Porto Alegre
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Urban space and natural wondersCulture and sports
Tradition and technologyHistory and futureEconomic force and life quality
Diversity e multiplicityLeisure and work
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Porto Alegre was founded in 1772 by Portuguese
Azorean couples. Along the following centuries, it
welcomed immigrants from all around the world,
and particularly from Germany, Italy, Spain, Af-
rica, Poland and Lebanon, among them Catholics,
Jews, Protestants and Muslins. The result of this
composition is a set of multiple expressions, of
a variety of faces, ethnic and religious origins,
which makes the state of Rio Grande do Sul a
unique place, where contrasts and differences
are always appreciated and welcome.
That is what Porto Alegre is like, multicultural by
nature, land of great authors, intellectuals, artists
and politicians who marked the history of Brazil.
Being able to produce and hold big events, with
national and international expression, it is also
the capital which launched from the State of Rio
Grande do Sul to the world great soccer players
such as Ronaldinho and Pato, Olimpic cham-
pions such as Daiane dos Santos and
João Derly, and celebrities
such as the übermod-
el Gisele Bündchen.
Porto Alegre,multicultural by nature
The State Gateway
for tourists at only 120 kilometers from
the pleasant Serra Gaúcha, Porto Alegre is a bustling hub
of services and infrastructure of recognized quality. Great national
and international companies are headquartered in the city and it is one
of the main destinations in Brazil
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Porto Alegre definitely entered the international
circuit of big events after experiencing the Global
Social Forum that was held here, between 2001
and 2005, and the World Conference on the De-
velopment of Cities, in 2008. Today, the capital
from Rio Grande do Sul is among the cities in
Brazil which receives most international events
and it is one of the most visited by foreign tour-
ists in business trips, seminars and congresses.
Among other accomplishments, the Mercosur Vi-
sual Arts Biennial, the Global Forum of Tourism
and the International Forum of Free Software
The best structure for tourism andbusiness events in the south of the country
also carry the brand of Porto Alegre, which is also
a dynamic center of events in the medical field.
This role is linked to the entrepreneurial environ-
ment and to the economical profile of the city, a
hub in trade of goods and services par excellence.
This sector represents 86% of the local economy
and it offers an extremely favorable environment
for the logistic solutions of event organizers, who
are able to find facilities that are unmatched for
their productions.
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*in this calculation, excluding the percentage of taxes
Economic data
Industrial and technological region
Gross Domestic Product (GDP):R$ 36.774 billion (18 % of the
state GDP) Source: 2008/IBGE
The sector of services represents 86% of the GDP of the municipality, followed
by the industrial sector, with 13%*.
Porto Alegre’s per capita GDP:R$ 25.712 mil (2008)
The main capital city in the South of Brazil is an
economical, financial, political, cultural and ad-
ministrative center, and the Center of 31 satellite
cities which form the Metropolitan Region of Porto
Alegre - an area with 3.9 million inhabitants and a
thriving and modern, industrial and technological
center, with a strong exporting profile.
This status is ensured by big national and
international names, such as Ger-
dau, General Motors, Dell
Computers, Braskem,
Petrobras, Doux Frango-
sul, International, Marco-
polo, Tramontina, Pirelli,
Basf, ALL América Latina
Logística, Thyssenkrupp
and Nestlé.
Porto Alegre is among the first Brazilian cities which offer more facilities for business activities, according to a report by the World Bank – Doing Business in Brazil – conducted together with the Movimento Brasil Competitivo (MBC).
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Venues and services: quality for events
The Events Center at the Rio Grande do Sul In-
dustry Federation (FIERGS) is one of the most
technologically prepared in Latin America for
congresses and conventions, fairs, shows and
receptions. There are 36 thousand square me-
ters, with a capacity to hold 7 thousand people
in modular and conditioned spaces and a mod-
ern theater with 1,790 seats. The structure of the
city can also count on options such as the Events
Center at Pontifícia (PUCRS) and the Hotel Plaza
São Rafael Convention Center.
Salgado Filho International Airport, a 15 minute-
drive from the center of the city, serves an aver-
age monthly movement of more than 500 thou-
sand passengers. In the public transportation
system, a fleet of 1,572 buses, 403 jitneys and a
service of taxi with 3,925 vehicles are in opera-
tion. The surface metro, with six boarding sta-
tions, quickly connects the capital to cities in the
Metropolitan Region.
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Comfort andgood service in hotels
In Porto Alegre, the tourist is welcome and it is
possible to notice the quality of products and
services consumed, starting from the accommo-
dation. In the hotel network, international brands
such as Sheraton, Accor (Íbis, Novotel, Mercure),
Blue Tree and InterContinental Hotels Group
(Atlântica) operate. There are 250 accommoda-
tion types and 14 thousand beds.
