Neighboring states (from west clockwise) are: Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul.

It is divided into 142 municipalities and covers an area of 903,357 square kilometers, consequently the state is roughly 82.2% of the size of its southwest neighbor, the nation of Bolivia.

A state with a flat landscape that alternates between vast chapadas and plain areas, Mato Grosso contains three main ecosystems: the Cerrado, the Pantanal and the Amazon rainforest.

The Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, with its caves, grottoes, tracks, and waterfalls, is one of its tourist attractions.

Farther south, the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, is the habitat for nearly one thousand species of animals and many aquatic birds.

It is home to the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, its sandstone mountains have eroded into a remarkably varied vistas.

The Paraguay basin is rich in the number and diversity of fish (around 230 species), a fascinating place for fishermen and scholars.

As late as 1880, soldiers patrolled lands on the outskirts of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso's capital and largest city, to protect settlers from Bororo raids.

By the end of the 19th century, although severely reduced by disease and by warfare with explorers, slave traders, prospectors, settlers, and other indigenous groups, as many as five to 10 thousand Bororo continued to occupy central and eastern Mato Grosso, as well as western Goiás.

[6] The southwestern part of this state was ceded by Brazil to Bolivia in exchange for the then-Bolivian territory of Acre, according to the Treaty of Petrópolis in 1903.

This historically remote area attracted expeditions of exploration in the early 20th century that sought to find lost civilizations.

A notable example was British Captain Percy Fawcett's expedition to find the Lost City of Z which he believed existed in the jungles of Brazil.

Mato Grosso had a high rate of population growth in the 20th century due to timber, ranching and agricultural development.

Ethnically, the state includes a relatively high proportion of caboclos (persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry), as do other areas of interior Brazil.

The 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Northern Brazil Railway [pt] connects Mato Grosso with the state of São Paulo and sea ports.

Fishing in the Teles Pires, São Benedito and Azul rivers is productive practically all year long.

The largest sandstone cavern in Brazil, Aroe Jari, extends nearly 1,550 m (5,090 ft), and several prehistoric inscriptions can be found inside.

From October to April, the high waters reveal outsized lakes, bays, river branches, and outlets.

The 1,487 ha (3,670 acres) Águas Quentes State Park, the first protected area in Mato Grosso, is known for the healing powers of its thermal waters.