Dourados is a Brazilian municipality, situated in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Southwest of Campo Grande. It has a population of about 210,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture and in cattle ranching. Dourados is also the second most populous and important city of this state. Its media, commerce, and services more than take care of the thirty cities of Mato Grosso do Sul, including a part of Paraguay. For its size and importance, it is an economic and social capital of a region that possesses approximately a million inhabitants. Its development was slow until the first half of the 20th century, because of transportation limitations, especially with Campo Grande and the State of São Paulo. From 1950, it increased its development with the construction of roads. With this, it received migrants from other parts of the country and immigrants. The city has a close relationship with Paraguay its next door neighbor, which is away. This is a strong factor in the ethnic and cultural union between the city and the neighboring country. This explains why 30% of the inhabitants of Dourados have some Paraguayan family link.
Fun
Dourados has a modern shopping mall with 191 stores and 500 parking spaces. This city also offers to its citizens recreational parks and squares. Dourados is well-served with many other shops, including those selling top Brazilian jeanswear brands such as Forum, Triton and Ellus and the middle-market clothes and homewares store Riachuelo. There are nightclubs and many restaurants in the city centre which offer a broad range of cuisines including a number of Churrascarias as well as Pizza parlours and numerous places catering to the substantial Japanese community. On Saturday night and Sunday morning there is a large open-air market offering locally produced fruits and vegetables. At the Feira there are restaurants providing Brazilian and Japanese food as well as stalls selling popular local delicacies such as sugarcane juice, Doce de Leite and cocada. Many locals make regular trips to the Paraguayan border town of Ponta Porã/Pedro Juan Caballero where they are able to buy relatively low-cost low-duty imported items such as electronic goods, perfumes and designer clothing.
Education
Dourados has five universities, and more than 200 schools, and is considered an education pole of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
