Mato Grosso Plateau

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Lore & Background

The state of Mato Grosso was split in 1977, and the neighboring state of Mato Grosso do Sul was created from the other part of its territory. The biologically rich Pantanal, one of the world's largest wetland/prairie ecosystems, is located within this state. The Paraguay basin is rich in the number and diversity of fish (around 230 species), a fascinating place for fishermen and scholars. The fishing industry in the Pantanal plays an important role in the region's economy and, for local people, fish is a staple food. The Pantanal has a habitat similar to the Everglades in Florida in the United States, although the Pantanal is much larger. This historically remote area attracted expeditions of exploration in the early 20th century that sought to find lost civilizations. A notable example was British Captain Percy Fawcett's expedition to find the Lost City of Z which he believed existed in the jungles of Brazil. Certain proponents of the Hollow Earth hypothesis speculated that the region had sites of access to the interior of the earth and its settlements.

Reader's Guide

The Mato Grosso Plateau is a geographical region within the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The state covers an area of 903,357 square kilometers and is divided into 142 municipalities. Agriculture is the largest component of the state's GDP at 40.8%, followed by the service sector at 40.2%. Mato Grosso's major exports include soybeans (83%), wood (5.6%), meats (4.8%), and cotton (3.3%) (2002). In 2020, Mato Grosso was the leader in national grain production, with 28.0%. It's the largest producer of soy in Brazil, with 26.9% of the total produced in 2020 (33.0 million tons); the largest producer of maize in the country; the largest producer of cotton in Brazil, with around 65% of national production (1.8 out of the 2.8 million tons harvested in the country). The extreme northwest of the state has a small part of the Amazonian forest. The Xingu Indigenous Park and the Araguaia River are in Mato Grosso. Farther south, the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, is the habitat for nearly one thousand species of animals and many aquatic birds.

Did You Know?

• The state of Mato Grosso is roughly 82.2% of the size of its southwest neighbor, the nation of Bolivia.
• The Pantanal, located in Mato Grosso, is the world's largest wetland and is home to nearly one thousand species of animals.
• The Paraguay basin in the Pantanal contains around 230 species of fish.
• In 1977, the state was split into two halves, creating the neighboring state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
• British Captain Percy Fawcett led an expedition in the early 20th century to find the Lost City of Z in the jungles of Brazil.