Londrina
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| Londrina | |||
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| Nickname: Flower city | |||
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| Country |  Brazil |
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| Region | South | ||
| State | Paraná | ||
| Founded | December 10, 1934 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Nedson Micheleti (PT) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 1.650 km² (0.6 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 610 m (2,001 ft) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| - Total | 497.833 | ||
| - Density | 300/km² (777/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | UTC-2 (UTC-2) | ||
| HDI (2000) | 0.824 – high | ||
| Website: Londrina, Paraná | |||
Londrina is a city located in the northern region of the state of the Paraná, Brazil, and is 369 km away from the capital, Curitiba. Londrina exerts great influence on Paraná and south region. Londrina has approximately 500 thousand inhabitants, being the second largest city of Paraná and the third largest city of the South Region of Brazil.
The city has a population of 497,833 (estimation IBGE, 2007), 742,071 (metropolitan area, estimation IBGE, 2007). It is a regional centre and is made up of commerce, services, agro-industries, and universities, including the State University of Londrina, UEL (Universidade Estadual de Londrina), which is famous for the quality of teaching and attracts students from all over the country.
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[edit] Demography
The city's population consists mainly of Brazilians from other cities or states, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian descendants and Germans, as well as other groups in lesser scale: Polish, Africans, Spanish, aboriginal, Bulgarians and British.
| Color/Race | Percentage |
|---|---|
| White | 74,2% |
| Black | 3,4% |
| Pardo (Brown/Multiracial) | 18.35% |
| Yellow (Asian) | 3,59% |
| Indian (Native American) | 0,24% |
Fonte: Censo 2000
[edit] Economy
Agriculture continues to be basic for Londrina, although its importance has diminished in recent years. Agricultural activity was diversified beyond coffee, and today maize, wheat, cotton, rami, beans, peanut, rice, sugar cane, soy bean, fruit and vegetables also flourish. The industrial sector is not very expressive; even so the city has an increasing park that deals with weaving, confections and agricultural industries.
Londrina today is noted for its commerce and service industries. It possesses one of the largest universities in the country, the State University of Londrina, as well as other diverse, private colleges.
[edit] Education
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.
[edit] Colleges and Universities
- Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL);
- Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR);
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR);
- Universidade Norte do Paraná (UNOPAR);
- Centro Universitário Filadéfia (UniFil);
- Faculdade Pitágoras;
- and many others.
[edit] Metropolitan region of Londrina
Instituted by State Complementary Law 81 on 17 June 1998, the Metropolitan Region of Londrina includes the cities of Londrina, Cambé, Ibiporã, Sertanópolis, Bela Vista do Paraíso, Jataizinho, Rolândia, and Tamarana, totaling 750 thousand inhabitants.
[edit] The city
- The Londrina name pays homage to the English capital London (Londres in Portuguese), since an English cotton company made the original investment to settle in this area.
- The famous fertile land of the region, the purple land, has this name due to the Italian colonists who called it “terra rossa” (red land, in Italian).
- Located in Southern Brazil, Londrina is a somewhat humid city in Subtropical zone, with historical extremes ranging from - 4.7ºC(1975) to 42.8ºC (1998)
- All the fertility of the purple land comes of the biggest volcanic lava spill of the planet, known as Spill of Trapp, that to a large extent occurred of the region center-south of Brazil
- Due to the color of the land, the denomination of its inhabitants as “red-feet” ("pé vermelho" in Portuguese) is common.
- The region, in its golden period, together with part of the West of the Paraná, was once responsible for 60% of the coffee produced in the World.
[edit] Sports
The city's football club is Londrina Esporte Clube, founded in 1956. The club plays at Café stadium, which has a maximum capacity of approximately 45,000 people.
Aeroporto de Londrina
Inesul/Londrina, owned by INESUL university, is the city's basketball club and it competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Basquete.
[edit] Notable sons and daughters of Londrina
- Flavia de Oliveira, model
- Élber, football player
- Michelle Alves, model
- Ivo Pessoa, singer
- Gilberto Godoy (Giba), volleyball player, considered by many to be one of the world's best volleyball players (Gold medalist in 2004 Olympics)
- Rogério Romero, swimming, swimmer
