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Parana is the northernmost of Brazil's southern states and one of the wealthiest in all Brazil. Its economy is based on small and medium-sized land holdings, modern industries which, unlike those of neighbouring Sao Paulo, have been subject to at least limited planning controls, and a population comprised largely of the descendants of immigrants. All of which combine to give Parana something of the vague feel of an American Midwestern state transplanted to the subtropics. For several decades after breaking away from Sao Paulo in 1853, Parana's economy remained based on pig-raising, timber extraction and erva mate (a South American bush, the leaves of which are used to make a tea-like beverage), and in its early years the province was linked to the rest of Brazil only by a network of trails along which cattle and mules passed between Rio Grande do Sul's grasslands and the mines and plantations of the northern provinces. Parana was sparsely populated by Indians, Portuguese and mixed-race caboclos, who worked on the latifundios, scratched a living as semi-nomadic subsistence farmers or, on the coast, fished. Then, because of a labour shortage in Brazil brought about by the end of the slave trade, the provincial government turned to immigration as a means to expand Parana's economy and open up land for settlement. The first immigrant colonies of British, Volga-Germans, French, Swiss and Icelanders were utter failures, but, from the 1880s onwards, others met with some success. As mixed farmers, coffee or soya producers, Germans moved northwards from Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina; Poles and Italians settled near the capital, Curitiba; Ukrainians centred themselves in the south, especially on Prudentopolis, Japanese spread south from Sao Paulo, settling around Londrina and Maringa; and a host of smaller groups, including Dutch, Mennonites, Koreans, Russian "Old Believers" and Danube-Swabians established colonies elsewhere with varying success rates. Thanks to their isolation, the immigrants' descendants have retained many of the cultural traditions of their forebears, traditions that are gradually being eroded by the influences of television and radio, the education system and economic pressures that force migration to the cities or to new land in distant parts of Brazil. Nevertheless, this multi-ethnic blend still lends Parana its distinct character and a special fascination. Unless you're heading straight for the Iguacu waterfalls, Curitiba makes a good base. Transport services fan out in all directions from the state capital and there's plenty to keep you occupied in the city between excursions. The Bay of Paranagua can be visited as a day-trip from Curitiba, but the bay's islands and colonial towns could also easily take up a week or more of your time. Inland, the strange geological formations of Vila Velha are usually visited as a day-trip from Curitiba, but - by changing buses in Ponta Grossa - you can head west to the Ukrainian-dominated region around the towns of Prudentopolis and Irati ; and from there, head yet further west to Foz do Iguacu.
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