Itapiranga, Border municipality in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Itapiranga is a border municipality at the westernmost point of Santa Catarina, stretching along the Uruguay River and marking natural boundaries with Rio Grande do Sul and Argentina. The town sits at about 196 meters elevation in an area where river landscape and rural life shape the surroundings.
The settlement started in 1926 as Porto Novo, founded by the Popular Union Society from Rio Grande do Sul to create a colony for German Catholic families. This founding shaped the region's cultural and demographic character.
German heritage shapes daily life here, visible in the buildings, celebrations, and how people interact with each other. The local Riograndenser Hunsrückisch dialect still sounds in conversations among older residents, even though Portuguese has been the main language for generations.
Visitors should know this is a border town with direct access to the Uruguay River and neighboring countries. Those exploring the area will find a rural setting with straightforward local infrastructure and no major urban complexity.
The name comes from Tupi-Guarani elements 'ita' and 'piranga', meaning 'red stone' in Portuguese and referring to the geological features of the area. This indigenous naming reflects the region's original inhabitants before European settlement began.
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