 • Density 329.64/km2 (853.8/sq mi)
 • Urban 188,998
 • Metro 403,458
 • Metro density 81.7/km2 (212/sq mi)
  IBGE
Time zone UTC-3 (UTC-3)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-2 (UTC-2)
HDI (2000) 0.834
Website www.chapeco.sc.gov.br

Chapecó is a major city in the western area of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, located 630 km west of Florianópolis, the state capital.

As of 2016, it has a population of around 209,553 inhabitants.[1] The city itself has an area of 625 km².[2]

History

Until the 19th century, the area around Chapecó land was under indigenous (mainly Kaingang) and Spanish control, mostly unoccupied by European people and subject to border issues and armed conflicts. Brazilian control was in fact established as a military colony in 1882. Its official status as a municipality was established by state government decree after the Contestado War on August 25, 1917. Its area was then given to a private colonization company[3] which began selling land to people coming mainly from the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul.[4] Most of its inhabitants are descended from Italian, German and Polish immigrants.

Demography

Chapecó itself has a population of over 200 thousand inhabitants and its metropolitan area, approximately 400 thousand.[5] It is the hub city of Western Santa Catarina, where there are about two hundred municipalities, summing together more than 2 million inhabitants.

Economy

This region of the state is home of some of the largest meat processing and exporting industrial enterprises such as Sadia and Seara Foods; the farmers are organized in agricultural cooperatives. Chapecó is known as a Brazilian agro-industrial capital, specialized in pork, poultry and technology involved.[6] The city is headquarters of Aurora Central Cooperative and has a plant of BRF S.A. since 1973.

Other major economic sectors are metal mechanics specialized in equipment for slaughterhouses and transportation, plastics and packaging, furniture, beverages, software development and biotechnology. Civil construction and trade are also important source of income.

Chapecó is served by Serafin Enoss Bertaso Airport.

Culture

Sports

Chapecó is home to Associação Chapecoense de Futebol (commonly known as Chapecoense), a club football team that plays at Arena Condá. The club was founded in 1973 and advanced to its most recent spell in Série A in 2014. The club went on to reach the Copa Sudamericana 2016 finals, but most of the team's players and staff were killed in the crash of LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 on 28 November 2016.[7]

Other

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chapecó.

See also

References

  1. ↑ IBGE populations estimative, 2016
  2. ↑ Chapecó official data, 2015
  3. ↑ https://www.unochapeco.edu.br/en/ceom/noticias/ceom-unochapeco-recebe-acervo-da-colonizadora-bertaso
  4. ↑ https://nilson-historia.blogspot.com.br/2009/02/ocupacao-do-territorio-contestado-apos.html
  5. ↑ Brazilian Institute of Data Geography and Statistics, population statistics in 2013
  6. ↑ http://www.acichapeco.com.br/links/chapeco---sc
  7. ↑ Romero, Simon; Casey, Nicholas (29 November 2016). "Brazil's Chapecoense Soccer Team Devastated as Plane Crash Kills Dozens". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2016.

External links

Coordinates: 27°05′45″S 52°37′04″W / 27.09583°S 52.61778°W / -27.09583; -52.61778

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.