Santa Catarina () is one of the 27

federative units of Brazil The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Brazil, Federat ...

. It is located in the centre of the country's Southern region. It is bordered to the north by the state of Paraná, to the south by the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, to the east by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, and to the west by the Argentine province of

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

. The state covers an area of approximately , comparable to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and ranking as the seventh smallest Brazilian state by area. With a population of 7.6 million inhabitants in 2022, it is the tenth most populous state in Brazil. It is divided into 295 municipalities and its capital is

Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as we ...

, the second most populous city in the state after

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

. Alongside

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

, Santa Catarina is one of the two states whose capital is not the largest city. Jorginho Mello, a member of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, has been the governor of the state since 2023. It is one of the Brazilian states with the most mountainous terrain, where 52% of the territory is located above 600 metres.. According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Santa Catarina predominantly features a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') in the coastal lowlands and the lower altitude areas of the plateau, whilst the remainder of the plateau is characterised by an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb'').. The state of Santa Catarina is one of the oldest states in Brazil. It separated from São Paulo in 1738, with

José da Silva Pais José da Silva Pais (25 October 1679 – 14 November 1760) was a Portuguese soldier, military engineer and colonial administrator in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. He was involved in diverse situations in the disputed territories between the ...

serving as its first governor. The state was established to extend Portuguese dominions to southern Brazil, reaching as far as the

Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

region. It is also the oldest state in the South Region of Brazil, predating Rio Grande do Sul (1807) and Paraná (1853). The state was populated by various peoples throughout its history, such as the indigenous Carijós people of the Tupi-Guarani group, and later became an important destination for Azorean Portuguese,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and other European immigrants. African slaves and their descendants also contributed to the formation of the state's population. The

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

indicators of Santa Catarina rank among the best in Brazil. The state leads in life expectancy and

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

, and boasts the lowest rates of

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

illiteracy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and

extreme poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...

in the country.IBGE,
Síntese de Indicadores Sociais 2007 : Publicação completa
''. Tabela 1.4 - Taxa de fecundidade total, taxa bruta de natalidade, taxa bruta de mortalidade, taxa de mortalidade infantil e esperança de vida ao nascer, por sexo, segundo as Grandes Regiões e Unidades da Federação - 2022. It holds also the third-highest

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

(HDI), the third-highest GDP per capita, and the third-lowest rates of

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

. Additionally, it is the federative unit with the least economic inequality in Brazil.

Etymology

Francisco Dias Velho, who arrived on the island now known as Santa Catarina around 1675, is said to have given the place its name. There, he built a chapel dedicated to

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

, whom, it is claimed, one of his daughters was named after.. Other authors attribute the origin of the name to Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian explorer and cartographer, who is said to have dedicated the island. At that time, Sebastian Cabot passed through the area between 1526 and 1527. He is thought to have consecrated it to Saint Catherine, or rather, honoured his wife, Catarina Medrano. The name of the state is derived from that of the island. The state's native inhabitants are called or (lit. Green-Belly).. The origin of the term comes from the waistcoat worn by the soldiers of the Portuguese military forces, under Joaquim Francisco do Livramento. These troops, in 1753, departed from Santa Catarina to fight in

and secured for Brazil the conquest of the Captaincy of Santa Catarina. Originating from

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, the name honours the state's patron saint. The Romans worshipped an ancient deity, Sancus, who ensured promises and oaths were not violated, mandating their fulfilment. From his name comes the Latin verb sancire, "to consecrate". Sanctus, "holy, consecrated, which must, above all, be treated with respect", is the past participle of the verb itself. Etymologically, the name Catherine derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

term , meaning "pure" or "immaculate".

History

Indigenous peoples, colonial and imperial era

At the outset of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, the area now known as the state of Santa Catarina was populated by the Carijós, a tribe belonging to the Tupi-Guarani group. These Indigenous peoples were catechised (educated and pacified in the Catholic faith) starting from 1549. Expeditions from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

commenced exploration of the Santa Catarina coast in the early years following Brazil's discovery by Europeans.. Sebastian Cabot, en route to the

, navigated past the island then known as Dos Patos, bestowing upon it the name Santa Catarina in 1526. In 1534, John III of Portugal awarded the mainland territories to Pedro Lopes de Sousa. Nevertheless, these lands remained largely uninhabited, with

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, Spanish, and Portuguese settlers exploring them but failing to establish any permanent settlements throughout the 16th century. From the outset of Brazil's colonisation, the lands of Brazil's southern region did not greatly interest the Portuguese colonisers. This was due to the absence of

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less chemically reactive than most elements. They are usual ...

and its colder climate (as frosts hindered the cultivation of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

). The Portuguese only began to take an interest in the region in the mid-

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

. The settlement of Nossa Senhora da Graça do Rio de São Francisco was established by Manuel Lourenço de Andrade and his friends in 1658. The present-day city was the first permanent settlement in the region. The settlement of Nossa Senhora do Desterro, on the island of Santa Catarina, was established by the Paulista bandeirante Francisco Dias Velho in 1675. At that time, the notable settler was accompanied by his heirs, slaves, and servants. In 1676, the settlement of Laguna was initiated by Domingos de Brito Peixoto. The Captaincy of Santa Catarina, initially linked to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, was founded in 1738. It was separated from São Paulo and incorporated into Rio de Janeiro's in 1739. From the 1740s onwards, initiated by

Alexandre de Gusmão Alexandre de Gusmão (17 July 1695 in Santos – 9 May 1753 in Lisbon) was a Colonial Brazilian diplomat. He is regarded as one of the best diplomats of his time, chiefly for his role in negotiating the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 (revoked in 17 ...

, minister of King

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 ...

