*** Welcome to piglix ***

Alegrete

City of Alegrete
Municipality
Fountain at the lake of Neytha Ramos Park
Fountain at the lake of Neytha Ramos Park
Flag of City of Alegrete
Flag
Official seal of City of Alegrete
Seal
Nickname(s): "Baita Chão" ("Hell of a Ground")
Location in Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil
Location in Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil
Coordinates: 29°47′01.63″S 55°47′27.54″W / 29.7837861°S 55.7909833°W / -29.7837861; -55.7909833Coordinates: 29°47′01.63″S 55°47′27.54″W / 29.7837861°S 55.7909833°W / -29.7837861; -55.7909833
Country Brazil
Region Sul
State Rio Grande do Sul
Founded October 25, 1831
Government
 • Mayor Erasmo Guterres da Silva (PMDB)
Area
 • Total 7,804 km2 (3,013 sq mi)
Elevation 102 m (335 ft)
Population (2010)
 • Total 78,984
 • Density 10/km2 (26/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-3 (UTC-3)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-2 (UTC-2)
HDI' (2000) 0.793 – medium
Website alegrete.rs.gov.br

Alegrete is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul located in southern Brazil. Its medium altitude is 102 m (335 ft). Its estimated population in 2008 was 78,984 inhabitants and the total area is 7,803.967 km2 (3,013.129 sq mi) (the largest municipality of the State and of Southern Brazil). Its inhabitants are called Alegretenses.

Alegrete was settled in 1816 and became a municipality in 1857. It is the hometown of the abolitionist leader Franklin Gomes Souto, of the politician, diplomat and statesman Osvaldo Aranha, first President of the United Nations General Assembly, and of the Brazilian poet Mário Quintana. Every September 20 (Ragamuffin War Day), about 8,000 young, adult and old horsemen and horsewomen parade through its streets, using their native costumes and riding their horses with trappings.

Alegrete is served by Gaudêncio Machado Ramos Airport.

The municipality contains part of the 351 hectares (870 acres) Ibirapuitã Biological Reserve, a fully protected conservation unit created in 1982 to preserve an area of the pampas biome.



...
Wikipedia

...