O Mato Grosso is a Brazilian state that integrates the Midwest region, with the city of Cuiabá as its capital. It is the third largest federative unit in territorial extension, with a population of just over 3.5 million inhabitants. The state is currently the largest grain producer in Brazil, with an emphasis on soy.
Read too: Regions of Brazil - territorial divisions based on geographic particularities
General data for Mato Grosso
Region: Midwest
capital: Cuiabá
Government: representative democracy
Areatterritorial: 903,207,050 km² (IBGE, 2020)
Population: 3,526,220 inhabitants (IBGE, 2020)
Densitydemographic: 3.36 inhab./km² (IBGE, 2010)
spindle: Amazon Standard Time (GMT -4 hours), with some cities to the east in GMT -3 hours
Climate: tropical
Geography of Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the federative units in the Midwest region. With an area of 903,207,050 km², it consists of the third largest state in terms of territory in Brazil. Your territory borders:
to the north, with the Amazons it's the For
to the northeast, with the Tocantins
east and southeast, with Goiás
to the south, with the Mato Grosso do Sul
northwest, with Rondônia
to the west, with the Bolivia
In the capital, Cuiabá, the geodesic center of the South America under the coordinates 15°35'56",80S and 56°06'05",55W. Demarcated by Marechal Cândido Rondon in 1909, the point is today identified by a monument built in the Paschoal Moreira Cabral square.
Mato Grosso climate
The predominant climate in Mato Grosso is the Tropical. In most of the state, temperatures are high and the summers are characterized by higher rainfall rates, while the winters are dry. The closer to the Amazon belt, the greater the annual rainfall, with averages of up to 2000 mm.
The average temperature is 24°C, and many areas record maximums above 40°C. Cuiabá is one of the hottest cities in Brazil, and constantly registers record temperatures. The month of September 2020 was one of the hottest in the city, which saw its thermometers mark 43.7 ºC, in full spring. In certain areas in southeastern Mato Grosso, temperatures are milder.
Mato Grosso relief
The shapes that make up the Mato Grosso relief areplateaus and chapadas, beyond the Pantanal plain, stretching across the southwest of the state. Because of this, the altimetric dimensions are relatively low and the terrains are mostly flat.
According to the classification proposed by Jurandyr Ross, a large part of the north of Mato Grosso is formed by South Amazon depression, where it is possible to observe some remnants of plateau landscapes. In the central lands, the plateaus and plateaus of Parecis.
The relief of the state is also formed by thedepressions of the Upper Paraguay-Guaporé and Cuiabana. Between this unit and the plateaus and plateaus unit of the Paraná basin, is located the Chapada dos Guimaraes. Through the southwest of the state, it extends to Pantanal plain of Mato Grosso, considered the largest floodplain in the world.
Read too: What are the types of relief?
Mato Grosso Vegetation
Three biomes cover Mato Grosso: the first one is the Amazon, which covers the entire north of the state and where the presence of dense ombrophilous forest, characteristic of this vegetal domain, can be observed. The second biome is the thick, which extends through the center-east of Mato Grosso.
In the west is the wetland, formed by plant species typical of areas covered by the Cerrado, by the Amazon Forest, by the Chaco Bolivia and also by the Atlantic Forest, in addition to the aquatic plants that permanently coat the areas flooded.
Mato Grosso Hydrography
Mato Grosso has a dense drainage network whose rivers belong to the basins Amazon, Paraná and Tocantins-Araguaia. Some of the main water courses that cross the state are: Xingu, Araguaia, Guaporé, Paraguay Juruena, Jauru and Cuiabá.
Mato Grosso Map
Demographics of Mato Grosso
The population of Mato Grosso is 3,526,220 inhabitants, according to the estimates of the IBGE for 2020. This value corresponds to 1.7% of the Brazilian population and 21.3% of the population in the Midwest, being the second most populous federative unit in the region, only behind Goiás. THE demographic density of Mato Grosso is low, of 3.36 inhab/km² at the time of the 2010 Census. Currently, this value is 3.9 inhab/km², considering the population and area data for 2020.
Most of Mato Grosso lives in urban centers, being the urbanization rate of 81,8%. Cuiabá, the state capital, is the most populous municipality, with 618,124 inhabitants. Then comes Várzea Grande, with 287,526 inhabitants. The smallest city in Mato Grosso and one of the smallest in the country is Araguainha, with 946 inhabitants.
The population of Mato Grosso is composed of indigenous peoples, migrants from other countries andfrom Brazilian states, with emphasis on Minas Gerais and Paraná. This was due to the territorial policies of the 1940s as well as the expansion of the agricultural frontier that took place in the 1970s.