, Portugal began a colonisation and settlement project in southern Brazil, aiming to secure possession of the territory disputed by the Spanish. With this objective, immigration from

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2021, Madeira had a total population o ...

and the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

was sought. An insular defensive system was implemented. From 1748 to 1756, around five thousand Azorean immigrants began to populate the island and the coastline of the captaincy. Disputes between Portugal and Spain led to the occupation and destruction of the island of Santa Catarina by Spanish troops in 1777. The

First Treaty of San Ildefonso The First Treaty of San Ildefonso was signed on 1 October 1777 between Spain and Portugal. It settled long-running territorial disputes between the two kingdoms' possessions in South America, primarily in the Río de la Plata region. Background ...

forced the Spanish to surrender the invaded region. The Captaincy of Our Lady of the Rosary of Paranaguá was founded by the Marquis of Cascais in 1656. It replaced the Captaincy of Santana,. which began at the mouth of the Paranaguá Bay and ended in the current city of Laguna. It is bounded by the Captaincy of Santo Amaro (part of the second section of São Vicente) to the north, the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the

Governorate of New Andalusia The Governorate of New Andalusia was a Spanish Governorate of the Crown of Castile in South America which existed between 1534 and 1542. History The governorate was created as one of King Charles V's grants of 1534, establishing the ''adelanta ...

to the west. These extinct states were delimited by the

Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian (geography) ...

. The captaincy was elevated to the status of a province with the declaration of

independence of Brazil The independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Empire of Brazil, Brazilian Empire. It is c ...

. The province of Santa Catarina suffered profound consequences from the

Ragamuffin War The Ragamuffin War, also known as the Ragamuffin Revolution or Heroic Decade, was a republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the province (current state) of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835. The rebels were led by Generals Bento Gonçalv ...

, which took place in

in 1835. The revolutionaries, led by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

and David Canabarro, invaded Laguna and declared the

Juliana Republic The Juliana Republic () or the Catarinense Republic (''República Catarinense''), fully and officially the Free and Independent Catarinense Republic (''República Catarinense Livre e Independente''), was a revolutionary state that existed betwe ...

in July 1839. Defeated by the troops of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

, the rebels left Laguna. The new South American country had a short duration because, when its independence was proclaimed, it stopped paying the

Riograndense Republic The Riograndense Republic, often called the Piratini Republic ( or ), was a ''de facto'' state that seceded from the Empire of Brazil and roughly coincided with the present state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was proclaimed on 11 September 1836 by ...

due to lack of resources. The last Ragamuffin trenches were demolished in 1840. European colonisation, especially from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, was boosted in the second half of the 19th century. The colonies of Dona Francisca, later

, were established in 1850;

Blumenau Blumenau () is a city in Vale do Itajaí, Santa Catarina (Brazil), Santa Catarina state, in the South Region, Brazil, South Region of Brazil, from the state capital Florianópolis. The city was founded by the German chemist and pharmacist H ...

in 1852; and Brusque in 1860.

Republican period

The province adhered to the proclamation of the Republic. However, the appointed governor rebelled against the federal government of the time, supporting the

Federalist Revolution The Federalist Revolution (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Revolução Federalista'') was a civil war that took place in southern Brazil between 1893 and 1895, fought by the federalists, opponents of Rio Grande do Sul state president, Júlio ...

in 1893. Desterro became the

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

of the revolutionary squadron led by Custódio José de Melo. The armed conflicts spread throughout the coast of Santa Catarina. Defeated in 1894, the revolutionaries were severely punished by the loyalist troops. Hercílio Luz was elected governor in 1894 and developed a policy for the pacification of the region and the repair of the infrastructural problems that the state had suffered. Desterro was renamed Florianópolis, in honour of

Floriano Peixoto Floriano Vieira Peixoto (; 30 April 1839 – 29 June 1895) was a Brazilian military and politician, a veteran of the Paraguayan War and several other conflicts, and the second president of Brazil. Born in (today a district of the city of ...

, following a turn of events that cost the lives of the defenders of the revolution. The

Contestado War The Contestado War (), broadly speaking, was a guerrilla war for land between settlers and landowners, the latter supported by the Brazilian state's police and military forces, that lasted from October 1912 to August 1916. It was fought in an i ...

began in 1912. This conflict pitted the needy inhabitants of the region located between the

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

, Iguazu, Canoas, and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

rivers against the official forces. José Maria de Santo Agostinho, a healer considered sacred, led the backlanders. Moreover, Paraná and Santa Catarina were disputing the region where they lived, which is why the area was called Contestado. The disagreement between the two federative units and the armed conflict of the caboclos only ended completely in 1916. Santa Catarina's territory was invaded by the rebellious forces, which came from Rio Grande do Sul, in 1930. However, Florianópolis resisted until the triumph of the revolution throughout the country. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was necessary to address the issue of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

infiltration in the state. In this area, the Brazilian military effort was not compromised by groups of Germans, following a futile attempt. Up until 1945, intervenors governed the state throughout President

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

's administration. Since the 1950s, encouragement for the colonisation of the far west and the centre of the state by Italian-Brazilian settlers has contributed to the progress of Santa Catarina. These settlers came from Rio Grande do Sul.

Geography

Santa Catarina is one of the three states in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is bordered to the north by the state of Paraná, to the south by the state of

, to the east by the

, and to the west by the Argentine province of

. The state covers an area of approximately , comparable to

, and ranking as the seventh smallest Brazilian state by area. Its territory is entirely below the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...

, in the southern temperate zone of the planet. It follows the UTC−03:00 time zone (

Brasília time Time in Brazil is calculated using standard time, and the country (including its offshore islands) is divided into four standard time zones: Fernando de Noronha time (UTC−02:00), Brasília time (UTC−03:00), Amazon time (UTC−04:00), and Acr ...

), three hours behind

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...

