Palotina is a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 and municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in western Paraná

Paraná (state)

Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...

 state, located around 60 kilometers from the border with Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

. The population is 28,966 inhabitants, though the 2010 estimate indicates a population of around 33 thousand. Owing to highly fertile land, the city is a flourishing agricultural hub and a base for two major agricultural companies: C. Vale and I. Rieddi. Another highlight of Palotina is the campus of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). There is also one private university, the UESPAR (União de Ensino Superior do Paraná).

History

Settlement in the area started in 1953 when Pinho e Terras started to colonize the area. The settlement began to grow and on July 25, 1960 attained the status of municipality. Pinho e Terras approach to colonization was called exemplary, but in the early 1960s the colonists were besieged by gunmen hired by the "new landowners" affiliated with state governor and Socialist Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Brazil)

The Social Democratic Party was a liberal political party in Brazil between 1945 and 1965. Founded as a center-right party by Getúlio Vargas together with the left-leaning Brazilian Labour Party, it elected Presidents Eurico Gaspar Dutra in 1945 and Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira in 1955...

 boss Moises Lupion. The federal government moved in a regiment of border guards to pacify the area and in 1963 re-nationalized the disputed lands. The colonists had to buy back their own land.

Agriciltural economy of Palotina relies on production of corn, wheat and soybean. A 1969 survey placed Palotina in the cluster of most efficient agricultural communities in Brazil. According to authors of the study, higher productivity in this cluster stemmed from raising pigs, which accounts for 68% of its output. 82% of lands were allotted to fodder crops rather than traditional rice, bean and cotton.

Nowadays, Palotina is a near 30k inhabitants municipality with an agroindustrial economy and a hopeful future. Most of the population, around 68%, are Italian descents. About 13% of the community of are of German descent.

Climate

Humid subtropical climate

Humid subtropical climate

A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

 of Palotina (Cfa in Köppen climate classification

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

) is characterized by humid and warm summers and dry and cold winter.

Further reading

• Pedro Reginato (1979). História de Palotina, 1954-1979 (in Portuguese). Pallotti.