Curitiba

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• Bahía Blanca
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History

At the end of the 17th century, Curitiba's agriculture was only for subsistence and its main economic activities were mineral extraction. Waves of European immigrants arrived after 1850, mainly Poles, Italians, Germans (mostly Volga Germans from Russia) and Ukrainians. The Paranaguá–Curitiba railroad was opened in 1885. Around the beginning of the 20th century, Curitiba benefited from the wealth of the yerba mate mills. The owners (known as "barões da erva-mate") built mansions in the capital. These have mostly been preserved in the districts of Batel and Alto da Glória. In the 1940s and 1950s, Alfred Agache, co-founder of the French Society for Urban Studies, was hired to produce its first city plan. It emphasized a "star" of boulevards, with public amenities downtown, an industrial district and sanitation. It was followed in part, but the plan was too expensive to complete. Curitiba has a long history of being intentional about city planning. The early leaders in Curitiba were the first people to establish building regulations. This included limiting the number of trees cut and requiring homes to have tile and not wood roofs. By 1960 Curitiba’s population had increased to 430,000 and Alfred Agache's plan for the city had not considered the future influx of immigrants. A group of young planners and architects led by Jaime Lerner from the Federal University of Paraná answered a proposal from Mayor Ivo Arzua centered around preparing Curitiba for new growth. They improved Agache’s plan by proposing adding major linear transit pathways to Curitiba to provide straightforward high-speed routes throughout the city. They also included plans for reducing downtown traffic, minimizing urban sprawl, providing easily accessible and inexpensive public transit, and preserving…

Geography

Curitiba, the capital of the Paraná state of southern Brazil, is located near the Atlantic margin of the Brazilian Highlands and the headwaters of the Iguaçu River. It is around 3,050 feet (930 meters) above sea level. The most important rivers that form six hydrographic basins within the municipal territory are, in addition to the Iguaçu River, the Atuba, Belém, Barigui, Passaúna, and the Padilhas stream, all with similar drainage characteristics. The most extensive hydrographic basin in Curitiba is that of the Barigui River, which crosses the municipality from north to south and covers 139.9 km² of the municipality's area. To the south, there is the least extensive hydrographic basin in Curitiba, that of the Padilhas stream, with 33.6 km². As the relief of Curitiba is predominantly higher in the north of the municipality, six hydrographic basins, in their entirety, descend towards the south of the municipality, flowing into the Iguaçu River, the most important river in Curitiba, which, in turn, flows into the Paraná River, in the far west of the state. Due to certain peculiarities, rainfall habitually causes significant flooding in the rivers of Curitiba, resulting in regular floods, which constantly worries the population and the public administration. Nowadays, after many studies regarding local waterways, almost all of the rivers are being channeled. Curitiba features a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb, Trewartha: Cfbl). Its location on a plateau and the flat terrain with flooded areas contributes to its somewhat mild and damp winters, with an average minimum temperature of in July. Nighttime temperatures can drop below on the coldest days. Daytime temperatures in winter are usually pleasant, around . However, during cold snaps, daytime temperatures…

Most-observed species

• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  2,842
• Rufous-bellied Thrush

  Turdus rufiventris Vieillot, 1818 · Aves
  2,764
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,725
• Eared Dove

  Zenaida auriculata (Des Murs, 1847) · Aves
  2,575
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  2,525
• Plain Parakeet

  Brotogeris tirica (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  2,005
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,823
• Sayaca Tanager

  Thraupis sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,811