Florianópolis

Sister cities

• Roanoke

History

Carijós Indians, a Tupi people, were the first inhabitants of the Florianópolis area. The traces of its presence are verified through archaeological sites and sambaquis dating up to 4000 years ago. The Indians called the place Meiembipe, meaning "mountain along the channel." Around 1514, the Portuguese landed and gave the area the name Ilha dos Patos (Island of the Ducks), but in 1526 it was renamed Ilha de Santa Catarina (Saint Catherine's Island). The area supplied the vessels that went to the River Plate (Río de la Plata) Basin. The official settlement of the island began in 1673 with the arrival of bandeirante Francisco Dias Velho's agricultural company, and it continued in 1678 with the construction of a chapel consecrated to Nossa Senhora do Desterro. At this time, a villa began to take form, slowly becoming a colonial settlement. To guarantee its domain, the Portuguese Crown elevated Santa Catarina Island to the category of village in 1714 with the name of Nossa Senhora do Desterro, and already in 1726, they promoted it again, now to the category of town. From this date on, Vila do Desterro and mainly the port began to have a strategic function because it was situated halfway between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, possibly two of the largest seaside cities of South America at that time. For this reason, in 1739, the Capitania da Ilha de Santa Catarina was created, and Desterro became its capital. Soon, the most expressive seaside defensive ring of Southern Brazil started to be built: Santa Cruz, São José da Ponta Grossa, Santo Antonio, and Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Barra do Sul fortresses. With the coming of the Captaincy, the population began to grow, but the great population growth happened between 1747 and 1756 with the arrival of about 6,000…

Geography

Florianópolis lies within the Atlantic Forest, which has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. The main ecoregion is the coastal Atlantic forest, the narrow strip of about along the coast, which covers about 20 percent of the region. This forest extends as far as inland, and its range is as high as 2,000 meters above sea level. Altitude determines at least three vegetation types in the Atlantic Forest: the lowland forest of the coastal plain, montane forests, and the high-altitude grassland or "campo rupestre." The municipality contains part of the offshore Marinha do Arvoredo Biological Reserve, a fully protected conservation unit established in 1990. It also contains part of the Serra do Tabuleiro State Park, a mountainous area covered in lush forests. The park protects the sources of the Vargem do Braço, Cubatão, and Una rivers, which supply most of the drinking water for greater Florianópolis and the south coast region. The municipality contains the Rio Vermelho State Park in the northeast of Santa Catarina Island, created in 2007. There is significant precipitation, which is well distributed throughout the year. The annual normal rainfall for the period of 1961 through 1990 was . There is no dry season, and summer generally is the rainiest season. Increased rainfall occurs from January to March, with a median of per month, and from April to December, there is somewhat less precipitation, averaging per month. The driest months are from June to August. Florianópolis experiences a warm humid subtropical climate (Koppen: Cfa), falling just short of a true tropical climate. The seasons of the year are distinct, with a well-defined summer and winter, and characteristic weather for autumn and spring. Due to the proximity of the…

Most-observed species

• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,412
• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,808
• Ruddy Ground-Dove

  Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) · Aves
  3,645
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,644
• Southern House Wren

  Troglodytes musculus J.F.Naumann, 1823 · Aves
  3,163
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,035
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  2,948
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  2,673

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2018-04-13
  4 km NE of Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, Brazil