Pelotas is a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul with more than 300 thousand inhabitants, situated 250 km from state capital, Porto Alegre. Pelotas is on the coast of Lagoa dos Patos, and has a rich historical and cultural architectonic patrimony, maintaining strong features of its European colonization are reflected in its gastronomy. The economy of the city is mainly agribusiness-and-trade-based. Pelotas is considered a student city because of the three cities found there. Pelotas is a national historical and artistic patrimony, and also a cultural patrimony of the state. The city has a lot of listed buildings due to their historical and cultural values.

Five roads enable transport to neighbouring cities as well as Uruguay and Argentina. The city also has a port that leads to the Atlantic Ocean, and an airport with daily commercial planes to the capital city of RS.

Main cities and distances from Pelotas:

• Rio Grande do Sul:
  Chuí - 275 km (approx. 170,9 (171) miles )
  Gramado - 376 km (approx. 233,7 (234) miles)
  Jaguarão - 145 km (approx. 90,1 (90) miles)
  Porto Alegre - 249 km (approx. 154,7 (155) miles)
  Rio Grande - 59 km (approx. 36,7 (37) miles)
  Uruguay:
  Punta de Leste - 450 km (approx. 279,7 (280) miles)
  Montevideo - 650 km (approx. 404 miles)
  Argentina:
  Buenos Aires - 1388 km(approx. 862,6 (863) miles)
  

Natural Beuties

• Pelotas is a city surrounded by a lagoon and rivers, such as Lagoa dos Patos, Canal São Gonçalo and Arroio Pelotas. The first is one of the biggest lagoons in the world, and it is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, which brings a variety of seafood for local fishermen, such as saltwater fish and shrimps. Lagoa dos Patos originated Laranjal, which is a neighborhood located about 7,4 miles of the city center, and it consists of four beaches: Santo Antônio, Valverde, Balneário dos Prazeres and Colônia dos Pescadores Z3. Canal São Gonçalo is one of the most important natural Brazilian waterways, which connects Lagoa dos Patos to Lagoa Mirim and enables the fluvial access from Pelotas to Uruguay. Finally, Arroio Pelotas is a river where people may practice navigation as leisure and sport activities, besides going fishing.
  

Gastronomy

• Known as the National Capital City of Sweets, Pelotas keeps the tradition of its first Portuguese immigrants in preparing traditional sweets that have, as their main ingredient, eggs. The main traditional recipes of these kinds of sweets are Ninhos, Fios-de-Ovos (Eggs strands or Angel hair), Babas-de-Moça, Camafeus, Papos-de-Anjo (Angel’s double chin), Canudinhos recheados and Pastéis de Santa Clara. There are innumerous specialized shops that sell those sweets. Besides, every year, people responsible for shopping and selling, together with specialized sweet stores promote the National Sweet Marketplace, known as Fenadoce, which attracts a lot of tourists who search those Portuguese traditional sweets.
  

Economy

• The economic capacity of Pelotas is for agribusiness and trade. The region around the city is the biggest producer of peaches for the Brazilian conserves industry. The city contributes to about 30% of the state rice production, and it keeps a huge and qualified cattle, besides having the biggest milk production at RS.
  

UFPel

• In 2011, the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) enrolled 17 thousand students, divided into Postgraduate (2 thousand students) and Undergraduate (15 thousand students) courses. Nowadays, the University offers 90 undergraduate courses, 13 PhD courses, 27 Master’s courses, 22 Specialization courses, 5 Distance learning courses and 7 Medical residencies.