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SANTA CATHARINA

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 185 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

SANTA CATHARINA , a See also:southern maritime See also:state of See also:Brazil, bounded N. by See also:Parana, E. by the See also:Atlantic, S. by Rio Grande do Sul, and W. by Rio Grande do Sul and the See also:Misiones territory of See also:Argentina. Pop. (1900) 320,289; See also:area 28,633 sq. m. The Serra do See also:Mar rises not far from the See also:coast and leaves only a narrow coast See also:zone, and the See also:plateau above is much broken with irregular ranges of mountains. The coast region, though in the temperate zone, is hot and humid. It is densely forested, is broken by swamps and lagoons, and is crossed by numerous See also:short streams from the wooded slopes of the serras. The plateau is less densely wooded, but has some highly fertile plains, the open See also:campos being partly devoted to stock raising. Except in the malarious coast zone, the See also:climate is temperate, bracing and exceptionally healthy. The drainage is westward to the Parana, the See also:rivers being tributaries of the Iguassil, which forms its See also:northern boundary, and of the See also:Uruguay, which forms its southern boundary. A number of prosperous See also:German colonies—the largest and best known of which are Blumenau, Dona Francisca, See also:Joinville, Itajahy, Brusque, Dom Pedro and Sao Bento—are devoted chiefly to See also:agriculture. There is no cultivation on a large See also:scale, as in Sao Paulo and the northern provinces. See also:Coffee is produced to a limited extent.

See also:

Indian See also:corn, beans, onions, See also:fruit and mandioca are the See also:principal products. A prominent See also:industry is the gathering and preparation of See also:mate or Paraguayan See also:tea (Ilex paraguayensis), which is an See also:article of export. The See also:mineral resources include See also:coal, See also:iron, See also:silver, See also:gold and See also:petroleum, the first alone is See also:mined. The only railway of the state, the Dona Thereza See also:Christina, runs from See also:Laguna, at the mouth of a See also:lagoon of that name on the southern coast, northward to the See also:port of Imbituba (about 4 m.) and thence westward up the valley of the Rio Tubarao to the coal See also:fields of that name (69 m.). The coal is of inferior quality and the development of the mines, which were discovered in 1841, has not been a success. A later investigation shows that there are beds of better coal at a greater See also:depth extending from Rio Grande do Sul to Sao Paulo. The See also:capital of the state is See also:Florianopolis (q.v.) also called Santa Catharina and Desterro, and its other towns are Blumenau, Lages (9356), Laguna (7282), Joinville (13,996), Itajahy (8875), Brusque (8094), Sao Jose (11,820), opposite Florianopolis, Tubarao (5495) and Sao Francisco (5583), a See also:good port in the northern See also:part of the state in See also:direct communication with a See also:majority of the German colonies.

End of Article: SANTA CATHARINA

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