Cuiabá

Cuiabá is the capital of the State Brésil IEN of the Mato Grosso. Its population was assembled to: 533800 inhabitants in 2005. It forms a conurbation with its neighbor Várzea Grande. Population added with the two cities reached: 750000 inhabitants. It is located on bank of the Rio Cuiabá, abundant affluent of the Rio Paraguay.

Origin of the name

The exact origin of the name Cuiabá is unknown. The historians and linguists gave three assumptions to explain it:

Cuiabá would come from the word bororo ikuiapá which means place of the arrow . It would indicate a place where Bororos were accustomed to driving out and fishing, using arrows made purposely for fishing. This place, an affluent on left bank of the Rio Cuiabá, was abundant in reeds, with which Bororos manufactured their arrows.

It could be a deformation of the word Guarani will kyyavera meaning river of the brilliant otter . Kyyavera would have been deformed in cuyaverá then in cuiabá .

It could also mean creative Rio of jugs because the Indians found there the trees with which they manufactured their potteries.

History

Cuiabá is the old border post of Arraial de Forquilha, founded in 1719 after one had discovered gold on the edges of the Rio Coxipos. The first general captain of Mato Grosso, Rodrigo César de Menezes, gave him the name of Cuiabá on January 1st 1727. It became the capital of the State of the Mato Grosso in 1835.

Although capital, Cuiabá remains in an almost complete insulation during all the XIXe century. Percy Fawcett the visit in 1920 and describes it as follows: " This city appeared to us impoverished and late… The population was made up mulattos and appeared very poor, mainly because the local tradesmen exploited it; the money little which it had was raflée by the municipality and the Church. (...) Here, as with Diamantino, in north, the prospectors exploited the rivers, but the businesses ceased covering the expenses and the wave of prosperity fell down, leaving this locality to a level hardly higher than that of a phantom city ".

The city gradually starts again its development at the beginning of the Années 1930 at the time of a conflict with the Paraguay, when it supplies the Brazilian troops in structural food products and timber. During the same decade, its relative insulation ceases during the construction of a road and a railroad connecting the Mato Grosso to the Coast.

In 1960, Cuiabá has 50,000 inhabitants. The foundation of Brasilia, the same year, makes a major pole of economic development of it. The city exports Soja and Riz abroad. In 1980, the population exceeds 250,000 people.

Growth rate starts to decrease after 1990 because of the competition of the other cities of the State. However, tourism emerges and starts to become an important source of revenue. The environmental questions become a major concern. The city suffers from a strong automobile traffic and a lack of hygiene, and the problems of pollution are amplified by a strong heat (the temperature often exceeds 40°C). Bidonville S are created and violence is very large there.

Geography

Cuiabá is located in the zone of transition between the Amazonia, the Cerrado and the Pantanal. It is with the intersection of several main roads, of water way and railroads. It is fed by the Rio Cuiabá, which belongs to the basin of the Rio Paraguay. Moreover, it is in the area which separates the basin from Paraguay of that of the the Amazon. Many of other rivers, whose Rio Coxipos, run around the city.

The climate is tropical, hot and rainy. Average annual precipitations of 1750 mm are concentrated especially in December, January and February. The dry season is from May to August. Moisture falls sometimes on a critical level (sometimes in lower part of 15%). It is then recommended to keep a water jug close to the bed the night. The evaporation which had with heat forms a cloud in the room to be laid down thus preventing the draining of the throat during the sleep.

The temperature can alternate 40°C with 13°C but, most of the year, it is above 30°C. Cuiabá is known in Brazil as being the hottest capital of the country.

Population

The population of Cuiabá was estimated at 553,800 in 2005. Today, the suburbs develop more quickly than the downtown area. Várzea Large, in the vicinity, has 248,728 inhabitants and its population increases more quickly than Cuiabá. Cuiabá and its suburbs count 20% of the population of the State of Mato Grosso.

Economy

The important sector relates to the products of agriculture.

The airport of Cuiabá (code AITA: CGB) is the larger second of the Brazilian area of the mid-west.

One can describe the city like a poor city in a rich area. It misses modern infrastructure, particularly in the suburbs where the poor pile up.

Tourism

Cuiabá is a gravitational area for the tourists because it is located in the middle of various natural landscapes. It is the starting point of the excursions towards the Cerrado and the Pantanal and the main door southern for the Amazon forest. The city is gravitational also for itself because it has an important historical heritage.

Like the other historical cities of the Brazil, the capital of the Mato Grosso is interesting by its colonial architecture adapted sometimes to other forms like neo-colonial or eclectic architecture. The demographic development growing, between 1960 and 1980, was however harmful for several historical buildings which were shaven with the profit of more modern domiciliary constructions. Thus, the oldest church of the city was demolished in 1968 and several places of the historical quarters were damaged.

It is only during the Années 1980 that the town of Cuiabá decided to better preserve its architectural heritage. In 1987, the Brazilian State created the Institute of the Historical heritage and Artistic National (IPHAN) of which the goal is the protection of the Brazilian historical heritage. The IPHAN and the Ministry for the Culture of Brazil decided to restore certain architectural buildings of Cuiabá like the churches of Rosario and Sao Benedicte or the old Palate of the Instruction (which now contains a museum and a library). In the Years 1990, one restored the old Arsenal of War (become now the Arts center of conservation) and the old fish market (where the Museum of Rio Cuiabá is located). A Museum of the Sounds and Images of Cuiabá was also founded.

In the historical center of Cuiabá, the IPHAN created an protected area having to preserve the original features of the old historical streets of the Street of in bottom (Ruas C Baixo), of the Street of the Medium (Ruas C Meio) and of the Street of in Top (Ruas C Cima) which now respectively bear the names of Goldino Pimentel, Ricardo Franco and Pedro Celestino. The streets of cross-piece of the surrounding are also protected.

Other local attractions are also to announce. There are the Rondon Museum (containing indigenous artefacts), the Museum of Art and Popular culture (located on the campus of the federal University of Mato Grosso), the geodetic center of South America, the basilica of the Lord Good Jesus de Cuiabá (a metropolitan cathedral), the church of Sao Gonçalo and the mosque of Cuiabá. The city also has a zoo, two large parks on the edges of the Rio Cuiabá, of many pedestrian paths and cycle tracks. One can also visit a arboretum with the confluence of Rios Cuiabá and Coxipos.

Surrounding Rios are attended for the bathes and fishing. One can also visit some indigenous communities of the area like that of the Bororos. Matches of soccer and football proceed at the Stage Jose Frazelli.

References

Site wikipedia of Portuguese Cuiabá

Sources

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