Curitiba, Brazil

Curitiba (Tupi: "Pine Nut Land", or ]) is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Curitiba is Parana state's and southern Brazil's largest city and economy. According to the American magazine Reader's Digest, Curitiba is the best place to live in Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people (8th largest nationwide) and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$30 billion (ranking 4th nationwide) according to IBGE.Its metropolitan area comprises 26 municipalities with a total population of over 3.2 million (IBGE estimate in 2006). Curitiba is an important cultural, political and economic centre in the country. The city sits on a plateau at 932 m above sea level. It is located 105 km west of the sea port of Paranaguá and it is served by Afonso Pena International and Bacacheri airports.Growth of the city was based on the cattle trade, being half way between cattle breeding country to the South and markets to the North. Waves of European immigrants started arriving after 1850, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians, contributing to the economic and cultural development of the city.Currently, only small numbers of foreigners migrate to Curitiba, and these are mainly immigrants from Middle Eastern and South American countries, but there is a substantial inward flow of Brazilians from other States of the country (it is estimated that nowadays about half the population of Curitiba was not born in the city).Curitiba hosts the Federal University of Paraná, regarded as the first university in Brazil, established in Curitiba in 1912, one year before electric streetcars were first deployed. In 2010 the city was awarded the Globe Sustainable City Award which was set up to recognize those cities and municipalities which excel in sustainable urban development around the world.