Area: 881,000sq.km/ 340,000sq.miles

Population: 11,480,000

Capital: Cuiaba

TheState pf Matto Grosso(the name means "primeval forest") in central Brazil is surrounded (in clockwise order by Rondonia, Amazonas, Para, Tocantins and Goias (beyond the Rio Araguaia) and Mato Grosso do Sul. On the south-west it is bordered by Bolivia. The northern part of the state is in the Amazonian rain forst belt the south merges gradually into savanah and finally into the swampland of the Pantanal.

The first settlers and founders of towns in the Mato Grosso, in the early 18th century, were gold prospectors from eastern Brazil. Soon afterwards cattle farming developed to meet the needs of the immigrants, and this is still an important element in the economy, to which arable farming and forestry also make major contributions. In 1979 the southern part of the state was hived off and became the independent state of Mato Grosso do Sul.