Cuiabá - The Capital of the Pantanal

Cuiabá is the capital and largest city of the state of Mato Grosso. The municipality is situated on the left bank of the river of the same name and forms a conurbation with the neighboring municipality, Várzea Grande. According to estimates made ​​by the IBGE, 2012, the population of Cuiaba is 561.329 inhabitants, while the population of the conurbation is approaching 820.000, whereas its metropolitan area has 859.130 ​​inhabitants and paste metropolitan nearly 1 million, its middle region has 1.100.512 inhabitants, what makes Cuiabá a small metropolis in the center of South America. The city is one of 12 venues of FIFA World Cup 2014, representing the Pantanal (the city is situated about 100 kilometers from the Pantanal region).

The city is surrounded by three major biomes: the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Pantanal, is close to Chapada dos Guimarães and is still considered the gateway to the Amazon rainforest. The predominant vegetation in the municipality is the cerrado, since its variants more shrubs to the densest forests on the edge of waterways.
Cuiabá has several tourist attractions because it is located in a region of varied natural landscapes, such as the Pantanal and Chapada dos Guimarães, and for being a very old city with an important historical heritage. The event tourism is also growing in the city.

The initial architecture of the urban area of Cuiabá, as in other historical Brazilian cities, it is typically colonial, with modifications and adaptations to other styles (such as neoclassical and eclectic) with time. She was well preserved until the mid-twentieth century, but after that time, population growth and economic development affected the architectural heritage and landscape of the historical center. Several buildings were demolished, including the ancient parish church, demolished in 1968 to make way for the current.

Cuiabá was announced as host of the FIFA World Cup 2014 on May 31, 2009, representing the Pantanal. The works of the Arena Pantanal began in April 2010. In 2011 began the works of urban mobility, among them the doubling Bridge Mario Andreazza. The city will deploy surface subway (Light Vehicle on Rails) estimated at over 1 billion reais.

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