Porto Alegre is a metropolis with a cosmopolitan spirit and provincial soul.

Walking through the streets of Porto Alegre, one can admire the vegetation, hills and the lake, as well as the historical buildings that hold the city's memories. The bustling city life with its icons of modernity and its cultural heterogeneity make it one of the world's great urban centers.

General information:

The city of Porto Alegre was officially established on 26 March 1772.

Location: Latitude S - 30º / Longitude W - Greenwich 51.

Southernmost capital in Brazil

Altitude: 10m

Area: 476.3 km 2

Relief: Surrounded by 40 hills covering 65% of the area and bordered by a 72 km river.

Population: 1,416,363 inhabitants (Source: IBGE, 2004).

Indicators:

Life expectancy: 71.4 years.

Population growth: 1.25% per year.

Literacy rate: 91%

Sewage coverage: 83%

Water supply: 99%

Electricity coverage: 98%

Prizes and Achievements:

• City with the highest quality of life in Brazil (UN 1996, 1998, 2002).
• Highest Human Development Index rating in Brazil (UN and Institute of Applied Economic Research, 2001).
• Participatory Budget judged one of the best models of Democratic Public Management by the UN Habitat.
• 2 nd best Brazilian city for investments (Revista Exame 2000).
• City with one of the world's best potential for growth and capacity to receive investments in the next 10 years according to World Winning Cities and the only Brazilian city out of 24 chosen (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2004).
• Prefeito Criança Prize 1999, 2000, 2001 awarded by ABRINQ (Brazilian Association of Toys Manufacturers).
• Carris, best urban transportation company in the country: Top of Marketing and Top of Mind, according to the Associação Nacional dos Transportadores de Passageiros (ANTP) - 1999,2001 and 2002.
• Cidade Educadora, prize awarded in Spain (Organization of Iberoamerican States).
• Cultural Capital of Mercosur 2000
• Highlighted in the category of Pollution Control in the 12th Expressão Prize for Ecology 2004, with particular mention of the Os Ares de Porto Alegre-City Campaign for Climate Protection.
• Was chosen by the UN along with three other Latin American cities (Lima, Loja and San Salvador) to integrate the pilot project on Inter-municipal Cooperation within the Voluntary Support Project of the United Nation for International Municipal Solidarity.

Porto Alegre:

- is among the most green cities in the world, with more than a million trees.

- is the Brazilian city with the highest number of nursery centres.

- is a model city for urban waste disposal and clean-up (100% of the total), as well as in the organization of urban transport.

- first city in Latin America in designing an Urban Draining Plan.

Information about Porto Alegre from : http://www.portoalegre.rs.gov.br

PUCRS Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

http://www.pucrs.br/mapa/