Digital Capital
Porto Alegre is among the first Brazilian capital cities
to make a free public network available for wireless
Internet Access and it offers a wide coverage of WiFi
Zones, through its Infoway. In public facilities and
parks and around them, in places such as bars,
restaurants and hotels, the tourists may have
access to the web from their own mobile
devices, without any restriction.
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The chimarrão ritual
The chimarrão is one of the most traditional and
singular cultural manifestations of the south of
Brazil. Its preparation and consumption are the
ritual: the infusion is done with ground leaves and
twigs of mate herb, accommodated in a “gourd”
and sipped through a pump, a kind of straw that is
normally made of silver. A genuinely native drink,
the chimarrão is the most popular habit among
gaúchos. To offer it to a visitor is, for a gaucho, a
gesture of hospitality.
Situated in the geographic Center of the South-
ern Cone region, Porto Alegre is in the region
formed by broad plains that dominate the land-
scape in Southern Brazil and part of Argentina
and Uruguay. This is the scenario of Pampas, of
pastoral tradition, where the gaucho, a historical
character, was born, a character endowed with
bravery and fighting spirit.
Porto Alegre is the Center for preserving and
spreading this kind of culture. It is also, histori-
cally speaking, a vanguard city. It was the cradle
of great Brazilian political movements in the past
century and of the first environmental move-
ments in Brazil, in the 1970’s.
Tradition and modernity make theprofile of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul
Legitimate local culturein unique experiences
History, tradition and folklore from Rio Grande
do Sul stand out in the Brazilian scenario. Habits
and beliefs of the gaucho show up in music, poetry,
literature, dance and gastronomy. Porto Alegre of-
fers a rich experience of this cultural universe in
about 50 Gaucho Tradition Centers (CTGs). The
environment is the right place for you to try a
chimarrao, a typical beverage from the region, to
follow the steps of music, dance and rhythm of
the vanerão, chamamé, milonga and chimarrita,
and to taste the churrasco, a barbecue with beef
cooked over the heat of charcoal fire.
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13 cultural centers
30 theaters
63 movie theaters
50 museums, memori-
als and art galleries
Land of world championsand host of the World Cup
Porto Alegre is one of the host cities of the World
Cup 2014 and football (soccer) is one of its main
attractions. It is the only Brazilian city to count
on two clubs that are certified world champions
after winning the Libertadores Cup: Sport Club
Internacional and Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Aleg-
rense. And it is proud to be the land that launched
world soccer stars such as Ronaldinho, Pato, Fal-
cão, Emerson, Dunga and the coach Felipão.
Internationally acclaimed athletes, such as
Daiane dos Santos, in the Olympic gymnastics,
the twice world champion João Derly and the
champions Mayra Aguiar and Tiago Camilo in
judo, are also talented people from Porto Alegre.
Cultural optionsin multiple spaces
Culturally rich, Porto Alegre is an important
hub for the production of drama, music, litera-
ture, cinema and fine arts. It also stands out as a
destination for large national and international
productions of Latin-American cultural events.
There are 13 centers of culture, more than 30
theaters, 63 movie theaters, concert halls and
about 50 museums, memorials, art galleries,
among other spaces.
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Contemporary Art
Porto Alegre is the first city in the continent to
receive the works of the vanguard artist Álvaro
Siza. The bold concepts of the awarded Portu-
guese architect are in the building of the museum
of Fundação Iberê Camargo (FIC). With a Golden
Lion from the Venice Architecture Biennial, the
project gathers environmental concepts and is
integrated to the Guaíba Lake landscape, at the
South Region of the city, a new point for art and
tourism in the Capital.
Technological theme park
A real theme park which stimulates the scientific
curiosity and the senses of adults and children,
this is the PUC-RS Science and Technology
Museum one of the most respected ones in
the country. There are three floors of pure
interactivity in more than 800 scientific and
technological experiments, distributed in a
17.5 thousand square meter area. The space is a
reference in Latin America.
Mobility and life qualityin the Southern metropolis INDICES
HDI:0.865 (The capital with the best indices of education, longevity and income in Brazil/UN 2000)
Life expectation:71.59 years (2000)
Infant Mortality: 12.37 by a thousand born alive
Population growth:1.25% per year Literate population:96.55%
Illiteracy rate:3.45%
Sewage services: 87%
Water supply: 100% Electric power supply: 99.8%
Garbage collection: 100%
There are about 1.3 million
trees only at the public streets,
almost one for each one of
the 1.4 million inhabitants
Considered the number one Brazilian Metropolis
in life quality by the United Nations (UN) three
times, Porto Alegre is also one of the cities in
Latin America with the best indices in the main
areas of the Human Development Index (HDI):
health, sanitation, education, environment and
economy. It has 23 university institutions, almost
97% of the population is literate and the life ex-
pectation is of 71.59 years.
Situated at the Banks of a lake, the Guaíba, and
surrounded by 40 mountains, Porto Alegre keeps
a green area index per inhabitant that is higher
than the one recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO). Walking is a pleasure to
share in the city, which is one of the greenest
ones in the country. There are about 1.3 million
trees only at the public streets, almost one for
each one of the 1.4 million inhabitants.
