History of Paraná

[1][2] In January 1542, the Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca,[2] following the Peabiru Trail, reached the Iguazu Falls, being the first European to describe them (in his work Comentários).

In the early years of the 17th century, after gold was discovered in the lands of Paraná, the Portuguese-Brazilians began the occupation of the region, through bandeiras that left São Vicente.

[4][6] In 1820, the western territory of Paraná was handed over to the Portuguese crown and became politically annexed to the Province of São Paulo, receiving the name Comarca de Curitiba.

And with the opening of the Viamão-Sorocaba road, which made the connection between Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo through the Curitiba region, a new phase in Paraná's history began: The tropeirismo, which had extended throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

[5] Among the reasons for this are: Punishment for the Paulistans' participation in the Liberal Revolt of 1842, a settlement for the support Paraná offered to the Ragamuffin War, and the lucrative cultivation of yerba mate.

[8] Due to the small provincial population, an official European immigration program was initiated (mainly for the Polish, Germans, and Italians), which contributed to the expansion of colonization and the appearance of new economic activities.

[11] Until the mid-17th century, the southern coast of the São Vicente captaincy, which is now part of the state of Paraná, received sporadic visits from Europeans in search of hardwood.

[6] The Portuguese nobleman and military man Salvador Correia de Sá, who in 1613 would take over the superintendence of the mines of southern Brazil spent some time there,[5] however, no ounce of gold was found.

[5] The viscount of Barbacena sent the Spaniard Rodrigo de Castelo Branco - who had profound knowledge about the deposits of Peru - to the mines of southern Brazil.

[15] The discovery of the gold mines of Minas Gerais had as one of its consequences the demand for horses and cattle, supplied with mules from the southern missions region.

[15] In the early 19th century, with the upsurge of the war in the south,[21] it became necessary as part of the Portuguese strategy to occupy the lands that belonged to Portugal according to the Treaty of Madrid,[22] but had remained abandoned since the destruction of the Jesuit missions by the bandeirantes.

[5] With the objectives of occupying the territory, subjugating the Indians, and opening the way to the missions, in June 1810 a military operation reached the fields of Guarapuava,[23] which soon after were donated in sesmarias.

[10][27] Despite the political activity expressed in successive diligences and petitions aimed at political-administrative emancipation, and even after independence, the then-called "Parnanguaras" continued to be subjected to local troop commanders, since the provincial government was far away and lacked interest in those lands.

[5] The political and strategic importance of the region grew with the years and was evidenced by events that had repercussions at the national level, such as the Ragamuffin War and the liberal rebellions of 1842.

During the provincial period, the government of Paraná did not achieve the necessary administrative continuity, since the presidency of the province, freely chosen by the central power, had 55 occupants in 36 years.

[30] The Paraná liberals were organized under the leadership of Jesuíno Marcondes and his brother-in-law Manuel Alves de Araújo, belonging to the family of the barons of Tibagi and Campos Gerais, at the time the most powerful oligarchy in the region.

[5] In the middle of that century, although it had a population of around sixty thousand inhabitants, Paraná remained, from a human point of view, a desert irregularly interrupted by nineteen small oases situated at great distances from each other,[5] as besides the "historical roads", there was nothing that could be considered a network[5] These nineteen oases were represented by the two municipalities Curitiba and Paranaguá; the seven villas Guaratuba, Antonina, Morretes, São José dos Pinhais, Lapa, Castro, and Guarapuava; and the six freguesias (parishes) of Campo Largo, Palmeira, Ponta Grossa, Jaguariaíva, Tibagi, and Rio Negro;[5] and the four chapels of Guaraqueçaba, Iguaçu, Votuverava, and Palmas.

[5] Joint measures by the imperial and provincial governments allowed the establishment of colonial nuclei near the urban centers, especially on the plateau of Curitiba, consisting of Poles, Germans, Italians, and, in smaller groups, Swiss, French and English.

[5] In the Provincial Assembly, the republicans had only one deputy, Vicente Machado da Silva Lima, elected by the Liberal Party, and who was a prominent figure in the first years of the new regime.

[33] The province of Paraná was to have the same boundaries as the old comarca, causing a complicated border issue with Santa Catarina (since the discovery and occupation of the fields of Palmas) that lasted until the second decade of the 20th century.

[34] Based on a royal charter of 1749, Santa Catarina considered the "sertão" that corresponded to the coast as belonging to them, while Paraná relied on the principle of uti possidetis.

[5] This increase was due not only to natural growth,[5] but to intense internal migratory waves, by which inhabitants from other states moved to previously uncultivated areas of Paraná.

[5] Since the end of the 19th century, farmers from São Paulo and Minas Gerais began to form coffee farms in the north of the state,[5] rich in fertile land, with soil known as "terra roxa".

[11] There were also new waves of immigrant settlers,[9] and with the experience of similar ventures in Australia and Africa, in 1924, Lord Lovat visited Paraná[35] and three years later obtained a concession from the government for 500,000 bushels of land in the north of the state.

[5] After the revolution of 1930, when numerous land concessions were annulled, the state government and private individuals began organized occupation, directed toward varied agriculture and the raising of small animals.

[5] As the state government sought to make Paraná the agricultural hub of the country and a wood producer capable of carrying out extensive reforestation, land conflicts not only continued but grew in intensity.

[5] The industry also began to make significant leaps, with the installation of a bus and truck plant in Curitiba in 1976,[52] and the start-up of the Presidente Getúlio Vargas refinery in 1977.

[55] However, land disputes increased, even in indigenous reserves,[5] as well as complaints of serious environmental disturbances caused by the growing number of dams to build hydroelectric power plants on the Iguazu, Paranapanema, Capivari, and Paraná rivers.

[62] In 1998, Jaime Lerner, left his party and joined the PFL, taking along the mayor of Curitiba, Cássio Taniguchi, five state deputies, and most of the government's secretaries.

[77] Curitiba hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup games at Club Athletico Paranaense's stadium, the Joaquim Américo Guimarães, known as Arena da Baixada.