Greater Curitiba, Metropolitan region in Paraná, Brazil.
Greater Curitiba is a metropolitan region in Paraná, Brazil, covering 29 municipalities and home to more than 3.5 million residents. The individual cities form together a continuous settlement area that spreads across hills and valleys in the south of the country.
The municipalities of the region gained importance from the mid 19th century, when immigrants from Europe began founding farms and settlements in the then forested areas. In the 1970s, the introduction of new transport systems accelerated growth in the surrounding towns and connected them more closely to the state capital.
Neighborhoods across the area carry names recalling immigrant groups from Europe, whose descendants today organize festivals and traditions tied to their countries of origin. Local markets offer dishes and breads from Polish, Italian and Ukrainian recipes that belong to daily life in many districts.
Anyone visiting the area moves best using the rapid bus lines that connect different municipalities and run regularly. The topography can be hilly in places, so it makes sense to wear comfortable shoes and find out beforehand which destinations can be reached sensibly in one day.
Some forest reserves within the region still shelter old Araucaria trees, conifers that once shaped the entire landscape and have become rare today. These trees can reach several hundred years of age and grow slowly at an elevation close to 1000 meters (around 3000 feet).
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