![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/09\/Rio_Grande_do_Sul_in_Brasilien.png\")
O estado do Rio Grande do Sul no Brasil (photo by Head at German Wikipedia. [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/)])<\/p><\/div>Ol\u00e1, caros leitores! Hi, dear readers! Today we come to our second article in the series on <\/span>Estados Brasileiros<\/span><\/i> (Brazilian states). Despite its continental dimensions (or maybe largely due to that), only a small portion of Brazil is <\/span>conhecida<\/span><\/i> (known) to those who visit it or even to those who are native. Each of the 27 federative units of the country has its own cultures and customs, but it still dialogues with the regionalisms of other parts of the country. If the first text was about the state of Acre, located in the far north, our second part will go in the opposite direction, to the far <\/span>sul<\/span><\/i> (south) of Brazil. This is the <\/span>terra<\/span><\/i> (land) of ga\u00fachos, pampas and barbecue: Rio Grande do Sul.<\/span><\/p>\n With the capital of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state of Brazil, which borders the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and Uruguay and Argentina. With a length of just over 281 thousand square kilometers, it is equivalent to 3.3% of the entire Brazilian territory. For the sake of comparison, it is larger than the United Kingdom. Its population is largely <\/span>composta<\/span><\/i> (made up) of European migrants, mainly those from Italy and Germany, and in some small communities Portuguese even is considered as a <\/span>segunda l\u00edngua <\/span><\/i>(second language).<\/span><\/p>\n The traditional figure of the Gaucho (photo By Courret Hermanos Fotogs., Lima, Peru)<\/p><\/div>\n With its vast <\/span>flatlands<\/span><\/i> (plains) known as the Pampas, Rio Grande do Sul is a prominent region for<\/span> cria\u00e7\u00e3o de gado<\/span><\/i> (cattle raising). Although not only limited to this state, the <\/span>gaucho<\/b> is the most important cultural figure in the region, and concerns people linked to <\/span>atividade pecu\u00e1ria<\/span><\/i> (livestock activity). They vaguely resemble the idea of American cowboys. With their typical <\/span>trajes<\/span><\/i> (costumes) and the ever-present<\/span> chimarr\u00e3o<\/span><\/i> (mate herb consumed in large quantities in the region), the gauchos are also responsible for the largest <\/span>patrim\u00f4nio culin\u00e1rio<\/span><\/i> (culinary heritage) of the state, the <\/span>churrasco<\/span><\/i> (barbecue).<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike other regions, the traditional gaucho barbecue is made with <\/span>fogo de ch\u00e3o<\/span><\/i> (ground fire), which means that large <\/span>espetos de carne<\/span><\/i> (meat skewers) are placed in the ground, heated by a long row of embers also placed in the ground. Although Rio Grande Sul is a state with a strong literary and musical tradition, with great <\/span>escritores<\/span><\/i> (writers) of the size of M\u00e1rio Quintana and Lu\u00eds Fernando Ver\u00edssimo, and a rock variation named gaucho rock, the state’s best-known figure is curiously <\/span>um jogador de futebol <\/span><\/i>(a soccer player). No less than Ronaldinho Gaucho.<\/span><\/p>\n O jogador de futebol Ronaldinho Ga\u00facho (By Darz Mol – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5 es, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=1678741)<\/p><\/div>\n Have you ever heard of Rio Grande do Sul and the gauchos? Leave a comment telling us what you think of our second text about the Brazilian states.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ol\u00e1, caros leitores! Hi, dear readers! Today we come to our second article in the series on Estados Brasileiros (Brazilian states). Despite its continental dimensions (or maybe largely due to that), only a small portion of Brazil is conhecida (known) to those who visit it or even to those who are native. Each of the…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/09\/383px-Gaucho1868b-186x350.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/09\/400px-Ronaldinho_11feb2007-292x350.jpg\")