Paraná

Paraná State

Area: 199,600sq.km/77,100sq.mi

Population: 8,074,000

Capital: Curitiba

Situation and Characteristics

Paraná lies in the far south of Brazil, bordered on the north-west by Mato Grosso do Sul, on the north-east by São Paulo state and on the south by Santa Catarina.

Rio Paraná

The Rio Paraná forms a natural boundary between Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul and the neighbouring country of Paraguay to the west. On the west side of the coastal plain, a region of moist heat, the Serra do Mar, here covered by tropical rain forest, rises steeply up to heights around 1900m/6200ft.

Economy

Paraná's principal agricultural product is coffee, followed by soya beans and