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Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Londrina's Flag	Brazil's Flag	State of Paraná

Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Londrina is the second largest city in our state Paraná and is the third larges city in south Brazil.  Londrina is only 70 years old and at one time was the coffee capital of the world.  Form 1950 to 1970, Londrina grew a lot of coffee.  In fact in 1961, Londrina produced 51% of all of the coffee of the world.  

History of Londrina, Paraná

The city of Londrina has a unique history.  80 years ago Londrina did not even exist.  In the 1920´s, The Brazilian Plantions, Ltd, in London, England, was developing the area which today is the northern part of our state Paraná.  That company from London, England was building a Railroad from São Paulo to the Brazilian frontier (Foz de Iguaçu, PR).  On August 21, 1929, the survering crew building the railroad arrived in the area known as Três Bocas (now in Londrina) and engineer Dr. Alexandre Razgulaeff put down the first marker.  When the stock market crashed in 1929, construction on the railroad came to a screeching halt sometime there after. The city of Londrina sprang up in its where the tracks ended.  Small farm plots were sold and people started streeming into the area. 

"Londrina" means "little London." Londrina was named after the town where the company´s founders were from.  Dr. João Domingues Sampaio gave the name Londrina to this town.  He was on of the directors of the "Land Company of Northern Paraná" which was part of the Brazilian Plantations, Ltd.  Craig Smith is considered one of the city´s founders.  He led the team of surveyors and decided that the train tracks would come through this area and would have a depot here.

Londrina Today

Today, Londrina is a growing modern city.  It is the 628th largest city in the world and officially had a metropolitan population of 700,000.  Some estimates project that metropolitan Londrina will soon be approaching one million people.  Currently, Londrina is the economic, political, medical, and educational  center for an area that has a population of 4 1/2 million people.

Down on the Farm

The rural areas around and within an hour´s drive of Londrina has many many farms.  The major crops that farms grow soy beans, corn, sugar cane (for ethonal use in cars), coffee, wheat, mandioc, rice, tomatos, beans, and some cotton.  The area produces a lot of cattle for beef, chickens, and eggs [according to the offical Londrina government website listed below].

Sources: http://ns.londrina.pr.gov.br/cidade/historia3.php3

Official Facts about Londrina from the City's Own Website
[Londrina's Website - in Portugese]