Pôrto Alegre

Pôrto Alegre

Pôrto Alegre (pōrˈto͝o əlĕˈgrə), city (1991 pop. 1,263,403), capital of Rio Grande do Sul state, SE Brazil, on the Guaíba River. One of the chief industrial and commercial centers of Brazil, it is also a major river port, exporting the products of the rich agricultural and pastoral hinterland. It has a modern shipyard, meatpacking plants, foundries, and varied processing industries and assembly plants. Pôrto Alegre's power comes from both coal and hydroelectric facilities. The city was founded (c.1742) by immigrants from the Azores. Since the 19th cent. its development has been aided by numerous German and Italian settlers. A modern city with handsome business and government buildings, Pôrto Alegre has also preserved many old, narrow streets and colonial buildings. It is the seat of two large universities and is an important cultural and literary center.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pôrto Alegre

 

a city in southern Brazil and capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Population, 1,548,000 (1970, including suburbs). A port on the landlocked Lagoa dos Patos, it has a railroad station and is an important economic center of southern Brazil. Industry is closely connected with the processing of local agricultural products. The food-processing industry includes flour and vegetable-oil production, meat processing, and alcohol distillation. Other industries include the production of wool and leather goods and footwear, woodworking, and tobacco processing. The 1960’s and 1970’s have seen the development of the metallurgy, machine-building (including electrical engineering), and chemical industries. There are also ship-repair facilities. Porto Alegre exports meat and other livestock products, maté, tobacco, and rice. There are two universities in the city. Pôrto Alegre was founded in 1742.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.