Corumbá

Brazil

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Article History

Corumbá, city and river port, Mato Grosso do Sul estado (state), southwestern Brazil. It is situated on the Paraguay River, at 381 feet (116 metres) above sea level, near the border with Bolivia. Founded by the Jesuit procurator Luís de Albuquerque de Melo Pereira e Cáceres as a military outpost and colony in 1778, it became, after the opening of the river to international commerce following the War of the Triple Alliance (1865–70), a port terminus for rivercraft from Buenos Aires and Asunción. The chief commercial centre of southern Mato Grosso do Sul, the city handles manganese and iron ore from the buttes of Morro do Urucum, to the south, and factories produce ferromanganese and silicomanganese. Cement is also produced in the city, and animal hides and xarque (dried beef) are processed. An important Bolivian-Brazilian gas pipeline has passed through the city since 2000. The city is at a junction of air routes and has railroad connections with São Paulo and with Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Pop. (2010) 103,703.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.