. Its extreme points are: to the north, the Saí-Guaçu river in the municipality of Itapoá; to the south, the Mampituba river in Praia Grande; to the east, the Ponta dos Ingleses in

; to the west, the confluence of the

and Pepiri-Guazu rivers in Itapiranga, on the border with

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Relief

Santa Catarina has 77% of its territory above 300 metres and 52% above 600 metres, making it one of the Brazilian federative units with the highest relief. Four geomorphological units, ranging from the coast to the interior, form the state's relief: the coastal lowland, the Serra do Mar, the

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...

plateau, and the

Basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

plateau. The lowest altitudes are found in the coastal lowland, which encompasses lands located below 200 metres. In the northern part, it is quite wide, extending far inland through the valleys of the rivers that flow from the Serra do Mar. Meanwhile, towards the south, it gradually narrows. The Serra do Mar occupies the coastal lowland in the western part. In the north of the state, it forms the mountainous edge of a reasonably average plateau. It has a very different feature from what is found in other states such as Paraná and

. In Santa Catarina, it constitutes a range of mountains, with points above one thousand metres. This range is formed by a group of massifs isolated by the deep valleys of the rivers that descend to the Atlantic Ocean. Behind the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (; ) is a system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Ca ...

, the Palaeozoic plateau extends. Its flattened area is divided into spaces separated by rivers, which flow eastward. The Palaeozoic plateau decreases in altitude from north to south. In the southern portion of the state, it merges with the coastal plain, since the Serra do Mar does not extend to this region of Santa Catarina. The Basaltic plateau encompasses a significant portion of the state's territory. Comprising

basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

sediments (lava flows), interspersed with

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

deposits, its eastern boundary is a mountainous edge known as the

Serra Geral The Serra Geral (General Mountains) is a mountain range in southern Brazil, constituting the southern portion of the Serra do Mar system which runs along Brazil's southeastern coast. The Serra Geral runs parallel to the Atlantic coast in Santa ...

. In the north of the state, the edge of the basaltic plateau is situated inland. Moving southwards, it progressively approaches the coast until, at the border with Rio Grande do Sul, it starts to descend directly towards the sea. The plateau area is reasonably average and slopes gently westward. The rivers, flowing towards the neighbouring state of Paraná, have carved deep valleys into it. The lands of the mixed ombrophilous forest are infertile, as are the soils of the

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

, which are utilised for dairy and beef cattle farming. The soils of the humid subtropical forest are characterised by their fertility.

Climate

According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Santa Catarina predominantly features a

(''Cfa'') in the coastal lowlands and the lower altitude areas of the plateau, whilst the remainder of the plateau is characterised by a subtropical oceanic climate (''Cfb''). Both have the four seasons well-defined and a rainfall regime evenly distributed throughout the year. The humid subtropical climate ''(Cfa)'' records average temperatures of 20 °C in the lowlands and the Uruguay Valley, and 18 °C in the western extremity of the state. Conversely, the temperate subtropical climate (''Cfb'') sees average temperatures ranging between 16 and 18 °C. There is a significant difference between summer and winter temperatures, leading to a considerable

thermal amplitude Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including incoming solar radiation, humidity, and altitude. The abbreviation MAAT is often used for Mean Annual Air ...

throughout the year. Winters vary from cool to cold, with some regions experiencing about 25 days of

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

annually. During this period, the incursion of polar air masses is more common, some being stronger and more extensive, causing temperatures to fall below zero in various cities. The majority of these cities are located in the Midwest, North Plateau, and South Plateau. Notably,

Bom Jardim da Serra Bom Jardim da Serra is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. It has an area of approximately 935 km2. The city is one of the coldest in Brazil and sometimes there is chance of snow. History Bom Jardi ...

São Joaquim São Joaquim is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the States of Brazil, state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, situated in southern Brazil. Its population in 2020 was 27,139 inhabitants. Located in the Planalto Serrano, it lies ...

Urubici Urubici is a southern Brazilian municipality located in the state of Santa Catarina. History Economy The economy of the region is based on agriculture and tourism. Neighboring cities Some of the nearest cities are São Joaquim-60 km (37. ...

, and

Urupema Urupema is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. It has an area of approximately 353 km², a population of 2,656 inhabitants as of 2022 and a GDP per capita of R$ 36,058 as of 2021. It is often cited as ...

, situated on the South Plateau, rank among the coldest municipalities in the country. A large part of

is situated at latitudes lower than Santa Catarina. Despite this, it is in the higher areas of the Santa Catarina southern plateau where there is a higher occurrence of snowfall in Brazil during the winter months. The state also holds the record for the lowest temperature recorded in Brazilian territory by official bodies. The temperature reached −14 °C in

Caçador Caçador () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. History The banks of the Do Peixe River (Santa Catarina) ...

on 11 June 1952. On the other hand, the highest temperature reached 44.6 °C in Orleans on 6 January 1963. The hottest localities in the state are located in the regions of the southern coast, Itajaí Valley, and extreme west. This is because here lies the city considered the hottest in Santa Catarina, Itapiranga. In these regions, temperatures can exceed 40 °C in the summer or on other extreme occasions.

Hydrography

The rivers that flow through the state's territory are part of both autonomous systems delineated by the

and

mountain ranges. The South Atlantic basin is made up of inter-delimited basins, such as those of the Itajaí-Açu,

Tubarão Tubarão (lit. "shark") is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in southern part of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina state. The population, according to the IBGE/2020 estimate was 106,422. It is the main city of th ...

Araranguá Araranguá is a city located in the southern part of Santa Catarina state, in the south of Brazil. It has 68,867 inhabitants and was settled mainly by Portuguese and Italians. Araranguá is known as "A Cidade das Avenidas" ("''The City of the A ...

, Tijucas, and Itapocu rivers. In the interior of the state, two basins come together to form the Plata basin: that of the Paraná, whose most important tributary is the

Iguazu River The Iguazu River ( , ), also called Rio Iguassu, (from the Guaraní ''í Guazú'', literally "Big Water") is a river in Brazil and Argentina. It is an important tributary of the Paraná River. The Iguazu River is long, with a drainage basin of ...

, and that of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( ; ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La Mesopotamia from the other two countr ...

