Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre ( UK: /ˌpɔːrtuː əˈlɛɡreɪ/, US: /- ɑːˈleɪɡri, ˌpɔːrtoʊ əˈlɛɡrə/, Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈpoʁtu aˈlɛɡɾi, -tw aˈ-], locally [ˈpoɾ-] ; lit. 'Joyful Harbor') is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the 11th-most populous city in the country and the centre of Brazil's fifth-largest metropolitan area, with 4.1 million inhabitants (2022). The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian state.

Porto Alegre was founded in 1769 by Manuel Jorge Gomes de Sepúlveda, who used the pseudonym José Marcelino de Figueiredo to hide his identity; the official date, though, is 1772 with the act signed by immigrants from the Azores, Portugal.