Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul (UK: /ˌr ˌɡrændi d ˈsʊl/,[3] US: /ˌr ˌɡrɑːndi d ˈsl/,[4] Portuguese: [ˈʁiw ˈɡɾɐ̃dʒi du ˈsuw] (About this soundlisten);[a] lit. '"Great River of the South"') is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is bordered clockwise by Santa Catarina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Uruguayan departments of Rocha, Treinta y Tres, Cerro Largo, Rivera and Artigas to the south and southwest, and the Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones to the west and northwest. The capital and largest city is Porto Alegre. The state has the highest life expectancy in Brazil, and the crime rate is relatively low compared to Brazilian national average.[5] Despite the high standard of living, unemployment is still high in the state, as of 2017.[6]

Rio Grande do Sul
State of Rio Grande do Sul
Flag of Rio Grande do Sul
Coat of arms of Rio Grande do Sul
Coat of arms
Liberdade, Igualdade, Humanidade (Portuguese)
"Liberty, Equality, Humanity"
Anthem: Hino Rio-Grandense
Location of State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil
Location of State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil
Capital and largest cityPorto Alegre
 • GovernorEduardo Leite (PSDB)
 • Vice GovernorRanolfo Vieira Júnior (PTB)
 • SenatorsLasier Martins (PSD)
Luis Carlos Heinze (PP)
Paulo Paim (PT)
 • Total291,748 km2 (112,645 sq mi)
Area rank9th
 • Total11,286,500
 • Rank5th
 • Density39/km2 (100/sq mi)
 • Density rank13th
Demonym(s)Rio-grandense, sul-rio-grandense or gaúcho
 • Year2015
 • TotalUS$205 billion (PPP) US$115 billions (nominal) (4th)
 • Per capitaUS$18,131 (PPP) US$10,244 (nominal) (5th)
 • Year2017
 • Category0.792[2]high (5th)
Time zoneUTC-3 (BRT)
Postal code
90000-000 to 99990-000
ISO 3166 codeBR-RS

The state has a gaucho culture like its foreign neighbors. Before the arrival of Portuguese and Spanish settlers, it was inhabited mostly by the Guarani and Kaingang peoples (with smaller populations of Charrúa and Minuano). The first Europeans there were Jesuits, followed by settlers from the Azores. In the 19th century it was the scene of conflicts including the Farroupilha Revolution and the Paraguayan War. Large waves of German and Italian migration have shaped the state.

With approximately 11.3 million inhabitants,[7] around 5.4 % of the Brazilian population live in Rio Grande do Sul. The state had a total BIP of $ 480.5 billion in 2019, which accounts for 6.6 % of Brazil's national GDP.[8]


Map with municipal boundaries

Rio Grande do Sul is bordered to the northeast by the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Uruguay, and to the northwest by the Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones.


The Historic town of São Miguel das Missões.
Wine production in Caxias do Sul.





Climate types of Rio Grande do Sul.

Rio Grande do Sul lies within the south temperate zone and is predominantly humid subtropical (Cfa, according to the Köppen climate classification). The climate is subtropical highland (Cfb) in the highest areas. There are four relatively well-defined seasons and rainfall is well distributed throughout the year, but occasional droughts can occur. The winter months, June to September, are characterized by heavy rains and by a cold southwesterly wind, called minuano, which sometimes lower the temperature to below freezing, especially in the mountainous municipalities,[9] where snowfalls can occur. The lowest registered temperature in the state was −9.8 °C (14 °F) in Bom Jesus, on August 1, 1955.[10] In summer, the temperature rises to 37 °C (99 °F), and heat related injuries are not uncommon.





During the Brazilian Colonial period, the province of South Rio Grande was the scene of small wars and border skirmishes between Portugal and Spain for the region, the Sacramento Colony, and the Guarani Missions. It was also a focal point for internal rebellions in the 19th and the early 20th centuries.

Guarani WarsEdit


Spanish settlement began in the River Plate area. Consequently, it followed the course of the Plate and its tributaries, especially the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The Spanish introduced livestock into the area which escaped into the plains and attracted gauchos to the region.

The first Spaniards to settle in the region that is now Paraguay, northwestern Argentina (Corrientes, Misiones), and Rio Grande do Sul were Jesuit missionary priests who came with the idea of converting the indigenous population to Catholic Christianity. To that end, they founded missionary villages known in Spanish as misiones or reducciones, populated by Guarani Indians.