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Porto Alegre has in the Guaíba Lake its stron-
gest geographical expression. Its 72 kilometers of
river shores, partly urbanized and optimized for
leisure and entertainment activities for a popu-
lation that values life outdoors.
Guaíba Lake
Eight parks form a real oasis in the urban bustle
of the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The most traditional and popular is the Redenção
Park, whose official name is Farroupilha Park. At
weekends, more than 70 thousand people circu-
late through its green area where there are more
than eight thousand native and exotic trees. On
Sundays, the park receives the Brique, a crowded
flee market with handcraft and antique goods.
Redenção Park
The Rio Grande do Sul metropolis has the rare
privilege of counting on typically rural places and
just a few minutes from the city center. In this 142.5
km² area is the route Caminhos Rurais, a differenti-
ated touristic product for those who are visiting the
city. Those are small agro-ecological properties that
produce grapes and wine, they offer accommoda-
tion, colonial gastronomy, leisure areas and many
other attractions.
Pure nature in the attraction of Caminhos Rurais (rural tour)
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Porto Alegre reveals its multiculturalism also
in the flavors of gastronomy. There are 3.8 thou-
sand restaurants and fast food places, bars and
cafes with environments for the most diverse
public. In classical or innovative addresses, qual-
ity is the strong point of the Rio Grande do Sul
state capital cuisine. Starting with the real and
juicy barbecue, the main dish from their regional
cooking prepared with different beef cuts and
served abundantly in tradi-
tional steakhouses.
Fu r t h e r m o r e
Porto Alegre
From barbecue to internationalcooking, gastronomy is a pleasure to share
offers an exquisite tour through high interna-
tional cuisine in ethnic restaurants which serve
food from Japan, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Spain,
Portugal, Uruguay, Arabia, China and specialties
from Brazil.
In the historic district, the neoclassical building
of the Public Market, built in 1869, coexists with
the daily motion of 100 thousand people. In this
democratic and popular environment, there are
centenarian restaurants that serve regional food,
cachaçaria with the best national production,
stalls with spices from international gastronomy,
handcraft and Afro-Brazilian religious products.
The night vibrates
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Cultural events, bars, pubs, breweries, cafes a nd
concert halls c ompete i n the Porto A legre n ight
scene in a variety of r hythms and styles. The
Cidade B aixa ( Low City), o ld n eighborhood w ith
Azorean architecture, is the most bohemian point
in t he c ity w ith eclectic public a nd underground
places. T he n ight life options i n the Bom F im,
traditional Jewish n eighborhood, are t he f avorite
ones for the alternative public.
The most g lamorous c ircuit i s in t he pubs and
cafes of the “Calçada da Fama” (sidewalk of fame),
in the Moinhos de Vento neighborhood. The infor-
mal atmosphere p revails i n the bars a nd restau-
rants of Ipanema beach, in the South Region, which
has as a backdrop the city lights on the Guaíba.
At the end of the day, Ipanema is one of the many
places o n the shore which offer Porto A legre’s
sunset show of c hanging colors, a unique e ffect
afforded by the climatic diversity of the southern-
most capital city in Brazil.
Usina do Gasômetro
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26th March 1772
Situated: Latitude S - 30º
Longitude W - Greenwich 51º
The southernmost capital city of Brazil.
Altitude: 10m
Area: 496.8
(Source: Fundação de Economia e Estatística/2010)
Demographic density: 2,837.90 inhabit/km (FEE/2010) 2
Temperature: Annual average of 19.5º C
Winter (Jun to Sept) - between 02ºC and 20ºC
km² Summer (Dec to Mar) - between 25ºC and 35ºC
Autumn (Mar to Jun) - between 10ºC and 25ºC
Spring (Sept to Dec) - between 15ºC and 30ºC
Porto Alegre has a privileged location.
It is a strategic point in the
Mercosur and the geographic
center of the main routes in the
Southern Cone, midway from
the main axis Buenos Aires
(1,.063 kilometers) and
Montevidéu (890 kilometers),
São Paulo (1,109 kilometers) and
Rio de Janeiro (1,558 kilometers).
The city is interconnected by the
Federal highways BR-290 and
BR-116, which enable the link to other
States in the country, with Uruguay and
with Argentina.
Landscape: The city occupies a plain area
surrounded by 40 mountains which encompass
65% of its area. It is limited by the lakeshore of
the Guaíba, 72 kilometers long.
Population: 1,409,939 inhabitants
Climate:
four seasons in a year. The rainy season is during
the months of June and August.
Sunset: In spring, the sun sets at 6:45 pm;
in summer, at 8:15 pm (Brazilian summer time);
in autumn, at 5:40 pm, and in winter, at 5:30 pm.
Dudu Leal/FIERGS, Divulgação Sheraton, ³ Elias Eberhardt