Vacaria, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) (original) (raw)

The municipality of Vacaria (61,342 inhabitants; 22,458 ha) is located on the border with Santa Catarina state, 250 km north of Porto Alegre.

Vacaria is named for "vacarias" (Spanish, "baquerias"), which were big concentrations of cattle parked in wild areas, far from urban nuclei. The Baqueria de Los Pinares was established by the Jesuits after the settlement of the Seven Reductions.
The town was founded by tropeiros who built a chapel dedicated to Nossa Senhora de Oliveira de Vacaria.
The municipality of Vacaria was established in 1850.

Vacaria is Brazil's main producer and exporter of apples; in 2014, the municipality produced 300,000 tonnes of apples, that is, one quarter of the national production. Vacaria is also Brazil's main producer of smaller fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries).

<https://www.vacaria.rs.gov.br/>
Municipal website