Londrina

Demography

The city was named after British entrepreneurs who launched railroad stations in the region to ease the transportation of coffee grains from northern Paraná and southern São Paulo states to the port of Santos. The word Londrina, literally meaning "Londoner" or perhaps "Little London", pays homage to the British capital (Londres in Portuguese), since a Londoner cotton company, Paraná Plantations Limited, made the original investment to settle in this area. The city's population consists of descendants of those settlers, mainly from England and Scotland, plus Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, German, Polish, African, Spanish, Native, Lebanese, Ukrainian and Bulgarian Brazilians, as well as some Brazilians from other cities or states.

Fonte: Censo 2000

Climate

According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Londrina has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). Average annual precipitation is 1,622.6 mm (63.9 in). Mean average annual temperature is 20.62 °C (69 °F).

Economy

Agriculture continues to be Londrina's major economic activity, although its importance has diminished in recent years. Agricultural activity was diversified beyond coffee, and today corn, wheat, cotton, horticulture, beans, peanuts, rice, sugar cane, soy bean, and fruit plantations thrive due to the rich Northern Paraná/South Western São Paulo State "terra roxa" crimson soil. Although the city has increased its industrial park by adding weaving, textiles and agricultural factories, Londrina's main wealth continues to be agricultural production. Today, Londrina is also known for its commerce and service sectors. Moreover, real estate is another growing sector that has generated jobs and boosted even more the size of this city in Paraná.

It possesses one of the largest universities in the country, the State University of Londrina, as well as several private colleges.

The city is served by Londrina – Governador José Richa Airport.

Once a year, the city hosts the largest agricultural fair in Latin America, the Expo Londrina.

Soil

The fertile land of the region, "terra roxa" ("purple soil"), has this name due to a corruption and attempt to translate into Portuguese the term "terra rossa" ("red soil", in Italian), which Italian immigrants used to call it. The inhabitants of Northern Paraná state are often called "pé vermelho" ("red foot") because of their dust bowl-like region. The fertility of the soil is said to have originated in the biggest volcanic lava spill of the planet, known as The Spill of Trapp, that to a large extent occurred in the Center-South region of Brazil. During its golden era, (1920 to 1970), Londrina region accounted for 60% of all the coffee produced in the world, together with the west bank of the Paraná River,

Education

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.

Colleges and universities

Metropolitan region of Londrina

Instituted by State Complementary Law 81 on 17 June 1998, the Metropolitan Region of Londrina includes the cities of Londrina, Cambé, Ibiporã, Sertanópolis, Bela Vista do Paraíso, Jataizinho, Rolândia, Tamarana and Arapongas totaling 750 thousand inhabitants.

Religion

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Londrina.
The city is home to two stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the home of the Brazil Londrina Mission, which encompasses northern Paraná and some of São Paulo.

Sports

The city's football clubs include Londrina Esporte Clube, founded in 1956, and the Associação Portuguesa Londrinense founded in 1950. They play at Café stadium, a 45,000 spectator capacity stadium.

Inesul/Londrina, owned by INESUL - Instituto de Ensino Superior de Londrina, an higher education institution, is a city's major basketball club and competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Basquete.

People

Twin towns