In the early 17th century, the Jesuits founded missions to the east of the Uruguay river, and in the northwest of modern Rio Grande do Sul.[11]

The missions were destroyed and their Guarani inhabitants were enslaved in large raids by bandeirantes between 1636 and 1638; however, in 1687, the Jesuits were back in the region, having refounded seven reductions, the Misiones Orientales. The region remained under Spanish sovereignty, though in practice the Jesuits operated quite independently, up to the late 17th century. But in 1680, the Portuguese founded Colônia do Sacramento on the northern bank of the River Plate, in what is now Uruguay. War ensued and was intermittent until the independence of Uruguay in 1828.[12]

The logistics of defending Colônia against the Spanish resulted in a government effort to settle Rio Grande do Sul's coastal region with Brazilian and Portuguese colonists. In 1737, a fortified village (today the city of Rio Grande) was built at the entrance of Lagoa dos Patos. In 1752, a group of Azorean settlers founded Porto Alegre; to the west, Rio Pardo was also founded. Towards the middle of the century, Brazilians and Portuguese arrived to the west of the region, clashing with the Jesuits and the Guaranis. Up to 1756, the Guaranis fought back, under the leadership of Sepé Tiaraju, who was popularly canonized as São Sepé (Saint Sepé). However, the Portuguese and Brazilians eventually crushed the resistance, destroyed the missions, and the region came definitely into Portuguese hegemony.[13]


In 1777, the Santo Ildefonso Treaty granted the coastal region to Portugal, and the Missões to Spain; but, in practice, both regions were populated by Portuguese and Brazilian settlers. In 1801, the Badajoz treaty handed the Misiones (Missões) to the Portuguese; only the borders between modern Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul remained in dispute.[14]

Cisplatine WarEdit



Farroupilha RevolutionEdit

Rebel Cavalry during the Farroupilha Revolution.


In those large latifundia, cattle raising was the predominant economic activity. The Guaranis, under Jesuit rule, had started raising cattle in the Missões. The destruction of the Missões left astray immense herds, which went feral. Thus the newcomers from São Paulo and Santa Catarina settled by re-domesticating these feral herds, called "gado xucro".[16]



Up to 1830, political unrest in Argentina and Uruguay favoured the jerky producers of Pelotas. But with order restored in these countries, competition by Argentinian and Uruguayan jerky producers became a concern. The jerky industry of the Plata was favored by the superior quality of Argentinian and Uruguayan pastures, by their better seaports,[18] and by their use of free labor, instead of slavery.[19] Consequently, the regional elites soon started to demand customs protection for the gaúcho jerky against the product of the Rio de la Plata; on the failure of the Imperial government to address those concerns, political demands of greater autonomy, and ideas of a federal relationship towards the rest of Brazil were put forth.[18]


Declaration of the Baron of Caxias announcing the end of the Revolution Farroupilha, 1845. National Archives of Brazil.




Conflicts with neighbouring countriesEdit



Paraguayan WarEdit



Map Province of São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul, current State of Rio Grande do Sul, 1877. National Archives of Brazil

Late EmpireEdit





1893 RevolutionEdit


1923 RevolutionEdit


1930 RevolutionEdit

In 1930, State President Getúlio Vargas, after unsuccessfully running in the presidential elections against the candidate of São Paulo, Júlio Prestes, led a revolt against the Federal government, and succeeded in overthrowing it. This eventually led to the Vargas dictatorship in 1937 and the period known as the Estado Novo. What is now the Rio Grande do Sul Military Brigade fought on the side of the state leadership and, as a result, was never reformed. In fact, the Brigade remains the only state militia in Brazil. (The Military Police is the federal force that polices in the other states.) A poignant example of the Brigade's quasi-autonomy is the participation of its servicemen in both the coup attempt of 1961 and the military coup in 1964.


YearPop.±% p.a.


Urbanization: 81% (2004); population growth: 1.2% (1991–2000); houses: 3,464,544 (2005).[32]

The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) counted 8,776,000 white people (81%), 1,495,000 brown (Multiracial) people (14%), 529,000 black people (5%), 43,000 Amerindian people (0.4%), 11,000 Asian people (0.1%).[33]

According to a genetic study from 2013, Brazilians in Rio Grande do Sul have an average of 73% European, 14% African and 13% Amerindian ancestry.[34]

Ethnic groupsEdit

People of Portuguese – mostly Azorean – background predominate in the coastal region. The Southwest, on the other hand, was originally populated by Pampeano Indians.[35] Like the other Gauchos from the La Plata Basin the population there was a result from the mixture of Spanish and Portuguese men with Amerindian women with a possible predominant Spanish ancestry and also a significant African contribution,[36] resulting in a population that is 81.20% White.[37]

