| Municipality of Santa Maria Município de Santa Maria |
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| Location in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Brazil | ||
| Region | South | ||
| State | Rio Grande do Sul | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Cesar Augusto Schirmer (PMDB) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,823.1 km2 (703.9 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 113 m (371 ft) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| • Total | 270,073 | ||
| • Density | 151.8/km2 (393.2/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-2 (UTC-2) | ||
| Website | Prefeitura de Santa Maria | ||
Santa Maria is a municipality in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. In 2007, its population was 263,403 inhabitants in a total area of 1,823 km2.
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It is known for the Federal University of Santa Maria and a number of other private universities and colleges. Because of the large number of college age students, the city has a relatively young population. Santa Maria is also known for its military contingent - the second largest in Brazil.
Santa Maria is also known in the region for being the host city of an important Roman Catholic festival dedicated to Nossa Senhora Medianeira, called "Romaria da Medianeira" (Medianeira is a name of Our Lady that was created in Venice, Italy). Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over Brazil join in the celebrations.
Santa Maria is the location of the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force, which houses four units.
The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Maria.
Santa Maria is known for its pizza. They boast numerous pizza restaurants that serve many varieties such as as mayonnaise and steak to chicken and corn and chocolate and Smarties to ice cream. The locals say that they have the best pizza in the world, though that is just an opinion.
Santa Maria also has two soccer teams: Inter-SM and Riograndense-SM.
In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Maria is the fifth largest city, after Porto Alegre, Caxias do Sul, Pelotas, and Canoas.
It is the largest city in the central region of the state, concentrating 36.40% of the region's population. During the period between 1981 and 2000, Santa Maria had a demographic growth rate of 1.86%.
The municipality contains 10 districts. The city of Santa Maria itself is located in the urban Seat District (Distrito Sede), which is divided into 8 regiões administrativas (administrative regions), and further subdivided into 41 bairros (neighbourhoods). About 95% of the municipality's total population is concentrated in the Seat District. One of the districts is Palma.
The economy is based on services, light industry, government services, and agriculture. In 2006, there were 934 transformation industries employing 6,344 workers. Commerce employed 12,180 workers, public administration employed 4,783 workers, the health sector employed 3,799 workers, and education employed 6,362 workers. In the agricultural sector, there were 2,335 establishments employing 7,000 workers. The main activities are cattle raising with over 100,000 heads in 2006, and growth of rice, corn, soybean, and wheat.[1]
Santa Maria is a major highway and railroad hub. The city has a strategic location in connecting Brazil to other Mercosul countries, mainly through the following highways:
Railways are used for cargo transportation, mainly of agricultural products, automobile parts and food.
Santa Maria is 110 km from the River Terminal of Cachoeira do Sul, which allows ship transport until the port of Porto Alegre through the Jacuí River, and from there to the Atlantic Ocean, through the Lagoa dos Patos.
Santa Maria Airport is located 12 km far from downtown, in the neighborhood of Camobi. It has capacity for large airplanes and offers daily flights to Porto Alegre, Santo Ângelo and Uruguaiana. The same facility is shared by the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
In 2005, there were 113 health establishments, comprising 8 hospitals with a total amount of 866 available beds. In the educational sector, there were 112 primary schools and 34 secondary schools. Six higher education institutions enrolled approximately 20,000 students. The most important are the Federal University of Santa Maria - UFSM, the Franciscan University Center - UNIFRA, and the Methodist University of Santa Maria - FAMES.[1]
Santa Maria has a humid subtropical climate and its annual average temperature is 18.5 °C. In January, the warmest month, highs frequently surpass 30 °C with the average low dropping to 19 °C. In June, the coldest month, highs reach 19 °C and lows usually go below 9 °C, reaching up to -5 °C, but snow is a rare occurrence. Rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year with a monthly average of 140 mm.[3]
Santa Maria is often referred to as the "heart of Rio Grande do Sul" (from Portuguese: "cidade coração do Rio Grande"), because the geographical center of the state is located in a rural District of Santa Maria called Passo do Verde. Santa Maria is also given the nickname of "culture city" (Portuguese: "cidade cultura"), mostly because of the local universities, which host a large number of students and young adults who engage in many cultural and political actions, social entrepreneurs, and a number of academic researchers of international reputation.
The first inhabitants of Santa Maria were the Minuano Indians, who lived in a region of the municipality known as Coxilha do Pau Fincado, and the Tapes, who lived in the hills.
With the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese this border region was a witness to innumerable battles between rival groups. Finally in 1797 the border between the two colonies was established by a commission (1ª Subdivisão da Comissão Demarcadora de Limites da América Meridional). This commission set up camp on the site of present-day Santa Maria.
The camp was known as Acampamento de Santa Maria, later adding Boca do Monte to the name. 1828 saw the arrival of the 28th Battalion of Foreigners, made up of hired Germans to fight against the inhabitants of present-day Uruguay in the Cisplatine War. After the war many of the soldiers decided to stay in Santa Maria beginning the cycle of German colonization.
Santa Maria was elevated to the condition of Vila, separating from Cachoeira do Sul, in 1857. The municipality was created on 16 December 1857 and installed on 17 May 1858.[4]
According to the United Nations (PNUD 2000), Santa Maria ranks 45th in quality of life in Brazil and 9th in the state. According to data from 2006, from Fundação de Economia e Estatística - FEE, life expectancy at birth is of 74.01 years and the demographic density of the municipality is 145.4 inhab/km².
The level of atmospheric pollution in Santa Maria is low, since the urban area, for the most part, is composed of retail commerce and services, without polluting sectors.[5]
The city is the birthplace of Paleorrota and paleontology in Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil. In 1902, a Rhynchosaur was collected in Santa Maria, on what is considered to be the first fossil to be found in South America. Llewellyn Ivor Price, a Santa Maria-born paleontologist and one of the first Brazilian ones, collected a Staurikosaurus, the first Brazilian dinosaur. The city is located on a huge deposit of fossils, with more than 20 Paleontological Sites.
In October 2009, began free distribution of one thousand copies of the book Vertebrados Fósseis de Santa Maria e Região (Vertebrate Fossils of Santa Maria and surrounding regions in English). The book will be delivered to institutions, schools and libraries in Santa Maria, in order to spread the teaching of this subject in the region. The book was published by the council of the city. [6]
Already published two comic books with titles Xiru Lautério e Os Dinossauros I and II, in order to disclose the paleontology and gaucho culture among children of city and region.
On 21 and 22 May 2011, was held the first day of Paleorrota, where the museums of palaeontology at Porto Alegre, Candelária, Santa Maria, São Pedro do Sul and Mata, opened their doors to visits from tourists. The day of Paleorrota should occur every year in May during the week's national museum. Earlier this week, on May 17 is the anniversary of the city of Santa Maria.