Araquari

Araquari
Municipality
ISS image from 2005 showing the city of Joinville (center) with the Baía da Babitonga, Araquari (center below), to the right São Francisco do Sul with the coast of the South Atlantic.
Coordinates: 26°22′12″N 48°43′19″E / 26.37000°N 48.72194°E / 26.37000; 48.72194
Country	Brazil
Region	South
State	Santa Catarina
Mesoregion	Norte Catarinense
Government
• Prefeito	João Pedro Woitexem, (PMDB)
Area
• Total	148,261 sq mi (383,993 km2)
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)
Population (2014)
• Total	31,030
Time zone	UTC -3
Website	www.araquari.sc.gov.br

Araquari is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil.

The municipality of Araquari was basically colonized by Azorean immigrants, who arrived at the coast of Santa Catarina between 1748 and 1756, and since then, the Azorean culture rooted up and walked hand in hand with the most diverse cultures, as with the Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Africans, both important in this region thus creating a cultural and religious mosaic.

Like many coastal cities Araquari has its founding myth linked to the European occupation process in America, in the first phase of the age of discoveries. According to information from the municipal Department of Culture the European foundation of Araquari is set 40 years after the discovery of Brazil in 1500.

The Spanish navigator Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca landed what is now Barra Velha and encouraged the exploration of the northern region, until then inhabited by Indios. The expedition consisted of 250 men, 40 horses, some slaves and indoctrinated group of Indios by the Jesuits. A month later, they came what they called first Paranaguá Mirim, ("small cove") in Tupi-Guarani.

In 1658, the first Portuguese pioneers settled in the region inhabited by Carijós, but the actual foundation of the town only happened in 1848, when a Portuguese ship arrived in Paraty under the command of Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar, who founded a small colony. Another pioneer Joaquim da Rocha Coutinho joined him and the two decided to found a village, but failed to reach an agreement on the site.