These speculations about a supposed Spanish predominance among the population of Southwestern Rio Grande do Sul are widely spread, but they contradict the historic knowledge about the region.[citation needed] In fact, there was always very little Spanish colonial presence there,[citation needed] in practice restricted to Jesuit initiatives towards the Amerindian populations,[citation needed] which, of course, had no genetic impact in the demographic composition.[citation needed] On the other hand, it is well established that it is northern Uruguay that has always had an important Luso-Brazilian influence,[38] which in fact impacts to this day the language of northern Uruguay, not the other way round.[39]

People of German descent predominate in the Sinos Valley (Novo Hamburgo, São Leopoldo, Nova Hartz, Dois Irmãos, Morro Reuter, etc.) and in the center-eastern part of the State (Santa Cruz do Sul). People of Italian descent predominate in the mountains (Serra Gaúcha: Caxias do Sul, Bento Gonçalves, Farroupilha, Garibaldi, etc.). The Northern and Northwestern parts of the State also have significant numbers of people of both Italian and German descent. There are sizeable communities of Poles and Ukrainians across the state, notably in the northwest. People of African ancestry are concentrated in the capital city and in some cities in the litoral, such as Pelotas and Rio Grande.[40]

According to Argentine demographer Miguel Ángel García, Italian immigrants were 60% of the total immigration to Rio Grande do Sul[41] and according to French historian Jean Roche as of 1950 people of German descent made up 21.6% of the state's population.[42]

Monument in Porto Alegre to honor the Azorean immigrants
German architecture in Nova Petrópolis




Other European immigrants migrated to Rio Grande do Sul, mostly from Eastern Europe. The Jewish Colonization Association assisted Russian-Jewish immigrants to settle on agricultural land in the state. A memoir of one such immigrant community, Filipson, Memórias da primeira colônia judaica no Rio Grande do Sul (Filipson: Memories of the First Jewish Colony in Rio Grande do Sul), was published by Frida Alexandr in 1967.[46]

The town of Gramado, where there are occasional snowfalls.
Catedral São Francisco de Paula – Pelotas


As of 2013, there were fewer than 30,000 Nisei in Rio Grande do Sul. Japanese immigrant families from São Paulo State began arriving in Rio Grande do Sul in the 1930s. In 1956, the first 23 official immigrants came to the state, and 26 families arrived at Rio Grande in the years from 1956 through 1963. In 2013, Peter B. Clarke, author of Japanese New Religions in Global Perspective, wrote that "Nowadays we cannot speak of a Japanese colony in RS."[48]

Largest citiesEdit


Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul
Vineyard in Rio Grande do Sul
Tobacco in Rio Grande do Sul
Soy plantation in Rio Grande do Sul


Share of the Brazilian economy: 7% (2005).


In 1827, emigrants from Idar-Oberstein discovered the world's most important agate deposit in Rio Grande do Sul. As early as 1834, the first delivery of agate from Rio Grande do Sul had been made to Idar-Oberstein. The Brazilian agate exhibited very even layers, much more even than those seen in the local agates. This made them especially good for making engraved gems.

In agriculture, the state stands out in the production of soybeans, corn, wheat, rice, tobacco, grape, apple, cassava and yerba mate, in addition to also producing oat, barley, orange, peach, fig, tangerine, persimmon and strawberry.

In 2020, the South Region produced 32% of the national total of cereals, vegetables and oilseeds. There were 77.2 million tons, second place in Brazil, losing only to the Midwest. Rio Grande do Sul (14.3%) was the 3rd largest producer in the country.[50]

Rio Grande do Sul is the largest producer of rice in the country, with 70.5% of Brazil's production, close to 7.3 million tons in 2020. [51][50] It's also the largest producer of tobacco in Brazil, and is the largest exporter in the world. Brazil is the second largest producer in the world and leader in tobacco exports since the 1990s, with 98% of Brazilian production being carried out in the South Region.[52][53] The state is responsible for 90% of the national production of grapes, and produces 90% of the wine produced in the country, 85% of the sparkling wine, and 90% of the grape juice, mainly in the area of Caxias do Sul and surroundings: 664.2 thousand tons of grape in 2018.[54][55][56]

In soy, Rio Grande do Sul is the 3rd largest producer in the country, with about 16% of national production. It produced 19.3 million tons. [57][50] In 2017, it was also 3rd largest producer of corn.[58][59][60]

