Paraná (state) in the context of "Santa Catarina (state)"

São Paulo (/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊloʊ/, Portuguese: [sɐ̃w ˈpawlu] ) is one of the 26 states of the Federative Republic of Brazil and is named after Saint Paul of Tarsus. It is located in the Southeast Region and is bordered by the states of Minas Gerais to the north and northeast, Paraná to the south, Rio de Janeiro to the east and Mato Grosso do Sul to the west, in addition to the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is divided into 645 municipalities. The total area is 248,219.481 square kilometres (95,838.077 square miles) km, which is equivalent to 2.9% of Brazil's surface, being slightly larger than the United Kingdom. Its capital is the municipality of São Paulo.

With more than 44 million inhabitants in 2022, São Paulo is the most populous Brazilian state (around 22% of the Brazilian population), the world's 28th-most-populous sub-national entity and the most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, and the fourth-most-populous political entity of South America, surpassed only by the rest of the Brazilian federation, Colombia, and Argentina. The local population is one of the most diverse in the country and descended mostly from Italians, who began immigrating to the country in the late 19th century; the Portuguese, who colonized Brazil and installed the first European settlements in the region; Indigenous peoples, many distinct ethnic groups; Africans, who were brought from Africa as enslaved people in the colonial era and migrants from other regions of the country. In addition, Arabs, Armenians, Chinese, Germans, Greeks, Japanese, Spanish and American Southerners also are present in the ethnic composition of the local population.

The coastline of Brazil measures 7,491 km, making it the 16th longest national coastline in the world. The coastline touches exclusively the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil's coastline has many geographical features such as islands, reefs, bays, and its 2,095 beaches.

9 of Brazil's 26 states are landlocked, including the Federal District. The capitals of the 17 coastal states are close to the ocean, with the exceptions of Curitiba in Paraná, Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, Teresina in Piauí, Belém in Pará, and Macapá in Amapá.

The Cerrado (Portuguese pronunciation: [seˈʁadu]) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are the Brazilian highlands – the Planalto. The main habitat types of the Cerrado consist of forest savanna, wooded savanna, park savanna and gramineous-woody savanna. The Cerrado also includes savanna wetlands and gallery forests.

The second largest of Brazil's major habitat types, after the Amazonian rainforest, the Cerrado accounts for a full 21 percent of the country's land area (extending marginally into Paraguay and Bolivia). About 75% of the Cerrado’s 2 million km is privately owned.

The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (Japanese: 日系, IPA: [ɲikkeː]) or as Nikkeijin (Japanese: 日系人, IPA: [ɲikkeꜜːʑiɴ]), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded as early as the 15th century to the Philippines, but did not become a mass phenomenon until the Meiji period (1868–1912), when Japanese emigrated to the Philippines and to the Americas. There was significant emigration to the territories of the Empire of Japan during the period of Japanese colonial expansion (1875–1945); however, most of these emigrants repatriated to Japan after the 1945 surrender of Japan ended World War II in Asia.

According to the Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad, about 4 million Nikkei live in their adopted countries. The largest of these foreign communities are in Brazil, the United States, the Philippines, China, Canada, and Peru. Descendants of emigrants from the Meiji period still maintain recognizable communities in those countries, forming separate ethnic groups from Japanese people in Japan. The largest of these foreign communities are in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Paraná. There are also significant cohesive Japanese communities in the Philippines, Peru and in the American state of Hawaii. Nevertheless, most emigrant Japanese are largely assimilated outside of Japan.

Japanese Brazilians (Japanese: 日系ブラジル人, Hepburn: Nikkei Burajiru-jin; Portuguese: Nipo-brasileiros, [ˌnipobɾaziˈle(j)ɾus]) are Brazilian citizens who are nationals or naturals of Japanese ancestry or Japanese immigrants living in Brazil or Japanese people of Brazilian ancestry. Japanese immigration to Brazil peaked between 1908 and 1960, with the highest concentration between 1926 and 1935. In 2022, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there were 2 million Japanese descendants in Brazil, making it the country with the largest population of Japanese origin outside Japan. However, in terms of Japanese citizens, Brazil ranked seventh in 2023, with 46,900 Japanese citizens. Most of the Japanese-descendant population in Brazil has been living in the country for three or more generations and most only hold Brazilian citizenship. Nikkei is the term used to refer to Japanese people and their descendants.

Japanese immigration to Brazil officially began on June 18, 1908, when the ship Kasato Maru docked at Porto de Santos, bringing 781 Japanese workers to the coffee plantations in the São Paulo state countryside. For this reason, June 18 was established as the national day of Japanese immigration. Immigration to Brazil ceased by 1973, with the arrival of the last immigrant ship, the Nippon Maru. Between 1908 and 1963, 242,171 Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil, making them the fifth-largest immigrant group after Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and German immigrants. Currently, most Japanese Brazilians live in the states of São Paulo and Paraná.

Mato Grosso do Sul (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmatu ˈɡɾosu du ˈsuw] lit. 'South Thick Bush') is one of Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and Minas Gerais (northeast), São Paulo (east) and Paraná (southeast); and two South American countries: Paraguay (south and southwestern) and Bolivia (west). It is divided into 79 municipalities and covers an area of 357,145.532 square kilometers, which is about the same size as Germany. With a population of 2,839,188 inhabitants in 2021, Mato Grosso do Sul is the 21st most populous state in Brazil.

Campo Grande is the capital and largest city of Mato Grosso do Sul. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising. Crossed in the south by the Tropic of Capricorn, Mato Grosso do Sul generally has a warm, sometimes hot, and humid climate, and is crossed by numerous tributaries of the Paraná River. The state has 1.3% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.5% of the Brazilian GDP. Mato Grosso do Sul is also known for its natural environment, and is a destination for domestic and international tourism. The Pantanal lowlands cover 12 municipalities and presents a variety of flora and fauna, with forests, natural sand banks, savannahs, open pasture, fields and bushes. The city Bonito, in the mountain of Bodoquena, has prehistoric caves, natural rivers, waterfalls, swimming pools and the Gruta do Lago Azul cave.

Rural tourism is a form of tourism that focuses on actively participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism, emphasizing sustainable practices and community involvement. Many villages can facilitate tourism because of the hospitality and eagerness of villagers to welcome or host visitors. The mechanization of agriculture has reduced the need for manual labor, leading to economic pressures on some villages and prompting young people to migrate to urban areas. However, a segment of the urban population is increasingly interested in visiting rural areas to experience and understand the rural lifestyle.

In developed nations, rural tourism can play a significant role in local economies. In the United States, niche tourism programs such as wine tours, agritourism, and seasonal events are prominent in rural areas. These tourism activities contribute to rural community development and provide economic benefits, including job creation and support for local businesses.

The Southern Cone (Spanish: Cono Sur, Portuguese: Cone Sul) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of geography, the Southern Cone comprises Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, and sometimes includes Brazil's four southernmost states (Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo).

The Southern Cone is the second subregion with the highest Human Development Index and standard of living in the Americas, after Northern America.