Regions of Brazil
Notable characteristics: The South region is characterized by its high standard of living, with the best social indicators of the country. This region contains the cities with the highest HDI levels: Florianópolis has an HDI of 0.875; Porto Alegre has an HDI of 0.865; Curitiba has an HDI of 0.856 (information accurate as of 1996). The region, along with the state of São Paulo, is also also characterized by its strong immigrant presence, with many inhabitants descended from Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, Arabic, Ukrainian and Lithuanian immigrants, and have added to the local culture, especially in architecture, cuisine and forms of agriculture.