Rio Grande do Sul is also the largest national producer of wheat, with 2.3 million tons in 2019. [50][61][62] The South Region is also the largest producer of oats in Brazil. In 2019, national production was close to 800 thousand tons, being almost all carried out in the South (Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul).[63][64]

The three Southern States of the country are responsible for 95% of the national production of apple, and Santa Catarina appears at the top of the production list, disputing with Rio Grande do Sul. Rio Grande do Sul harvests 45% of Brazilian apples, and is the largest exporter of apples in the country. The region in the vicinity of Vacaria is the highlight: it concentrates 88% of the state's production and 37% of the national production.[65][66]

In cassava production, Brazil produced a total of 17.6 million tons in 2018. The state was the 4th largest producer in the country, with almost 1 million tons.[67]

About orange, Rio Grande do Sul was the 5th largest producer in Brazil in 2018, with a total of 367 thousand tons. [68]

Rio Grande do Sul is the largest producer of peaches in Brazil, with half the volume harvested in Brazil in 2018. [69] It's also the largest producer of fig in the country, according to data from 2018.[70] In 2018, Rio Grande do Sul was the 3rd largest producers of tangerine in Brazil. Rio Grande do Sul is also responsible for 19% of Brazil's persimmon production, being the 2nd largest national producer.[71][72] In 2019, in Brazil, there was a total production area of around 4 thousand hectares of strawberry. Rio Grande do Sul was the 3rd largest producer. [73]

In 2019, Brazil produced about 900 thousand tons of yerba mate annually. Paraná is the largest producer in volume and Rio Grande do Sul in plantation areas (and where the sector is more industrialized). According to 2017 data, Paraná harvested 301 thousand tons of yerba mate by extractive method, while Rio Grande do Sul harvested 17 thousand tons. On the other hand, while the gauchos harvested 302 thousand tons of planted grass, the Paraná harvested 237 thousand tons in this method. The productive potential of yerba mate is still little explored in Brazil, with a good part of the harvest carried out by the extractive system and with low levels of productivity. However, many new producers are adopting more professional and efficient production systems, with technical acuity of management and globalized market vision. This tends to increase Brazil's export of this product.

Cattle in Rio Grande do Sul

In 2018, the state's cattle herd was 12.5 million head, 7th place in the country, 6.5% of Brazil's cattle herd.[74]

In 2019, Rio Grande do Sul produced a total of 4.5 billion liters of milk, making it the third largest producer in the country, with 13.0% of the country's total. [75]

In sheep farming, in 2017 the South Region was the 2nd largest in the country, with 4.2 million heads. Rio Grande do Sul has 94% of the country's wool production.[76]

In pork, the 3 southern states are the largest producers in the country. Brazil had 41.1 million head in 2017. Rio Grande do Sul (14.6%) is the 3rd largest producer.[77][78][79]

Amethyst mine in Ametista do Sul

The Brazilian poultry flock, in 2018, was of the order of 1.5 billion heads. In 2017, the main poultry producing states in Brazil were Paraná (25.3%), São Paulo (14.0%), and Rio Grande do Sul (11.0%). In terms of chickens, in 2017 there were 242.8 million heads in the country. Among the states that were the largest producers, São Paulo led with 21.9%, followed by Paraná (10.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (8.8%).[80] In the production of chicken eggs, the state ranks fifth in Brazil, with 8% of national production. There were 354 million dozen in 2018. [81]

The South region was the main producer of honey in the country in 2017, accounting for 39.7% of the national total. Rio Grande do Sul was the largest producer in the country, with 15.2%.[82]

Regarding mining, the state is a major producer of gemstones. Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst and agate, and Rio Grande do Sul is the largest producer in the country. Agate has local extraction since 1830. The largest producer of amethyst in Brazil is the city of Ametista do Sul. This stone was very rare and expensive worldwide, until the discovery of large deposits in Brazil, causing its value to drop considerably. There is also some jasper and opal in the state.[83][84][85] [86] [87][88]

Beira Rio Shoes, in Mato Leitão-RS
Neugebauer's headquarters in Arroio do Meio-RS

About industry, Rio Grande do Sul had an industrial GDP of R$ 82.1 billion in 2017, equivalent to 6.9% of the national industry. It employs 762,045 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: Construction (18.2%), Food (15.4%), Industrial Public Utility Services, such as Electricity and Water (9.8%), Chemicals (6.8%), and Machinery and Equipment (6.6%). These 5 sectors concentrate 56.8% of the state's industry. [89]

In the automotive sector, the state has a GM plant.[90]