. The latter has as its main tributaries the

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality (''município''), the fourth Largest cities in Rio Grande do Sul by population, most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, after Porto Alegre, Caxias do Su ...

, Canoas,

Chapecó Chapecó () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. Being a major industrial, financial and educational center, it is a major producer of industrialized food products. Considered ...

, and Do Peixe rivers.

Fauna and flora

Itaimbezinho - Parque Nacional Aparados da Serra 32

Fully embedded within the Atlantic Forest biome, the original vegetation of Santa Catarina encompasses two formations:

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

and

. On the plateau, they occur in the form of mixed

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

(''

Araucaria ''Araucaria'' (; original pronunciation: .ɾawˈka. ɾja is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. While today they are largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous they were glo ...

'') forests with broadleaved trees and, in the lowland and foothills of the Serra do Mar, solely as broadleaved forest. The grasslands appear as scattered patches within the mixed forest. The main ones are those of São Joaquim,

Lages Lages is a Brazilian municipality located in the central part of the state of Santa Catarina, in the region known in Portuguese as "Planalto Serrano". It is located in the mountain region of and is also the largest municipality of Santa Catari ...

Curitibanos Curitibanos is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Santa Catarina. It is located at 27º16'58" south latitude and 50º35'04" west longitude, at an elevation of 987 metres. It has an area of 953.67 km² and its population, according t ...

, and Campos Novos. In the fauna of Santa Catarina, about 600 species of birds, 150 mammals, and 140 systematic denominations of amphibians are catalogued. There are 1,150 ''

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

'' (butterflies and moths), in addition to the registration of about 2,300

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...

Flag

The flag of Santa Catarina is a

rectangle In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a Rectilinear polygon, rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that a ...

divided into three horizontal bands: the upper and lower, sips, and the central, argent. In the middle you can see a sinople rhombus with the coat of arms in the center. On August 15, 1895, Santa Catarina received a flag, designed by José Artur Boiteux. It had thirteen horizontal stripes of sips and argent in a quantity similar to that of districts in the state. Inside the sinople rhombus, jalde stars symbolized the municipalities.

Demography

According to the

2022 Brazilian census The 2022 Brazilian Census was the thirteenth national population census in Brazilian history, and took place on 1 August 2022. It was intended to take place in 2020, but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and budgetary issues. Delays Origi ...

conducted by the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

(IBGE), Santa Catarina has a total population of 7.6 million and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 79.5 inhabitants per square kilometre. This ranks it as the tenth most populous state in Brazil, accounting for 3.75% of the country's total population. The state's largest city,

, has a population of 616,317, making it the 34th most populous city in Brazil. Meanwhile, its capital,

, which is the state's second-largest city, has a population of 537,211, ranking it 39th among Brazilian municipalities by population. The population grew by approximately 1.3 million inhabitants since 2010, representing an increase of 21.79% between 2010 and 2022. In 2022, around 50.71% of the population (3,859,258 people) were

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

, whilst about 49.28% of the population (3,751,103 people) were

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

. The

of Santa Catarina is considered high according to the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

. According to the latest Atlas of Human Development in Brazil, released in 2023 with data pertaining to 2021, the state has the 3rd highest HDI among the federal units in Brazil, with an overall index of 0.792. Breaking down the index into indicators of income, education, and life expectancy, the state ranks 4th in

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

(with an index of 0.759), 3rd in

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

(with an index of 0.790), and 3rd in

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

(with an index of 0.827). The

indicators of Santa Catarina rank among the best in Brazil. The state leads in

, and boasts the lowest rates of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and

in the country. It holds also the third-highest GDP per capita, and the third-lowest rates of

and

. Additionally, it is the federative unit with the least economic inequality in Brazil.

Ethnicity

According to the

, the population of Santa Catarina was primarily composed of

White Brazilians White Brazilians ( ) refers to Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of Ethnic groups in Europe, European or Levant, Levantine Asian ancestry. The main ancestry of current white Brazilians is Portu ...

(76.28%), mixed race individuals (19.22%), Black Brazilians (4.07%),

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

(0.25%) and

Asian Brazilians Asian Brazilians () refers to Brazilian citizens or residents of Asian ancestry. The vast majority trace their origins to Western Asia, particularly Lebanon, or East Asia, namely Japan. The Brazilian census does not use "Asian" as a racial catego ...

(0.18%).MATOS, Jacinto Antônio de. ''Colonização do Estado de Santa Catarina'', Tip. de "O Dia": Florianópolis, 1917. 241 p.EL-KHATIB, Faissal. ''História de Santa Catarina''. Curitiba, PR: Grafipar, 1970. 4 v. Historically, the region was primarily inhabited by the

Kaingang The Kaingang people are an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian states of Paraná (state), Paraná, Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and the sout ...

, Xokleng, and Guarani peoples, whose populations were reduced since the beginning of colonisation but have survived to the present day. During

colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

colonisers were the first to initiate settlement in the territory of Santa Catarina. However, the territory later came under Portuguese control, marked by Portuguese immigration and the arrival of African slaves. Subsequently, the territory experienced further population growth with the arrival of more Portuguese (especially Azoreans) and other European immigrants (

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, Dutch,

Belgians Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Austrians Austrians (, ) are the citizens and Nationality, nationals of Austria. The English term ''Austrians'' was applied to the population of Archduchy of Austria, Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, ...

, French, English, Irish,

Norwegians Norwegians () are an ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the Norsemen, Norse of the Early ...

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, and

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

), as well as by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Languages

In Santa Catarina, two different groups of languages are spoken:

indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...

and allochthonous languages, some of which are minority languages. There are three indigenous or native languages:

, Mbyá-Guarani, and Xokleng. With the European settlement of the state, allochthonous or immigrant languages emerged and persist today. These languages include Portuguese (by far the most widely spoken and used language in the state),

Talian Talian may refer to: Places * Talian, Iran, a village in Tehran province, Iran * Dhok Talian, a village in Punjab, Pakistan People * Jozef Talian (born 1985), Slovak footballer Other uses *Talian dialect Talian (, ), or Brazilian Venetian, or ...

and other

dialects,

High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

variants, and

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

variants such as the Pomeranian dialect near

and

Pomerode Pomerode () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in Southern Brazil. It is located in the valley of the Itajaí-Açu river, not very far from the city of Blumenau, one of the ...

