Florianópolis

Categories: Cities in Brazil

Florianópolis (also known as Floripa) is the capital city of Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil. It is an island city with a population of 386.913 (2004/IBGE).

It is surrounded by smaller islands with forts, which protected ships in the 17th century. Most of the population lives on the island's northern half. The southern half is more isolated and less developed. Although originally settled by the Portuguese (from the Islands of Açores), like the rest of the state, the city has a strong German and Italian influence. Florianópolis is a popular destination for South American tourists, because of its location and white sand beaches.

Universities

• Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), the only federal university in the state of Santa Catarina. Its main page is (http://www.ufsc.br) (In Portuguese)

• Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), the State University of Santa Catarina. Its main page is (http://www.udesc.br) (In Portuguese)

Beaches

There are about 42 well known beaches on Santa Catarina island, but more than 100 in all. The most well-known beaches are:

• Jurerê - Very developed and organized; biggest houses.
• Joaquina - Nice dunes, very good waves.
• Mole - Mostly surfers. Known for its soft (mole) sand.
• Moçambique - Huge extension, surfers, camping.
• Armação - For surfers, fishermen; otherwise unpopulated.
• Ingleses - Family beach.
• Santinho - Has a known resort.
• Canasvieiras - Popular with Argentinians.

de:Florianópolis es:Florianópolis eo:Florianópolis fr:Florianópolis gl:Florianópolis it:Florianópolis nl:Florianópolis no:Florianópolis pt:Florianópolis ru:Флорианополис