Whilst being a comparatively small state in the south of the country, Santa Catarina has much to offer for real estate and land investors. Bordering Paraná to the north and Rio Grande so Sul to the south (with the Atlantic ocean to the east and Misiones in Argentina to the west), a large majority of its inhabitants are of Portuguese, German, Italian, Polish and Japanese descent (the state was officially inaugurated in 1783).

The majority of the states gross domestic product is generated by industrial activity followed by services, agriculture and tourism.

The capital, Florianópolis (also known as Floripa) is located 1692 km away from the capital city and is bordered by São José - connected by the highways BR-282 and SC-404. The Floripa real estate market continues to remain strong due to rising number of inhabitants permanently residing in its coastal region (ranging from retirees to young families choosing the high standard of living offered in the area). Newsweek placed Florianópolis in the top ten "most dynamic" cities of the world and popular Brazilian magazine ‘Veja’ stated the region as the “the best place to live in Brazil”. Its thriving economy is mainly focused around information technology, tourism, services and commerce. The city is further witnessing increased wealth as well as infrastructure improvements as well as a noteable amount of second home purchases of Brazilians (from buyers mainly looking for holiday homes away from the bigger and bustling cities of Curitiba, Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). The city has also long been popular with Argentinian, US and European holiday makers, now looking for a more permanent basis. Several quaint fishing villages throughout the island are populated with globally renowned restaurants and there are 40 beaches located within close proximity of the city – several of which are popular amongst the world's professional surfing community with several competitions held throughout the year. The Hercílio Luz International Airport is located in the city (the main airport serving Santa Catarina) serves several parts of Brazil and is a short trip to São Paulo (the wealthiest city in Brazil). Florianópolis is also home to four higher education institutions including the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (the Federal University of Santa Catarina, currently rated 12th in the country in terms of academic achievement). The low presence of favelas makes the region safe and the overall literacy level is comparatively high at 97 percent. The city has a high human development index; an above average gross domestic product; an above average per capita income level; an average life expectancy level and an average infant mortality level.

With over 560 kilometres of coastline complemented by islands, bays, inlets, lagoons, monuments, mineral pools Santa Catarina continues to remain a popular visiting point for both Brazilian and foreign tourists. The main attraction is the city itself (and the surrounding beaches) as well as Garopaba (a popular surfing spot); São Joaquin (one of the only areas of Brazil that sees snow); Blumenau (home of the second biggest Oktoberfest after the one held in Germany) and Joinville (home of several festivals held throughout the year).

http://www.brazilinvestmentguide.com/state-guides/santa-cata rina/ Please click on the link above to access the ‘Santa Catarina Real Estate and Land Investor State Guide' complete with information on each of the 293 municipalities of this southern state - including an interactive map, industry backgrounds, population figures, GDP statistics, enterprise numbers, salary / per capita income levels, gini coefficients, HDI ratings and more.

Article Source: Santa Catarina, Brazil for Real Estate and Land Investors

*** BRAZIL'S MODERN DAY EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Long criticised as being comparatively inferior (particularly for the lower demographic of society) to other developing countries, Brazil has a long way to go before its compulsory education system is where it needs to be in terms of both improving the competitive intelligence of future generations and reducing poverty. The Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada indicated that the average 25-year-old in modern day Brazil has only nine years of education; 10 percent of the population is illiterate and one-in-five students are in the wrong grade for their age because they have had to repeat a year of studies.

However, Brazil does has positive educational results for the last thirty years and quantitative studies at the elementary level have illustrated that standards are improving (albeit at a slow pace). Research by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geographia e Estatística (IBGE) indicated that the issue of poor educational levels is mostly common in rural areas: statistics published in late 2007 stated that the rural population over 15 years has a mean 4.3 years of schooling while the urban mean is 7.7 years. The illiteracy rate in the rural sector is 30 percent for those over the age of 15 and only 27 percent of the 15-17 rural age group are choosing to remain in secondary education.

Conversely, World Bank data in late 2008 demonstrated that the most progress in elementary schooling between 1992 and 2001 was within the poorer part of the population (enrolment in primary education increased from 97 to 99 for the richest 20 per cent of Brazil and from 75 to 94 percent for the poorest 20 percent). The same research pointed to the fact that; because illiteracy ranges from 2.7 percent for the population aged 15-19 to 30 percent for those between 65-69; the educational dynamics of the population look set to change over time.

The number young Brazilians opting for higher education has also increased (enrolments were 1.7 million in 1994 rising to 4.9 million 2008) - however, this statistic remains lower than its South American counterparts such as Argentina and Chile.

*** THE FUTURE OF BRAZIL'S EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Whilst Goldman Sachs was the one of the first international investment banks to promote Brazil as a future economic superpower, it has been keen to stress that improvements in education are fundamental for the country to be able to maximise its future potential. It is widely thought that the average standards are not meeting the increasingly important relevance the country is having on a global scale. In the medium to long term, it is imperative that Brazil's welfare state decreases and the knowledge and skills base of the country moves the other direction.

One positive step has been to encourage more teachers to enter the profession which, in the past, has been under supplied. The setting of the salary floor at $BRL 950 per month received criticism for being too broad based and not tailored to individual municipalities (although was generally seen as a step in the right direction). Other progressive measures include funds such as FUNDEF (a sub-national grant scheme aimed at assisting primary and lower secondary education) and FUNDEB (which, by 2007, had granted more than BRL$ 30 billion for basic public education benefiting nearly 50 million students). Furthermore, in order to be eligible for the Bolsa Família grant, children aged between seven and fifteen must be enrolled in school and not miss more than 15 per cent of classes (due to the early stages of the programmes development, statistics on its effectiveness are too hard to predict, but it is claimed to have had a positive impact on school attendance levels).

At the two year anniversary of the vast oil findings off the south coast of Brazil, President Lula was seen issuing congressional bills with the intention of diverting a significant portion of the country's oil wealth towards improving education systems (amongst other welfare provisions). The ever popular national lottery in Brazil continues to donate over 5 percent of its profits to the Ministry of Education. There have also been a number of the country's leading companies (including Embraer, Petrobras, Randon and Vale) developing their own educational establishments to improve skills shortage gaps.

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Article Source: Economic Growth in Brazil - Improving the Education of Future Generations