Canoas

Canoas
Canoas
Municipality
	From top to bottom, left to right: Praça do Avião; Ulbra Campus; ; Historical Railway Station; Canoas Air Base; ; ParkShopping Canoas; City Downtown; .
	UTC-2 (BRST)
Website	canoas.rs.gov.br

Canoas (Portuguese pronunciation:

canoes in the area. It is the second largest city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area, with the third-largest population and the third-highest GDP in the state. It is also ranked as the 79th most populous city in Brazil

.

Canoas is an industrial and educational hub, drawing residents from surrounding municipalities. It hosts a campus of the

Ulbra, UniRitter, Universidade La Salle, and IPUC. The city is positioned at an elevation of eight meters above sea level, and is distinguished by the Gravataí and Sinos

rivers that traverse its landscape.

Etymology

The city's name, Canoas, which means

canoes in Portuguese, traces back to the area's early settlement period during the construction of the railway line from Porto Alegre to São Leopoldo in 1874. A significant local event was the use of a large timbaúva tree (Enterolobium contortisiliquum)

for constructing vessels on what was then the Gravataí Farm. This site became known as Capão das Canoas, influencing the names of the railway station and subsequent settlement. The timbaúva tree is also recognized as the city's symbolic tree.

History

The region that is now Canoas was originally inhabited by the Tapes

Portuguese explorers and settlers in the early 18th century. Francisco Pinto Bandeira, a notable early settler, established the Gravataí Farm in the area by 1733

. Over the following decades, the farm was subdivided and sold in smaller plots, leading to increased settlement.

The construction of the railway in 1871 to connect São Leopoldo and Porto Alegre marked a pivotal development for the area. The establishment of a railway station in 1874 catalyzed the growth of the settlement that would become Canoas. The use of local timber for canoe making at the station helped name the area Capão das Canoas.

Significant growth continued into the 20th century with the arrival of the Lasallian brothers in 1908, who founded a school that offered agricultural, primary, and secondary education. The military also played a crucial role in the city's development, particularly with the establishment of the 3rd Military Aviation Regiment in 1937, which was instrumental in advocating for the city's emancipation. Canoas officially became a city in 1939 and continued to expand rapidly, especially from the 1970s onwards, establishing itself as a key economic player in the state.