The population of Mato Grosso do Sul presented a great growth from the second half of the century XIX, and this growth intensified with the migratory flows to the state during the century XX. During this period, there was a process of effective settlement of the territory due to public policies developed for the occupation of the western portion of the Brazilian territory, the so-called March to the West. In the last 50 years the number of inhabitants has increased 10 times.
According to data from the 2010 Demographic Census, carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the state totals 2,449,024 inhabitants, distributed in 78 municipalities, of which only 23 have a population greater than 20 thousand population. The territory of Mato Grosso do Sul is composed of large rural properties and huge voids populations, directly reflecting the low population density, which currently stands at approximately 6.8 inhab./km².
The Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.802 and life expectancy is 73.5 years. Infant mortality in Mato Grosso do Sul is 16.9 per thousand births. Only 8.7% of the population is illiterate.
The population is made up of national and international immigrants, who came mainly from the States of Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and São Paulo; and from countries such as Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Paraguay, Portugal, Syria and Lebanon. This fact contributes to settlement, in addition to establishing, in the same territory, a cultural plurality.
In Mato Grosso do Sul there is a large concentration of brown people, due to the combination of Amerindians, Paraguayan immigrants and Guaraní Indians.
The ethnic composition of the population of Mato Grosso do Sul is as follows:
Whites - 51.1%
Blacks – 5.3%
Brown - 41.8%
Yellow or Indigenous – 1.7%
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/aspectos-populacao-mato-grosso-sul.htm
