Mato Grosso do Sul ( , ; ) is one of Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and Minas Gerais (northeast), São Paulo (east) and Paraná (southeast); and two South American countries: Paraguay (south and southwestern) and Bolivia (west). It is divided into 79 municipalities and covers an area of 357,145.532 square kilometers, which is about the same size as Germany. With a population of 2,946,317 inhabitants in 2026, Mato Grosso do Sul is the 21st most populous state in Brazil.
Campo Grande is the capital and largest city of Mato Grosso do Sul. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising. Crossed in the south by the Tropic of Capricorn, Mato Grosso do Sul generally has a warm, sometimes hot, and humid climate, and is crossed by numerous tributaries of the Paraná River. The state has 1.3% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.5% of the Brazilian GDP. Mato Grosso do Sul is also known for its natural environment, and is a destination for domestic and international tourism. The Pantanal lowlands cover 12 municipalities and presents a variety of flora and fauna, with forests, natural sand banks, savannahs, open pasture, fields and bushes. The city Bonito, in the mountain of Bodoquena, has prehistoric caves, natural rivers, waterfalls, swimming pools and the Gruta do Lago Azul cave.
The name Mato Grosso do Sul is Portuguese for "Southern Thick Bush"; the name is inherited from its northern neighbour state of Mato Grosso, from which its split begun on 11 October 1977 and was finalised on 1 January 1979. The state is still commonly referred to as "Mato Grosso" in colloquial speech. Other names that were proposed, at the time of the split and afterwards, include "Pantanal" (a reference to its best known geographical feature) and "Maracaju" (a reference to the Maracaju Mountain Range that crosses the state from north to south).
Geography Climate
Mato Grosso do Sul has humid subtropical and tropical climates. The average annual rainfall is 1471.1 mm. January is the warmest month, with mean maximum of 34 °C (93.2 °F) and minimum of 24 °C (75.2 °F) and more rain; July experiences the coldest temperatures, with mean maximum of 25 °C (77 °F) and minimum of -2,0 °C (28 °F) and sun.
Vegetation The state is located in western Brazil, in a region mostly occupied by the inland marshes of the Pantanal and the cerrado ecosystems.
The cerrado landscape is characterized by extensive savanna formations crossed by gallery forests and stream valleys. This ecosystem includes various types of vegetation. Humid fields and "buriti" palm paths are found where the water table is near the surface. Alpine pastures occur at higher altitudes, and mesophytic forests grow on more fertile soils. The "cerrado" trees have distinctive twisted trunks covered in thick bark, and their leaves are typically broad and rigid. Many herbaceous plants have extensive roots to store water and nutrients. The plants' thick bark and roots serve as adaptations to the periodic fires that sweep through the cerrado landscape, protecting them from destruction and allowing them to sprout again after the fire.
Agriculture and cattle ranching are major drivers of deforestation in Mato Grosso do Sul. In 2024, over 90,000 hectares of primary forest were deforested. The Pantanal biome has also suffered from increasingly damaging forest fires due to increasing land clearing using fire, combined with drier conditions due to climate change.
The highest elevation is the 1,065 m high Morro Grande.
History In the 1630s, the Jesuits also established short-lived missions among the Guaraní people in the Itatín region of present-day Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. They were destroyed by Bandeirantes and revolts by the indigenous people.
The first peoples or indigenous peoples of Mato Grosso do Sul, particularly occupying the Nhande Ru Marangatu tropical rainforested area, are the Guarani-Kaiowá, first contacted by non-indigenous peoples in the 1800s.
On October 11, 1977, the state was created by dividing the state of Mato Grosso. Its status as a state went into full effect two years later on January 1, 1979. The new state also incorporated the entirety of the former territory of Ponta Porã.
Demographics According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 2,372,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 6.4 inhabitants/km2.
Urbanization: 84.7% (2006); Population growth: 1.7% (1991–2000); Houses: 689,000 (2006)Source: PNAD.
The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 1,293,797 Brown (Multiracial) people (46.9%), 1,168,407 White people (42.4%), 179,101 Black people (6.5%), 96,029 Amerindian people (3.5%), 19,616 Asian people (0.7%).
In the Cerrado areas, mostly in the south, central and east, there is a predominance of Southern Brazilian farmers of Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian and Slavic descent.