The leather-footwear sector (Footwear industry) stands out particularly in Novo Hamburgo, Sapiranga and Campo Bom, and in virtually all other municipalities in Vale dos Sinos. in 2019 Brazil produced 972 million pairs. Exports were around 10%, reaching almost 125 million pairs. Brazil is in the 4th position among the world producers, behind China (who produces more than 10 billion pairs), India and Vietnam, and in 11th place among the biggest exporters. The largest pole of production in Brazil is located here. The Brazilian state that most exports the product is Rio Grande do Sul: in 2019 it exported US $ 448.35 million. The majority of the product goes to United States, Argentina and France. Domestic consumption absorbs a large part of production. The state has or created some of the most important factories in Brazil in the sector.[91] [92]

In Food industry, In 2019, Brazil was the 2nd largest exporter of processed foods in the world, with a value of U $ 34.1 billion in exports. The Brazilian food and beverage industry's revenue in 2019 was R $ 699.9 billion, 9.7% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. In 2015, the industrial food and beverage sector in Brazil comprised 34,800 companies (not counting bakeries), the vast majority of which were small. These companies employed more than 1,600,000 workers, making the food and beverage industry the largest employer in the manufacturing industry. There are around 570 large companies in Brazil, which concentrate a good part of the total industry revenue. Rio Grande do Sul created food companies of national importance such as the Neugebauer chocolate factory; Vinícola Aurora and Vinícola Salton, two of the largest wineries in the country. and Camil Alimentos, which owns the brand Açúcar União (the most famous sugar brand in the country), Arroz Carretero (one of the most famous rice brands in Brazil), among others.[93] [94][95]

The mechanical and metallurgical industry also reach considerable expression, especially in Porto Alegre, Novo Hamburgo, São Leopoldo and Canoas, in addition to Gravataí, Sapucaia do Sul, Esteio and Sapiranga, which have large companies in the sector and which also belong to the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre . These centers are joined by São Jerônimo, which houses the Charqueadas steel plant. The steel mill Aços Finos Piratini is located in Charqueadas, which belongs to Gerdau. It is geared mainly to serve the automotive industry.

In the metallurgical business, the state has one of the most famous companies in the country, Tramontina, originally from Rio Grande do Sul and famous manufacturer of knives, pans, shovels and various utensils, which has more than 8,500 employees and 10 manufacturing units. Other famous companies in the state are Marcopolo, a manufacturer of bus bodies, which had a market value of R $ 2.782 billion in 2015, and Randon, a group of 9 companies specialized in solutions for the transportation, which brings together manufacturers of vehicles, auto parts, and road equipment - employs around 11,000 people and recorded gross sales in 2017 of R $ 4.2 billion.

Another industrial area is the so-called old colonization region, in which the municipalities of Caxias do Sul, Garibaldi, Bento Gonçalves, Flores da Cunha, Farroupilha and Santa Cruz do Sul are integrated. The manufacturing activity is marked by the production of wine and processing of agropastoral products, such as leather, lard, corn, wheat and tobacco.

In the rest of the state there are several dispersed industrial centers, all linked to the processing of agropastoral raw materials. In this group, Erechim, Passo Fundo, Santa Maria, Santana do Livramento, Rosário do Sul, Pelotas, Rio Grande and Bagé stand out.


  • Vehicles: 4,367,980 (March 2008)
  • Mobile phones: 12.3 million (June 2008)
  • Telephones: 3 million (April 2008)
  • Cities: 496 (2007)[96]


Educational institutionsEdit

There are more than 100 universities in whole state of Rio Grande do Sul.[97]‹See TfM›[failed verification]

Universities and collegesEdit

and many others.


International airportsEdit

Porto AlegreEdit



Comandante Gustavo Kraemer Airport opened on July 5, 1946. This airport came under Infraero administration on October 27, 1980. It is located on the rural outskirts of Bagé, 60 km (37 mi) from the Uruguayan border and 380 km (236 mi) from Porto Alegre. Comandante Gustavo Kraemer Airport does not operate with scheduled commercial flights. There are two daily flights carrying bank pouches, as well as air taxi services and executive jets. Most of the airport's users are businesspeople from the central part of Brazil who have interests in the region in breeding thoroughbred English and Arabian horses, cattle ranching, fruit growing, wine making, wood pulp and power generation.


Located on the border with Argentina (across the Uruguay River from the Argentine city of Paso de los Libres), Uruguaiana is considered the major inland port in Latin America, thanks to its strategic position with the countries of Mercosur. Rubem Berta International Airport, however, has only one flight, on Azul Brazilian Airlines, to Porto Alegre, – a situation Infraero intends to change, as was confirmed in an official visit to the airport in December 2004.


