PORTO ALEGRE, a city and port of Brazil, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, at the northern extremity of LagOa dos Patos on the eastern shore of an estuary called Rio Guahyba, about loom. from the port of Rio Grande do Sul at the entrance to the lake. The pop. (190o, 73,574; 1932 est., 293,82o) con tains a large foreign element, chiefly German and Italian. The city has rail connection with all the main lines in the state. The Rio Guahyba, which is not a river, was once called "Viamdo" because its outline is roughly that of the human hand, the rivers entering the estuary at its head corresponding to the fingers. The lower channels of these rivers (the Gravaty, Sinos, Cahy, Jacuhy and Taquary) are all navigable. Foreign trade is limited to light draught steamers able to cross the bar at the entrance to the lake.
The city occupies a tongue of land projecting into the estuary, and extends along its shores. The climate is cool and bracing in winter but insufferably hot in summer. The mean annual temper ature is slightly under 69° F, the average maximum being a little over 82° and the average minimum 59°. The annual rainfall is
about 3o -in. The city is laid out with broad streets. It is the chief commercial centre of the state; has shipbuilding yards, and manufactures cotton fabrics, boots and shoes, iron safes and stoves, carriages, furniture, butter and cheese, macaroni, preserves, candles, soap and paper.
Porto Alegre was founded in 1743 by immigrants from the Azores and was first known as Porto dos Cazaes. It was made a villa in 1803, and in 1807 the transfer of the capital from Rio Grande to Porto Alegre was officially recognized. In 1822 it was raised to the rank of a city, and in 1841, as a reward for its loyalty in revolutionary wars of that province, it was distinguished by the title of teal e valorosa (loyal and valorous). The first German immigrants to settle near Porto Alegre arrived in 1825, and much of its prosperity and commercial standing is due to the German element.