. Certain dialects were born in the region. Among them is

Portuñol Portuñol (Spanish spelling) or Portunhol (Portuguese spelling) () is a portmanteau of the words portugués/português ("Portuguese") and español/espanhol ("Spanish"), and is the name often given to any non-systematic mixture of Portuguese an ...

, a combination of Portuguese and

spoken in the border regions with

. And Katarinensisch, part of the

Hunsrik Hunsrik (natively ''Hunsrik'' , ''Hunsrückisch'' or ''Hunsrickisch'' and Portuguese ''hunsriqueano'' or ''hunsriqueano riograndense''), also called Riograndese Hunsrik, ' or ', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsr� ...

dialect, originating from the national language of Germany. Other linguistic nuclei on a smaller scale include Spanish, Polish, Lithuanian,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and others.

Religions

According to the 2010 population census, the population of Santa Catarina comprises

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(73.07%); Protestants or Evangelicals (20.4%); Spiritists (1.58%);

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

(0.74%);

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

(0.11%); the

Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (, ; ICAB) is an Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Christian denomination, Christian church established in 1945 by Excommunication in the Catholic Church, excommunicated Catholic Church in Brazi ...

(0.17%);

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

(0.05%); new Eastern religions (0.04%), among which Messianics constitute 0.03%;

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

(0.01%); Orthodox Christians (0.07%); followers of

Umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

(0.14%);

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

(0.02%);

Spiritualists Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...

(0.03%); adherents of esoteric traditions (0.17%); Indigenous religions (0.03%); practitioners of

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, especi ...

(0.09%); and

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

(0.01%). Another 3.27% had no religion, including

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

(0.29%) and

agnostics Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

(0.6%); 0.29% followed other Christian denominations; 0.21% had an undetermined faith; 0.04% were unsure, 0.04% followed other Eastern religions, and 0.03% did not declare.

Economy

With only 1.12% of the national territory, Santa Catarina was the eighth-largest producer of maize and the eleventh-largest producer of

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

in Brazil, in the year 2017. When production per unit area is considered, the State becomes the national leader in corn, with an average of 8,100 kilograms per hectare, and second in soybeans, with 3.580 kilos per hectare. In 15 years, there has been a 118% growth in corn productivity and 58% in soybean. In 2019, corn production in the state reached 2.8 million tons (in 2018, Brazil was the third-largest producer in the world, with 82 million tons. However, the annual demand for corn in the state is 7 million tons—97% is for animal consumption, especially for pigs and broilers (83.8%), as Santa Catarina has the largest pig population among Brazilian states and the second largest in poultry. The corn deficit is covered by interstate imports, mainly from Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Paraná and Goiás, and from countries like Argentina and Paraguay. In soy production, in 2019 the state harvested 2.3 million tons (Brazil produced 116 million tons this year, being the largest producer in the world). The state was the second-largest rice producer in the country in 2020, second only to the Rio Grande do Sul, harvesting around 1.1 million tons of the product. Total national production was 10.5 million tons this year. The three Southern States of the country are responsible for 95% of the national apple production, and Santa Catarina tops, competing with the Rio Grande do Sul. The

region is responsible for 35% of the apple planting. Santa Catarina is also a national leader in the production of onions. In 2017, it produced 630,000 tons, especially in the municipalities of Alfredo Wagner, Angelina and Rancho Queimado. In banana production, Santa Catarina was the fourth-largest national producer in 2018. Santa Catarina was the third-largest producer of garlic in Brazil in 2018, with a planted area of approximately two thousand hectares. The Curitibanos region is the largest producer in the state. Santa Catarina is one of the few states in the country that cultivate

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

. In the 2007–2011 period, the state had 2.5% of national production. The cultivation was concentrated in the microregions of Canoinhas (57.6%),

(26.5%) and Xanxerê (11.5%). It is also one of the few states that cultivate wheat, due to its favourable climate. In 2019 the estimated production of the state was 150,000 tons, still small compared to the 2.3 million tons produced by both Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná. Since the country has to import these two cereals in high volume every year, the state has been trying to stimulate the production of winter grain crops with incentive programs. Santa Catarina produced close to 100,000 tons of

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba maté (), ''Ilex paraguariensis'', is a plant species of the holly genus native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a bev ...

in 2018, mainly in the cities of

and Canoinhas. The state had an annual production of about 23,000 tons of grapes in 2019, with 86% of the state production located in the municipalities of

, Pinheiro Preto, Tangará and Videira. Most of the national production, however, is located in Rio Grande do Sul (664,200 tons in 2018). Santa Catarina is the largest producer of pork in Brazil. The state is responsible for 28.38% of the country's slaughter and 40.28% of Brazilian pork exports. The number of pigs in Brazil was 41.1 million in 2017. Santa Catarina had 19.7% of the total.PPM 2017: Rebanho bovino predomina no Centro-Oeste e Mato Grosso lidera entre os estados
/ref> The number of chickens in Brazil was 1.4 billion in 2017. Santa Catarina had 10.8% of the national total, the fourth largest in the country. Brazil is the fifth-largest milk producer in the world, having produced almost 34 billion liters in 2018, 4% of world production. Santa Catarina was responsible for 8.78% of the national production, almost 3 billion liters of milk. In the production of chicken eggs, Santa Catarina represented 4.58% of the national total, which was 3.6 billion dozens in 2018. The state alone was responsible for 165 million dozens. In cattle raising, Brazil had almost 215 million head in 2017. Santa Catarina had about 5 million head of cattle in 2018. Santa Catarina was the fifth-largest