Bus station in Porto Alegre.


National airportsEdit

Caxias do SulEdit

Hugo Cantergiani airport (CXJ/SBCX) serves a vast region of important economical and touristic counties in the vicinities of Caxias do Sul, totalling 34 municipalities in this area of the "Serra Gaúcha". It is located at an altitude of 754 m (2 474 ft) as has one concrete runway (15/33) with the length of 2 000 m (6 562 ft) although only 1.650 m are usable if landing on runway 15. It is served on a daily basis by GOL and Azul airlines linking Caxias do Sul to São Paulo. It is equipped with a VASIS visual approach aid and is also certified for IFR approaches. References to these informations are published in the Portuguese version of this site.




Statue of the Lassoer (Laçador) is a symbol of the predominant gaúcho culture in the state. This statue is located next to Salgado Filho International Airport along Avenida dos Estados in Porto Alegre.



Other parts of the state have a slightly different culture, influenced mainly by German or Italian immigrants.[citation needed] After some generations, the descendants of immigrants were integrated in the local society, even though their cultural influences are still strong, mostly in the countryside. Despite these differences, the Gaucho people maintain a particular zeal for their culture and its variations.

Although the Gaucho culture and its Portuguese-based language prevails in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, sharing many of its folklore characteristics with neighboring horseback livestock raising, grassland centered cultures, such as found in Uruguay and in Argentina, the state also has other strong albeit less prominent cultural focus areas.

These are, notably the German-Brazilian cultural identity and the Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language (the estimated number of speakers are around 1,500,000), spoken in the state since 1824; it received official recognition by the state House of Representatives in 2012 by unanimous vote. Also, as the result of European immigration stated in the 19th century, the state has an Italian culture and language of its own, the Talian language (a Veneto-based language/dialect), spoken mostly in the highlands region, at the so-called Old Italian Colonies in the upper state (see Italian-Brazilian).

However, there are many other much smaller cultural minorities in the state (for example, the Afro-Brazilian community, the Guarani and Kaingang[98] indigenous peoples, also Pomeranian, Polish, German-Jewish, etc.), However, these three are the predominant cultural expressions found in the state, each with living linguistic expressions which attest to their existence.


As in all Brazil, Portuguese is the main spoken language. A few expressions of Spanish origin are common (such as "gracias" instead of "obrigado", or the expletive "tchê") etc., due to the proximity with Argentina and Uruguay and their common Gaucho past. Also a few words of German origin, particularly referring to cuisine, have entered the vocabulary, such as "chimia" (from "schmier") and "cuca" (from "Kuchen"). Words of Guarani language origin also make up the vocabulary, an example being the largely used word "guri", meaning "boy".

The Gaúchos are also famous by their use of the pronoun "tu", instead of "você", the latter being the formal second person singular noun and the first being the informal noun equivalent. In the traditional Gaúcho dialect of the Pampas, the verb is conjugated correctly in the second person singular, just like the European Portuguese (tu cantas, tu bates, tu partes, tu pões). In the colloquial Portuguese of Porto Alegre, however, the verb is conjugated in the second person as in the third person (tu canta, tu bate, tu parte, tu põe).[99]

Gaúcho Portuguese phonologyEdit

Phonemes of Porto-alegrense PortugueseEdit

Labial Alveolar Postalveolar/
Labiovelar Velar/
Nasal m n ȷ̃ () (ŋ)  (ɰ̃)
Stop p  b t  d   ɡʷ k  ɡ
Lateral l
ɾ j w

Although this process is very common in the Southeast, in Gaúcho Portuguese the letters "s" and "z" are never pronounced as palato-alveolar consonants in coda position (e.g., pasto "pasture" is [ˈpaʃtu] in Rio de Janeiro, but [ˈpastu] in Porto Alegre).


Porto Alegre: antigamente – /ɐ̃(n)ˌtʃiɡaˈmeȷ̃tʃʲ/ or /ɐ̃(n)ˌtʃiɡaˈmentʃʲ/

Gaúcho Pampas: antigamente – /ɐ̃ˌtʃiɡaˈme̞nte̞/

(compare Spanish: antiguamente – /ãn̪t̪iɣ̞waˈmẽ̞n̪t̪e̞/)



manta = /ˈmɐ̃ntɐ/

tampa = /ˈtɐ̃mpɐ/

banco = /ˈbɐ̃ŋku/

bem = /bẽȷ̃/


pan = /ˈpɐ̃ɰ̃/ or /ˈpɐ̃ŋ/

It is also noteworthy that, in everyday speech, many unstressed vowels are not fully pronounced as they are supposed to be. For example:

toque = /ˈtɔkʲ/

mente = /ˈmẽȷ̃tʃ/

pouco = /ˈpokʊ̥/





OBS: The pronunciation may be subject to free variation.