Geographical division of Mato Grosso
The territorial division of the state of Mato Grosso is based on the intermediate and immediate geographic regions established by IBGE since 2017. The state is thus composed of 18 immediate regions, of which Cuiabá stands out, in its south-central portion. This subdivision groups different municipalities, which total 141.
The intermediate geographic regions, in which the immediate regions are contained, are five:
Cuiabá, in the center-south
Prisons, southwest
sinop, north
Barra do Garças, to the east
Rondonópolis, southeast
Mato Grosso Economy
Mato Grosso has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of BRL 137.44 billion,which represents 2% of Brazil's GDP. Mato Grosso's economy is the third in the Center-West region and is in 13th place among state economies.
In addition to services, which account for a share of 45.92% of the value added to GDP, agriculture stands out as the main economic activity. Its equivalent share in GDP is 20.93%, while industry accounts for 15.81%. The food industry is the main one in the state, followed by civil construction. In the tertiary sector, ecotourism represents an important source of income.
THE agriculture and cattle raising are the flagship of Mato Grosso's economy, driven by the advance of the frontier Brazilian agricultural sector in the 1970s, which took place in areas of the Cerrado in the Midwest and in part of the regions North and North East. The state is currently the largest Brazilian grain producer, mainly soy. Other crops that stand out are corn and cotton. The production model adopted is that of agribusiness, and is based on high technological content.
Mato Grosso Government
The Mato Grosso government is of the representative democratic type. Every four years, state elections are held, by which the population elects its representatives. Among them is the governor, head of the state executive branch. The Legislative of Mato Grosso is formed bythree senators, eight federal deputies and 24 state deputies.
Mato Grosso Infrastructure
THE main form of integration of the Mato Grosso territory with other Brazilian states é through the federal highways. One of them is the BR-163, which connects the states of Pará and Rio Grande do Sul, passing through Mato Grosso. Through this route, part of the flow of grains produced in the Center-West region to the North of Brazil is carried out, hence its importance for the state.
Waterway transport for both cargo and passengers is also used in the state, with emphasis on the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, which starts in the municipality of Cárceres. Regarding rail transport, projects of a strategic nature for the agro-export economy are under development, such as Ferrogrão (EF-170). Ferronorte is a railroad operating in the state, and connects Rondonópolis to the coast of São Paulo.
The main state airport, Cuiabá International Airport, is located in the capital.
See too: How is urban mobility in Brazil?
Flag of Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso Culture
The richness of the culture of Mato Grosso is derived from the influence of several other incorporated matrices by indigenous, European, African populations, from other regions of Brazil and countries. This is reflected in the typical dances of the state, in religious and folk festivals, in gastronomy, handicrafts and in the most varied forms of artistic expression.
Among the typical celebrations are the Cavalcade, O Çongo (or Congada), the Saint Benedict's Feast, a Dance of the Masked, which happens only in the municipality of Poconé, and the dance of mourners.
Some myths and legends that permeate Mato Grosso folklore are also symbols of Brazilian popular culture, such as the boitata it's the curupira.
Mato Grosso's gastronomic diversity includes dishes such as dried meat and rice (known as Maria Isabel), plantain farofa, pantaneiro barbecue, and fish-based preparations (pacu, dorado, painted).
History of Mato Grosso
At the time of colonization in South America,the current Mato Grosso was part of the Spanish portion of the continent. Back in the 16th century, Hispanic explorers passed through the state on their route to Bolivia, realizing the natural wealth that those lands held, also attracting colonizers Portuguese.
With the consolidation of Portuguese rule in the region, several governors were appointed, between 1822 and 1889, for the control and defense of the then province of Mato Grosso, with its capital, Cuiabá, established in 1835. In this period of time, the episode known as Rusga occurred (1834), a conflict between political groups that resulted in hundreds of deaths, the majority being Portuguese. Between 1864 and 1870, it happened in the region Paraguay War.
With an economy centered on gold exploration, the decline of this activity at the beginning of the 19th century brought consequences for not only the economic development of the state but also the population, with the stagnation of the growth.
The 20th century is marked by government projects for economic integration of low-populated areas of the national territory, also aiming at population growth. During Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo, in 1940, was instituted the west march, which included Mato Grosso and several other states in the Midwest and North of the country.
Another important movement was the expansion of the Brazilian agricultural frontier in the 1970s, which promoted the advance of soy to the Cerrado and a new migratory stream to the state. During the same period, in 1979, Mato Grosso break upor officially from Mato Grosso do Sul.
By Paloma Guitarrara
Geography teacher