Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul

Area: 8118 km²
Population: 705 975 inhab. (est. 2003).
See Map of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The name Campo Grande means "Big Field". As this is a generic name, there are other smaller cities and districts around Brazil with the same name, including a Campo Grande district in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, is the point of departure to some other important ecotourism destinations.
It’s 140 km far from Aquidauna, 210 km far from Miranda and 440 km far from Corumbá, cities considered as entries to the South of Pantanal. And it’s 280 km far from Bonito, one of the most popular eco-tourism destinations in Brazil. Campo Grande is also on the way of the many backpackers who are coming and going on the route to La Paz, in Bolivia, and Machu Pichu, in Peru.
It’s a modern city. It has large avenues, a lot of hotels and a good commerce and services infrastructure. At the same time, the regional culture is very present in typical food restaurants and local craft shops.
It is a flat city, with tree-lined streets and avenues and a population that largely consists of migrants from various parts of Brazil, as well as Japanese, Arabs, Paraguayans and Bolivians. The city saw an economic boost a few decades ago, when the government stimulated the occupation of the Brazilian central area.

One of its main attractions is the Parque dos Poderes, seat of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Powers of the government of Mato Grosso do Sul, situated in the heart of an ecological reserve. Next door to the government buildings, one can visit the Palácio da Cultura Popular, with performances and artcrafts of popular regional artists.

Campo Grande in the map of Brazil

Campo Grande contains one of the most complete museums of natural history and native culture in Brazil, the Dom Bosco Museum, also known as Indian Museum, part of the complex of the Dom Bosco Catholic University (in Portuguese, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco - UCDB); the UCDB is maintained by the Salesian Mission, and was the first center of high learning in the State. Situated in Rua 14 de Julho, the city's main street, the Dom Bosco Museum houses exhibits relating to the tribes that inhabited the region, such as the Bororo, Xavante, Carajá and Terena, collected by priests of the Salesian Order.
Also in the city is the Parque do Prosa, a central park with running tracks, lakes, an acoustic shell and restaurants; the Solar do Baís, or Pensão Pimentel, is one of the capital's historical features, with neo-classical facades and iron fanlights over the doors. The city's first building, the Pensão Pimentel was built near to the track of the North-West Railway and was a hotel between 1938 and 1979 before being registered and restored. Nowadays it is a cultural centre and tourist office with a bar and restaurant where some of the region's typical dishes can be sampled.

Read more:
Campo Grande official site. Maintained by the city government.
Guide Campo Grande. Commercial information. In Portuguese only.
Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul. The Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, campus of Campo Grande.


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