The city lies on the eastern bank of the Guaíba Lake, where five rivers converge to form the Lagoa dos Patos, a giant freshwater lagoon navigable by even the largest of ships.

However, the village started in 1752, when 60 Azorean couples were brought over by the Treaty of Madrid to set up Missions at the Northeast Region of Rio Grande do Sul that was handed over to the Portuguese Crown in exchange for the Sacramento Colony located on the margin of the Plata River.

On 24 July 1773, Porto Alegre became the capital city of the province, when the administration of Manuel Sepúlveda, who used the fictitious name or pseudonym José Marcelino de Figueiredo, to hide his identity, officially started.

[9]The capital city of Rio Grande do Sul is also the capital city in the Pampas region, the name given to the region of fauna and flora typical of the vast plains that dominate the landscape of the southern tip of Brazil, and parts of Argentina and Uruguay, from where the gaúcho comes, the historical figure of a brave warrior who fought legendary battles and wars in the quest to conquer the borders of the kingdoms of Portugal and Spain in the 16th century.

[8] When the Farrapos War ended, the city continued to develop and underwent strong urban restructuring during the last decades of the 18th century, driven by the accelerated growth of port-related activities and shipyards.

The city dates from the mid-18th century, when colonist from the Azores, islands in the Atlantic Ocean that are part of Portugal, settled in the area, sponsored by the Portuguese colonyimmi.

It is also a center for gaúcho (the popular name for natives of the state) history and culture, famous for its churrasco (barbecue) and chimarrão (a strong and hot tea prepared from yerba mate).

The city lies on the east bank of the mouth of the Rio Guaiba, the estuary of which forms the enormous freshwater lagoon, Lagoa dos Patos.

In the lake, a vast body of water, a maze of islands facing the city forms an archipelago where a unique ecosystem gives shelter to abundant wildlife.

Unlike other large Brazilian cities much further north, notably Brasília, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro which receive a pronounced summer maximum in precipitation amounts, Porto Alegre experiences a prominent winter maximum in precipitation values and cloud cover, while the summer season is primarily hot and sunny; though evidently high humidity levels often give a distinct mugginess to the conditions and reduces air quality.

The city's cycleway is called the Caminho dos Parques, which at over 5 km (3 miles) long links the Moinhos do Vento, Farroupilha and Guaíba shore parks.

A partnership between SMAM, the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, the State Environmental Protection Foundation (FEPAM) and Petrobrás has created a network of five air monitoring stations in Porto Alegre.

[81][82] Although participatory budgeting appears to continue in the city today, two prominent scholars on the process have stated that "after the defeat of the Workers' Party in late 2004, a politically conservative coalition maintained the surface features of PB while returning the actual functioning of the administration to more traditional modes of favor-trading and the favoring of local elites.

"[79] The participatory budgeting cycle starts in January and runs throughout the year in many assemblies in each of the city's 16 districts, dealing with many areas of interest to urban life.

Participatory budgeting has been suspended in Porto Alegre since 2017 [85] Located at the junction of five rivers, it has become an important alluvial port as well as one of the chief industrial and commercial centres in Brazil.

Products of the rich agricultural and pastoral hinterland, such as soybeans, leather, canned beef, and rice, are exported from Porto Alegre to destinations as far away as Africa and Japan.

The company will add 60 engineers to its ranks who will design RFID, digital media and wireless communication chips for its fabrication facility now ramping up for production.

Infiltration into the soil is prevented by the double-walled construction of a clay layer and a high-density polythene geo-membrane, the lowering of the water table and the draining off and treatment of any effluent.

[107] Rio Grande do Sul Memorial This museum displays a huge collection of documents, maps, objects, prints and other items related to the state's history.

[110] The Porto Alegre Carnival began in the 18th century with the entrudo, a prank brought over by the Portuguese from the Azores, whereby people threw flour, water, and "limão de cheiro" missiles at each other.

The Chalet of the XV de Novembro Plaza is located along the Glênio Peres Square, it is one of the most traditional bar-draught beer-restaurants in the city, where the last "lambe-lambe" photographs of the region work.

In the Bavarian style, with art nouveau traits, the centenary Chalet was built up on a demountable steel structure, keeping its original chandeliers and tiles even nowadays.

Today, the city is reorganizing its urban landscape with major infrastructure works, especially roads, and erecting significant examples of contemporary architecture.

Urban revitalization projects promoted by the state and municipal governments, such as those of the Mauá Pier, the former Industrial District, and a program of concessions of parks and other public spaces to the private sector, have produced intense controversy.

Its geographical position enables a permanent traffic between Porto Alegre and Buenos Aires, transporting steel-industry products and mainly agricultural produce.

The other road, BR-116, is a longitudinal highway, running northeast–south across the state, linking Porto Alegre to several satellite cities and other Brazilian capitals to the north, and Pelotas and Uruguay to the south.

[130] BR-448 is planned to connect the northeast of Porto Alegre to Sapucaia do Sul, as an alternative to BR-116, notably jam-packed on its Canoas-Novo Hamburgo stretch during traffic rush hours.

Transversal lines prefix "T" (T1, T2, ..., T11), connect different neighborhoods without going through the downtown area, which effectively eliminates the need of changing buses for the most common trips.

[133] Mayor José Fogaça renewed his agreement with EMBARQ and the Center for Sustainable Transport Brazil (CTS-Brasil) to improve accessibility and mobility in downtown Porto Alegre.

The agreement, signed on March 11, includes a new partnership with the Andean Development Corporation, a Latin American multilateral financial institution that is expected to provide $1 million in non-reimbursable technical assistance to help Porto Alegre complete the preparation phase of the "Portais da Cidade" bus rapid transit project, a groundbreaking transport system designed to reduce pollution and congestion downtown.