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

producer in the country in 2017, with 10.2% of the national total. Fishing plays an important role in the state's economy. The production of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

s and

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s in Brazil was 20,900 tons in 2017. Santa Catarina was the main producer, responsible for 98.1%. Palhoça,

and Bombinhas led the ranking of municipalities. Criciumaanoitecer

Santa Catarina is the largest coal producer in Brazil, mainly in Criciúma city and its surroundings. The production of crude mineral coal in Brazil was 13.6 million tons (Mt) in 2007. Santa Catarina produced 8.7 Mt; the Rio Grande do Sul, 4.5 Mt; and Paraná, 0.4 Mt. Despite the extraction of mineral coal in Brazil, the country still needs to import about 50% of the coal consumed, as the coal produced in the country is of low quality, with a lower concentration of carbon. Brazil's coal reserves are 32 billion tons and are mainly in the Rio Grande do Sul (89.25% of the total), followed by Santa Catarina (10.41%). The Candiota Deposit (RS) alone has 38% of all national coal. As it is the coal of inferior quality, it is used only in the generation of thermoelectric energy and at the site of the deposit. The oil crisis in the 1970s led the Brazilian government to create the Energy Mobilization Plan, with intense efforts to discover new coal reserves. The Geological Survey of Brazil, through works carried out in the Rio Grande, do Sul and Santa Catarina greatly increased the reserves of coal previously known, between 1970 and 1986 (mainly between 1978 and 1983). In 2011, coal accounted for only 5.6% of the energy consumed in Brazil, but it is a strategic alternate source that can be activated when, for example, low water levels in dams reduce hydroelectric power generation. This happened in 2013, when several thermoelectric plants were shut down to maintain the necessary supply, albeit at a higher cost. Santa Catarina had an industrial GDP of R$63.2 billion in 2017, equivalent to 5.3% of the national industry. It employs 761,072 workers in the industry. The main sectors are Construction (17.9%), Food (15.9%), Clothing (7.4%), Industrial Public Utility Services, such as Electricity and Water (6.9%), and Textiles (6.0%). These 5 sectors constitute 54.1% of the state's industry. The main industrial centers in Santa Catarina are Jaraguá do Sul, Joinville, Chapecó and Blumenau. The first is diversified, with factories of fabrics, food products, foundries, and the mechanical industry. Chapecó's economy is based on

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

. Blumenau concentrates on the textile industry (together with Gaspar and Brusque) and recently also on software. In the interior of the state, there are numerous small manufacturing centers, linked to both the use of wood in industry and the processing of agricultural and pastoral products. Cia Hering 2019

In the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

, Santa Catarina stands out. Brazil, despite being among the five largest producers in the world in 2013, and a large consumer of textile and clothing, do not participate proportionately in global trade. In 2015, Brazilian imports ranked 25th (US$5.5 billion), and in exports, it was only 40th in the world. At 0.3% market share in the global textile and clothing trade, Brazil is constrained by uncompetitive pricing compared to producers in China and India. The gross value of production, which includes consumption of intermediate goods and services, by the Brazilian textile industry, corresponds to almost R$40 billion in 2015, 1.6% of the gross value of Industrial Production in Brazil. The South has 32.65% of production, Among the main textile clusters in Brazil, the Vale do Itajaí (SC) stand out. In 2015, Santa Catarina was the second-largest textile and clothing employer in Brazil. It led in the manufacture of pillows and is the largest producer in Latin America and the second in the world in woven labels. It is the largest exporter in the country of toilet/kitchen clothes, cotton terry cloth fabrics, and cotton knit shirts. Some of the most famous companies in the region are Hering, Malwee, Karsten and Haco. In the

food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

, Brazil was the second-largest exporter of processed foods in the world in 2019, with a value of US$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 1.6 million workers, making the food and beverage industry the largest employer in the manufacturing industry. There are around 570 large companies in Brazil, which constitute a major proportion of industry revenues. Companies such as Sadia and Perdigão (which later merged into BRF), Seara Alimentos (which today belongs to JBS),

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

(all meat specialists),

Gomes da Costa Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa , commonly known as Manuel Gomes da Costa () or just Gomes da Costa (14 January 1863 – 17 December 1929), was a Portuguese army Officer (armed forces), officer and politician, the List of Presidents of Po ...

(fish and canned), Eisenbahn Brewery and Hemmer Alimentos (specialist in preserves such as cucumber, beet, heart of palm, among others) are based in Santa Catarina. In the automotive sector, the state has GM and

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

plants.O novo mapa das montadoras
/ref> The wood and paper industry is concentrated in ( Canoinhas, Três Barras and Mafra) in the north of Santa Catarina, due to raw material availability in the region. In the Serra industries ( Rio Negrinho and São Bento do Sul), wood-processing works are carried out, producing various derivatives and final products. The state stands out nationally in the production of wooden furniture. Most companies in this sector are based in these cities, together with Palhoça. The state's industry accounts for 7.5% of the national sector. The state is the second-largest furniture exporter in the country (2014). The Santa Catarina timber industry stands out with a 17.1% share in Brazil. It is among the largest in the country in the production of wooden doors and is a national leader in frames. Responsible for handling R$6.5 billion in gross value of the Industrial Production of Santa Catarina, the paper and

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

sector is one of the most important economic vocations in the mountainous part of the state. The sector is 8th highest in exports and 10th in job creation in Santa Catarina, with more than 20,200 vacancies, according to data from 2015. The municipalities of

and Otacílio Costa together represent about 47% of the exports of the Pulp and Paper sector State role. Brazil's

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

tile factories are mainly based in the south of Santa Catarina (including the cities of Imbituba,

, Criciúma,

Forquilhinha Forquilhinha is a municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina. In 2020, it had a population of 27,211 inhabitants. It covers an area of 184,557 km2 at an altitude of 42 meters above sea lev ...

