Pôrto Alegre
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Pôrto Alegre
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.