According to an autosomal DNA study from 2008, the ancestral composition of Mato Grosso do Sul is 73.60% European, 13.90% African and 12.40% Native American. Additionally, according to a different 2013 DNA study, the ancestral composition of Mato Grosso do Sul is: 58.8% European, 25.9% Amerindian and 15.3% African ancestries, respectively.Revisiting the Genetic Ancestry of Brazilians Using Autosomal AIM-Indels
Largest cities
Education
There are more than 44 universities in whole state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Educational institutions
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) (Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul) Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS) (Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Mato Grosso do Sul) Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) (State University of Mato Grosso do Sul) Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD) (Federal University of Dourados Region) Universidade Católica Dom Bosco (UCDB) (Dom Bosco Catholic University) Universidade para o Desenvolvimento do Estado e da Região do Pantanal (Uniderp) (University for the Development of the State and Region of the Pantanal)
Economy The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 46.1%, followed by the industrial sector at 22.7%. Agriculture represents 31.2%, of GDP (2004). Mato Grosso do Sul exports: soybeans 34.9%, pork and chicken 20.9%, beef 13.7%, ores 8%, leather 7.4%, timber 5.1% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 1% (2005). Agriculture
According to data from 2020, if Mato Grosso do Sul were a country, it would be the world's fifth largest producer of oilseeds.MS deve registrar maior safra de soja da história e produção pode chegar a mais de 11 milhões de toneladas In 2020, Mato Grosso do Sul was the 5th biggest grain producer in the country, with 7.9%.IBGE prevê safra recorde de grãos em 2020 In soy, produced 10.5 million tons in 2020, one of the largest producing states in Brazil, around 5th place.Produção de 10 milhões de toneladas confirma safra recorde de soja em Mato Grosso do Sul It is the 4th largest producer of sugarcane, with around 49 million tons harvested in the 2019/20 harvest. In 2019, Mato Grosso do Sul was also one of the largest producers of maize in the country with 10,1 million tons.Produção de milho em MS pode chegar a mais de 10 milhões de toneladas In cassava production, Brazil produced a total of 17.6 million tons in 2018. Mato Grosso do Sul was the 6th largest producer in the country, with 721 thousand tons.Produção brasileira de mandioca em 2018
Livestock
The state has the 4th largest cattle herd in Brazil, with a total of 21.4 million head of cattle.Com quarto maior rebanho bovino do país, MS recebe evento para debater todos os elos da cadeia produtiva The state is a major exporter of beef, but also poultry and pork. In poultry farming, the state had, in 2017, a flock of 22 million birds.Com um rebanho de 22 milhões de aves, setor avícola gera 8,8 mil empregos diretos em MS In pork, in 2019, Mato Grosso do Sul slaughtered more than 2 million animals. The state occupies the 7th Brazilian position in pig farming, moving towards becoming the 4th largest Brazilian producer in the coming years.MS caminha para se tornar o 4º maior produtor de suínos do país
Mining
In 2017, Mato Grosso do Sul had 0.71% of the national mineral participation (6th place in the country). Mato Grosso do Sul had production of iron (3.1 million tons at a value of R$324 million) and manganese (648 thousand tons at a value of R$299 million).Algumas Gemas Clássicas
Industry
Mato Grosso do Sul had an industrial GDP of R $19.1 billion in 2017, equivalent to 1.6% of the national industry. It employs 122,162 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: Public Utility Industrial Services, such as Electricity and Water (23.2%), Construction (20.8%), Food (15.8%), Pulp and Paper (15.1%) and Petroleum Derivatives and Biofuels (12.5%). These 5 sectors concentrate 87.4% of the state's industry.Industry Profile of Mato Grosso do Sul
In the city of Três Lagoas, the production of paper and cellulose is considerable. Mato Grosso do Sul recorded growth above the national average in the production of cellulose, reached the mark of 1 million hectares of planted eucalyptus, expanded its industrial park in the sector and consolidated itself as the largest exporter of the product in the country in the first quarter of 2020. Between 2010 and 2018, production in the south of Mato Grosso increased by 308%, reaching 17 million cubic meters of round wood for paper and cellulose in 2018. In 2019, Mato Grosso do Sul reached the leadership of exports in the product in the country, with 9.7 million tons traded: 22.20% of the total Brazilian pulp exports that year.MS se consolida como maior exportador de celulose do país
Infrastructure
In 2022, Mato Grosso do Sul had, between municipal, Mato Grosso do Sul state and federal highways, 45,176.8 km of municipal highways, 15,084.0 km of Mato Grosso do Sul state highways and 3,197.6 km of federal highways. In 2022 there were about 8,000 km of paved roads (between state and federal highways).Quadro Resumo de Rede Rodoviária Estadual e Municipal de MSMapa de Manutenção Rodoviária Mato Grosso do Sul Maio 2022 In BR-163 there were about 120 km of duplicated highways in 2022, with future planning to have a total of 847 km of duplications, crossing the entire state. Other important highways in the state are BR-262, BR-060 and BR-267. As it is a state that only became more populated in the 1970s, its transport network is in a clear process of evolution, and it continues to be a low-density road network.Duplicação da BR-163 não é mais necessária, diz CCR
The state also has two railway lines: the Estrada de Ferro Noroeste do Brasil, which connects the center-west of the state of São Paulo with the city of Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul, on the Paraguay River, with 1,330 kilometers in length; and Ferrovia Norte Brasil, which has connected the city of Santa Fé do Sul with Rondonópolis since 1989, being one of the main corridors for the flow of grain in the region, with 755 kilometers connect the northwest of São Paulo with the south of Mato Grosso.Ferrovia Mato Grosso do Sul: conheça tudo sobre!