Municipalities that the Talian is co-official in Rio Grande do Sul, highlighted in red: Bento Gonçalves[100], Caxias do Sul[101], Flores da Cunha[102], Nova Roma do Sul[103][104] and Serafina Corrêa.[105]

Minority languagesEdit

Minority languages spoken in Rio Grande do Sul include Indigenous languages (Guarani, Kaingang, etc.), and European derived languages (Talian, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, East Pomeranian dialect of Low German, Yiddish and Polish).


In its 180 years of history Riograndenser Hunsrückisch has been influenced by Portuguese and by other German dialects, such as Pfälzisch.



Paleontological tourismEdit

Tourism in Paleorrota Geopark



Tourism and recreationEdit





  1. ^ In standard Brazilian Portuguese, according to the variety spoken in Rio de Janeiro. As pronounced in Porto Alegre: [ɦiw ˈɡɾɐ̃ːdʑ du ˈsuw]. In the frontier dialects, it may be produced as [riw ˈɡɾɐ̃de do ˈsuɫ]. The European Portuguese pronunciation is [ˈʁi.u ˈɣɾɐ̃d(ɨ) ðu ˈsuɫ].


  1. ^ "Rio Grande do Sul". IBGE. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "Radar IDHM: evolução do IDHM e de seus índices componentes no período de 2012 a 2017" (PDF) (in Portuguese). PNUD Brasil. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "Rio Grande do Sul". Oxford Dictionaries UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  4. ^ "Rio Grande". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  5. ^ "Os estados mais e menos perigosos do Brasil" (in Portuguese). November 24, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  6. ^ Nicola Pamplona (November 17, 2017). "Apenas sete Estados tiveram queda no desemprego no terceiro trimestre" (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Campos, Jonas (August 28, 2019). "População do Rio Grande do Sul cresce menos do que a média nacional no último ano, diz IBGE". (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Benites, Vagner (March 11, 2020). "PIB do Rio Grande do Sul cresce 2% em 2019". (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rio Grande do Sul". Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 357–359.
  10. ^ (in Portuguese) Frio de "renguear cusco", Página Cambará do Sul On-line
  12. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 8.
  13. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 8-9.
  16. ^ a b Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 10
  17. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 10–11
  18. ^ a b Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 11
  19. ^ Cardoso, Fernando Henrique. Capitalismo e Escravidão no Brasil Meridional
  22. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, pp. 15–16
  24. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p 16
  25. ^[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, pp. 16–17, quoting, for the figures, the Almanak do Ministério da Guerra no anno de 1889.
  27. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, pp. 17–18
  28. ^ "p. 32 (1)" (PDF). Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  29. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 19-21
  30. ^ Love, Joseph. O Regionalismo Gaúcho, p. 22-24
  31. ^ IGBE
  32. ^ Source: PNAD.
  33. ^ Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática – SIDRA (PDF) (in Portuguese). Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: IBGE. 2008. ISBN 85-240-3919-1. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  34. ^ Saloum de Neves Manta, Fernanda (September 20, 2013). "Revisiting the Genetic Ancestry of Brazilians Using Autosomal AIM-Indels". PLoS ONE. 8: e75145. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075145. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  35. ^ Telmo Remião Moure. Os grupos indígenas e sua distribuição
  36. ^ Andrea Rita Marrero.História genética dos gaúchos: dinâmica populacional do Sul do Brasil.
  37. ^ IBGE. Census 2000. Tabela 2094 – População residente por cor ou raça e religião/Mesorregião Geográfica = Sudoeste Rio-grandense – RS
  39. ^ Michael T. Judd. O dialeto fronteiriço do Uruguai: origens, investigações e oportunidades Archived February 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  40. ^ RS VIRTUAL – O Rio Grande do Sul na Internet – História – Colonização – Negros – A história dos gaúchos sem história Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  41. ^ Immigrazione Italiana nell’America del Sud (Argentina, Uruguay e Brasile)