Içara Içara is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is located 170 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 890 km south of São Paulo. It is the Brazilian capital of the honey and tobacco industries, but is als ...

and Urussanga). The state of Santa Catarina also leads the country in the production of crockery and

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s. The northeast of the state is notable for the production of moto-compressors, auto parts, refrigerators, engines and electrical components, industrial machines, tubes, and connections. Its compressor production makes it a leader in exports among Brazil's states. It is also an important producer of forestry equipment. In metallurgy, the state has the largest national manufacturer of stainless steel sinks, vats, tanks, trophies, medals, fixing elements (screws, nuts, etc.), jacketed tanks for fuels, industrial pressure vessels, and malleable iron connections. It is a world leader in engine blocks and iron heads, being Brazil's largest exporter of this product. In the leather-footwear sector ( footwear industry), the state has a production center in São João Batista. In the household appliances industry, sales of

white goods A major appliance is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cooking, washing laundry, or food preservation. Such appliances are sometimes collectively known as white goods, as the products were tradi ...

(refrigerators, air conditioning, and others) were 12.9 million units in 2017. The sector had its peak in 2012, with 18.9 million units. The brands that sold the most were Brastemp,

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

, Consul and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

. Consul is originally from Santa Catarina, having merged with Brastemp and is now a part of the multinational

Whirlpool Corporation Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States. In 2023, the Fortune 500 company had an annual revenue ...

. The major cities and their respective fields are: *

, technology; tourism; services; commerce; government; education *

, metal-mechanic; automobile; tourism/events; software development; commerce; plastic; textile; chemistry; education *

, textile; software; commerce and beer * São José, industry; commerce and services * Criciúma, ceramics *

, cattle and poultry breeding *

tourism and wood industry *

Itajaí Itajaí () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is located on the northern central coast of Santa Catarina and is part of the Vale do Itajaí Mesoregion, on the right bank of the Itajaí-Açu river mouth. It lies at th ...

, seaport * Jaraguá do Sul, electric motors and textile * Palhoça, industry *

Balneário Camboriú Balneário Camboriú () is a coastal city in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. The city is built on steep hills which drop down to the sea. It is a popular tourist destination for South Americans, who are drawn to its main ocean b ...

, tourism; commerce *

, ceramics * Brusque, textile * Rio Negrinho, furniture *

, furniture; metal-mechanics; agribusiness * Campos Novos, agribusiness * Concórdia, Swine industry *

, Agribusiness, wood industry, education *

, tourism

Statistics

Vehicles A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velomobiles), animal-powered tr ...

: 2,489,343 (March/2007); Mobile phones: 3.7 million (April/2007); Telephones: 1.6 million (April/2007). Cities: 293 (2007)

Infrastructure

Roads

In 2019, Santa Catarina had 62,871 km of highways, 9,321 km of which were paved, and of these, 556 km were duplicated highways. The main highway is the

BR-101 The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.BR-470 (Brazil highway), BR-470 and BR-280, which are currently undergoing duplication works,

BR-116 The BR-116 is part of the Brazilian Highway System. With at total length of it is the longest highway in the country. It is also the longest highway in the country to be completely paved. The highway connects Fortaleza, Ceará, one of the larg ...

, BR-282,

BR-153 BR-153 is a major federal highway of Brazil, officially named the Transbrasiliana Highway. It also serves as part of the Belém–Brasília Highway in the stretch located between the cities of Wanderlândia, in the state of Tocantins, and A ...

and BR-158.

Airports

As it is a state without large metropolises, with cities with no more than 600 thousand inhabitants, Santa Catarina has some important airports spread across the state. Five of them carry out commercial flights: Florianópolis, the capital, is served by Hercílio Luz International Airport for both domestic and international flights. The traffic has grown significantly and in October 2019, a new airport was opened to serve 2.7 million passengers a year. In Navegantes, there is the Navegantes Airport, the second largest in Santa Catarina and the main gateway to the Vale do Itajaí Region, made up of 12 municipalities with a GDP of R$49 billion, which corresponds to 15.3% of the state's GDP. The airport has a capacity for 3.5 million passengers per year. In Joinville, there is the Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport, which serves the largest city in the state of Santa Catarina, with 590 thousand inhabitants. The Joinville region is responsible for 18.3% of the state's GDP and is one of the most important industrial hubs in the development of the south of the country. The airport has a capacity for 800 thousand passengers/year. In Chapecó, there is the Chapecó Airport, which serves the largest city in the west of the state. The airport handles around 500,000 passengers per year. In the area close to Criciúma, Brazil's famous coal region, Jaguaruna Regional Airport was opened in 2014, which in 2023 handled around 120,000 passengers per year.

Ports

The state has five specialized ports—

, São Francisco do Sul, Itapoá, Imbituba and Navegantes—the first two being of great importance. São Francisco do Sul is a major exporter of soy, wood and cellulose, and importer of steel material, such as steel bars and coils, in addition to fertilizers and urea. Itajaí exports a lot of chicken, wood and meat products and imports mechanical and electronic products, chemicals and miscellaneous textiles. Imbituba represents a coal terminal and Laguna, a fishing port. Itajaí had a cargo movement of 18.9 million tons in 2021, and São Francisco do Sul, 13.6 million, being among the ten largest in the country.

Tourism

Santa Catarina offers several destinations and events throughout the year: rural tourism, thermal resorts, ecological tourism, and adventure sports, historic monuments and sights, religious tourism, Beto Carrero World and Unipraias parks in

, and beach resorts of

, Laguna, Porto Belo and Itajaí. Some of these sights can only be seen in the off-season, like the snow on the Catarinense Mountain Range—one of the places in Brazil where it snows every year.Neve em Santa Catarina deixa Serra com expectativa de "boom" de turistas de última hora
/ref> Between July and November,

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s visit the state's coast. The municipality of Timbó is a center for adventure sports like rafting and canyoning. The popular festivities take place in October. The Oktoberfest of Blumenau is Brazil's largest and the world's second largest (after Germany's

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

is the host city in July to the widely acclaimed "Joinville Dance Festival", the annual "Festival of Flowers" in November which showcases orchids produced in the region, and several business events in its Convention Center.

