Geography
Located in the Itajaà Valley, Blumenau is the 3rd biggest city in Santa Catarina State, with approximately 298,603 inhabitants 2006. The city is in an average altitude of 14 meters above the sea level and its municipality has 510 square kilometers.
Understand
Blumenau and the surrounding regions became home to a large number of German immigrants in the late 19th century, leading to a culture that's distinctly different from the common image of Brazil. After Germans, the second largest ethnic group is Italians.
The Oktoberfest is held every year in October, and is the world's second largest beer festival. It attracts over one million tourists during the sixteen or seventeen days it's held.
History
In September 2nd, 1850 the German immigrant Bruno Otto Hermann Blumenau settled on the site of modern-day Blumenau, on the shores of the ItajaÃ-Açu river. He came with another 17 immigrants and intended to developed a farming colony, but due to the rugged terrain, the development of industries came more natural to the region.
Throughout its history, the city suffered many major floods, with severe ones in 1983 and 1984. After some economic stagnation in the 1990s, the city is now thriving again, becoming also one of the major software developing areas in Brazil.
At the end of November 2008, the city suffered another major flood caused by 3 months of rain. The rain damaged the entire state of Santa Catarina, but Blumenau went down, with streets full of water, mud, and a lot of landslides which caused dozens of deaths. But with the help of donations from Brazilians across the country and international help from Germany, which donated two hundred thousand euros, the city has been rebuilding.