  43. ^ "Página do Gaúcho – Índios – Os grupos indígenas e sua distribuição" (in Portuguese). Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  44. ^ Germans Archived July 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  45. ^ Italians Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  46. ^ Igel, Regina (March 1, 2009). "Frida Alexandr". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  47. ^
  49. ^ "Estimativas da população residente nos municípios brasileiros com data de referência em 1º de julho de 2011" [Estimates of the Resident Population of Brazilian Municipalities as of July 1, 2011] (in Portuguese). Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. August 30, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  50. ^ a b c d IBGE prevê safra recorde de grãos em 2020
  51. ^ Safra do arroz deve atingir mais de 1,14 milhão de toneladas em Santa Catarina
  52. ^ Região Sul é responsável por 98% da produção de tabaco no Brasil
  53. ^ "Notícia: Região Sul deverá produzir 760 mil toneladas de fumo em 2008/2009". Portal do Agronegócio. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  54. ^ Região Sul é responsável por mais de 90% das uvas produzidas para processamento no Brasil
  55. ^ Vale do Rio do Peixe produz 86% da uva em SC
  56. ^ Produção de uva no Rio Grande do Sul cai quase 40% frente a 2018
  57. ^ Confira como está a colheita da soja em cada estado do país
  58. ^ Quatro estados concentram quase 70% da produção de grãos do país
  59. ^ Produção de Milho no Nordeste
  60. ^ Produção de grãos cresce 14% e Piauí se consolida como 3º maior produtor do Nordeste
  61. ^ Rio Grande do Sul deve superar Paraná na produção de trigo em 2019
  63. ^ Em abril, IBGE prevê alta de 2,2% na safra de grãos de 2019
  64. ^ Alternativa ao trigo, cevada ganha espaço no Sul e projeta produção recorde
  65. ^ Safra da maçã deve render 600 mil toneladas em Santa Catarina
  66. ^ Qualidade da fruta marca abertura da colheita da maçã e da uva no RS
  67. ^ Produção brasileira de mandioca em 2018
  68. ^ Produção brasileira de laranja em 2018
  69. ^ Como plantar pêssego
  70. ^ Conheça o caminho do figo brasileiro, do campo ao Canadá
  71. ^ Produção brasileira de tangerina em 2018
  72. ^ Caqui – Panorama nacional da produção
  73. ^ Qual o panorama da produção de morango no Brasil?
  74. ^ O RS possui 6,5% do rebanho bovino do Brasil
  75. ^ Bovinocultura de Leite
  76. ^ PPM 2017: Rebanho bovino predomina no Centro-Oeste e Mato Grosso lidera entre os estados
  80. ^ [ PPM 2017: Rebanho bovino predomina no Centro-Oeste e Mato Grosso lidera entre os estados.
  81. ^ O RS é o 4º maior produtor de aves e de ovos do Brasil
  83. ^ Algumas Gemas Clássicas
  84. ^ Rio Grande do Sul: o maior exportador de pedras preciosas do Brasil
  85. ^ Os alemães e as pedras preciosas gaúchas
  86. ^ Maior pedra de água-marinha é brasileira e ficará exposta nos EUA
  87. ^ Cristal Colors: saiba mais sobre essa tendência
  88. ^
  89. ^ Rio Grande do Sul Industry Profile
  90. ^ O novo mapa das montadoras
  91. ^ Abicalçados apresenta Relatório Setorial 2019
  92. ^ Exportação de Calçados: Saiba mais
  93. ^ A indústria de alimentos e bebidas na sociedade brasileira atual
  94. ^ Faturamento da indústria de alimentos cresceu 6,7% em 2019
  95. ^
  96. ^ Source: IBGE.
  97. ^ "Universidades no Rio Grande do Sul". Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  98. ^ Terra Indígena Guarita: Bem Vindo á Terra Indígena Guarita – Tenente Portela, Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil Archived April 10, 2013, at
  99. ^ DICIONÁRIO DE PORTO-ALEGRÊS – Luís Augusto Fischer – L&PM Pocket – A maior coleção de livros de bolso do Brasil (in Portuguese). Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: L&PM. 2007. ISBN 978-85-254-1681-0. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  100. ^ Câmara Bento – Projeto do Executivo é aprovado e Talian se torna a língua co-oficial
  101. ^ Lei confirma o Talian como segunda língua oficial de Caxias do Sul
  102. ^ Talian é língua cooficial de Flores da Cunha
  103. ^ Lei Nº 1310 de 16 de outubro de 2015 – Dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua do "talian", à língua portuguesa, no município de Nova Roma do Sul"
  104. ^ O Talian agora é a língua co-oficial de Nova Roma do Sul, município de Nova Roma do Sul
  105. ^ Vereadores aprovam o talian como língua co-oficial do município, Retrieved August 21, 2011

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