, nestled in the stunning Serra Catarinense region of Santa Catarina, is a prime ecotourism destination known for its breathtaking landscapes, adventure opportunities, and charming climate. Home to Morro da Igreja, one of the highest points in southern Brazil, and the iconic Pedra Furada, the town offers panoramic views that attract nature lovers year-round. Visitors can explore magnificent waterfalls like Cascata do Avencal and Véu de Noiva, drive through the dramatic cliffs of Serra do Corvo Branco, or embark on scenic hiking and cycling trails. Urubici is also famous for its winter charm, often experiencing frost and even rare snowfall, making it one of the coldest places in Brazil. Beyond nature, the town delights with its rich gastronomy, featuring traditional pinhão dishes, fresh trout, and locally produced wines, while religious and cultural sites like the Gruta Nossa Senhora de Lourdes add to its tranquil charm. Whether for adventure, relaxation, or simply to enjoy the picturesque mountain scenery, Urubici stands as one of Santa Catarina’s most captivating tourist destinations.

, the city/island State Capital attracts a large number of tourists during the summer months who visit its 42 beaches.There are also many smaller resort towns, including the capital of the microlight aircraft tour flights Itapema, Piçarras, Barra Velha, and Penha, home to the famous amusement park Beto Carrero World. An interesting collaboration between humans and wildlife has developed in Laguna (birthplace of

Anita Garibaldi Anita Garibaldi (, ; born Ana Maria de Jesus; 30 August 1821 – 4 August 1849) was a Brazilian republican revolutionary. She was the wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Their partnership epitomized the spir ...

, the wife and comrade-in-arms of

Italian Unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

revolutionary

): a pod of

bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

s drive fish towards fishermen who stand at the beach in shallow waters. Then one dolphin rolls over, which the fishermen take as a sign to cast their nets. The dolphins feed on the escaping fish. The dolphins were not trained for this behavior; the collaboration has been reported since 1847.

Southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s also can be seen in Laguna from the shore during the winter to spring seasons. The Turvo State Park, created in 1947, is in the northwest of the state. It contains the Yucumã Falls (, ), a dramatic waterfall on the

on the Argentinian border. Many tourists come to the park to see the falls, which are long and up to high.

Sports

In the state of Santa Catarina, important athletes were born such as:

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the list of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals f ...

, the greatest male tennis player in the country's history; Pedro Barros, one of the most important skaters in the country along with Bob Burnquist; Darlan Romani, world champion in shot put,

Tiago Splitter Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...

, NBA champion, Fernando Scherer, Olympic medalist and world champion in swimming, and Ana Moser, Olympic medalist in volleyball.Veja os catarinenses que já conquistaram medalhas olímpicas
/ref>

Football

The major football clubs of Santa Catarina are: Criciuma EC from Criciúma. Criciúma EC, also known as "Tigre" (Tiger), was champion in the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

(Brazilian Cup) in 1991, the most important championship won by a Santa Catarina team in a very long time. Criciúma is the only team from Santa Catarina that played Libertadores of America Cup, in 1992, when it was 5th. Criciúma also won the Brazilian 2002 second series and 2006 C series. Criciuma is currently playing

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

, the Brazilian national first division. Sandboarding

Figueirense FC black and white from

. Its nicknames are ''Figueira'' (Fig tree) and ''O Furacão do Estreito'' (The Hurricane of Estreito). Its stadium is the Orlando Scarpelli, located in the Estreito neighborhood in the mainland part of the city. Figueirense is currently playing in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, commonly known as the Série C or the Brazilian Série C to distinguish it from the Italian Serie C, is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Sér ...

, the third division of Brazilian football.

Avaí FC Avaí Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian football team from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, founded on 1 September 1923. Their home stadium is Estádio Aderbal Ramos da Silva, also known as Ressacada, with a capacity of 17,800. They play in b ...

, blue and white from

. It is also known as ''O Leão da Ilha'' (The Lion of the Island). Its stadium is the Aderbal Ramos da Silva, popularly known as '' Ressacada'', located in the Carianos neighborhood, in the south part of the island. Avaí is currently playing in

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

, the second division of Brazilian football.

Joinville Esporte Clube Joinville Esporte Clube, JEC or simply Joinville, is a Brazilian football team from Joinville in Santa Catarina. Founded on 29 January 1976 they have won the Série B and Série C once and they have the largest sequence of consecutive state ...

from

. It is also known as "Tricolor" or "JEC". JEC won the

, the second division of Brazilian football, in 2014 and was promoted to the

, the first division, but currently plays in

, the third division, after two consecutive relegations.

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense, is a Brazilian Association football, football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina. The club was founded in 1973 with the ...

from

. Chapecoense is playing in the

, the first and major division of Brazilian football. The club is currently recovering from the loss of virtually all of its first team in a 2016 plane crash.

Surfing

Campeche Beach is generally considered to have the best and most consistent waves in Brazil, and in April of each year hosts what is currently South America's only ASP (

Association of Surfing Professionals The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The WSL was originally known as International Professional Surfing (IPS), fo ...

) World Championship Tour professional surfing competition. Brazil has played host to many ASP tour events over the past 30 years. Former contest sites include

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Barra de Tijuca, and Saquarema, but in past years have seen the tour set up shop in Florianópolis. Previously held towards the end of the tour, the past few years have seen several ASP world champions crowned in Brazil. In 2004 it was Andy Irons, and in 2005 it was Kelly Slater (who had his 2006 ASP World Title already stitched up by Brazil).

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Official State of Santa Catarina website

Santa Catarina
on YouTube
Guia Catarina – Guia de informações sobre Santa Catarina

Informações sobre as Cidades de Santa Catarina, Eventos, e Diretório de empresas

Bela Santa Catarina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Catarina (State) * Federative units of Brazil