Londrina - The Brazilian "Little London"

[Yuri S Andrade]

LONDRINA is a city in Paraná state, southern Brazil. The city was founded by the British in 1929 (incorporation/emancipation 1934), in the middle of the Tropical Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica) and that's why the name (Londrina means "Londoner" in Portuguese).

Despite the British beggining, today the city is mainly Italian, with big German, Portuguese, Spaniard and Arab communities. But the Japanese are special: they are 25,000 in the city, which makes Londrina one of the biggest Japanese cities in the world outside Japan, along with São Paulo (the biggest), New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver. There are also smaller Dutch, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Chinese, Argentinian, British and Jewish communities as well.

The agrobusiness has an important role in the city's economy. Paraná state, despite comprising only 2% of Brazilian area, produces 25% of the food.

Some quick facts:

Population (2009):
Municipality: 510,707
Metro Area: 766,682

Area:
Municipality: 1,650 km²
Metro Area: 4,285 km²

GDP nominal (2006):
Municipality: US$ 4,292,653,000.00
Metro Area: US$ 6,372,097,000.00

Elevation: 615 m

Climate:
Year
Max.avg.: 27.3°C
Min.avg.: 16.0°C
Precipitation: 1,588 mm

January
Max.avg.: 29.6°C
Min.avg.: 19.6°C
Precipitation: 211.4 mm

July
Max.avg.: 22.5°C
Min.avg.: 11.5°C
Precipitation: 65.0 mm

Ethnic Composition (2000 Census):
White: 74.2% (mainly Italian, but also, Portuguese, German and Spaniard)
Mixed: 18.4% (Mixed White, Amerindian and Black)
Asian: 3.5% (Japanese)
Black: 3.4%

HDI (2006): 0.857 (Brazil: 0.807)

Londrina's place in the world:
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That's the Londrina Central Quadrilateral (about 3km E-W to 2km N-S). That was the designed approved in London for Londrina in 1929:
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Skyline from South:
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From Southwest:
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The West part of the skyline as seen from South:
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From air (from North and West):
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Londrina's mosaic:
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That's Londrina's booming district, called Gleba Palhano. That's in South side of the lake (opposite to Downtown):
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More skylines (from West, 15 and 16 and from the South, 17, 18 and 19):
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Downtown: Cathedral, Old Train Station, Bus Station (Oscar Niemeyer project) and Japanese Immigrant Square:
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Londrina's red soil. That's explain why people from different parts of the world moved in:
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Londrina from a plane:
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Some random buildings:
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McDonald's
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Londrina's Airport (520.000 passengers/2008) and Catuaí Shopping, 82,000 m² (930,000 sq ft) GLA (Gross Leseable Area), the biggest shopping mall in southern Brasil and the 7th in the country.
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The Italian Londrina

By far, the Italians are the biggest immigrant community in Londrina, being individually the biggest ethnic/cultural gropu of the city. Italian consulate in Londrina estimates that 35% of people in North Paraná state could apply to the Italian citizenship. We are talking about 1,000,000 Italians in northern Paraná state only. Despite the big number, besides the surnames of the londrinenses, and some cultural habits, the Italians didn't leave physical signs of their presence, that's why no photos in that topic.


The German Londrina

A huge wave of German immigrants arrived in the Londrina area, since the first slling of landing by the British. Part of the legacy can be found on the places name like: "Warta", a rural district of Londrina, settled inicially by Poles (Warta was named after a river in Poland) and Czech in 1932, and after settled by Germans; "Heimtal", former-rural disctrict, now incorporated in Londrina urban area; Cambé (97,329 people, 10 km west of Londrina), until 1942 called "Nova Dantzig", and change your name because the Second World War; and finally "Rolândia" (56,352 people, 20 km west of Londrina), name came from the warrior Roland (germanic mythology). Rolândia organizes one of the biggest Oktoberfest in Brazil and hold a German consulate.

Schoenstatt Sanctuary, with its typical tyrolean style chapel, inside a Catholic convent and school. Once a month they delivery a mass in German.
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Warta:
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Rolândia:
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The Japanese Londrina

As I mentioned in the beggining of the thread, Londrina has one of the biggest Japanese communities of the whole world, together with São Paulo (biggest), New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Tomi Nakagawa Square inaugurated in 2008, celebrating the IMIN 100 (100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil), with the presence of the Crown Prince of Japan, Naruhito:
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The Arabian Londrina

Londrina has also one sizeable Arab community, mostly Lebanese. The majority are Catholic, but there is also a small Muslim community. Mosque King Fassal:
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Flickr by Gilberto Abelha


The British Londrina

As I said in the begging, few British stayed in the area, and that's why the current British community are very small.

However I found one very interesting photo taken in the 30's, with teh British tennis court. Today, that's the place of the Londrina's Public Library. Note the Atlantic Subtropical Rainforest around:

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Public phone nearby Lake Igapó II
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Flickr by Miamalu

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Flickr by Miamalu


The Portuguese and the Spanish Londrina

Like I said in the beggining of the thread, Portuguese and Spanish have a strong presence in Londrina area. However, in the same way as Italians, they didn't leave physical signs, just some cultural habits, restaurants, etc. Londrina has also Portuguese and Spanish consulates.

The author of this thread is also part of both communities. I have 4 Portuguese great grandparents by father side and one Spanish grandfather and one Portuguese grandmother by my mother's side.

Ah, I almost forgot about "Portuguesa Londrinense", the second most important football team of Londrina, behind "Londrina Esporte Clube". Portuguesa Londrinense's badge:

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Part of the photos are mine. The rest was taken from SSC Brazil forums. For more Londrina's photos, visit the "SSC Brasil Sul Forum". There are several Londrina's threads there:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1117

The majority of the photos were download in 2007, so I don't have the sources.

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--- MORE PHOTOS ON PAGES 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 ---

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SEE ALSO: Londrina - The Brazilian "Little London II


All the photos there are mine.