Dourados

Dourados
Municipality
Municipality of Dourados
Flag Coat of arms
Nicknames:  Model City Mercosul Portal
Motto:  Terra de Antônio João
Location in Mato Grosso do Sul
Dourados Location within Brazil
Coordinates: 22°13′15″S 54°48′21″W
Country	Brazil
State	Mato Grosso do Sul
Founded	June 15, 1914
Emancipated	December 20, 1935
Government
• Mayor	Marçal Filho (2025–2028) (PSDB)
Area
• Municipality	4,062.236 km2 (1,568.438 sq mi)
• Land	4,062.236 km2 (1,568.438 sq mi)
• Urban	205.990 km2 (79.533 sq mi)
Elevation	430 m (1,410 ft)
Population  (2026)
• Municipality	266,950
• Density	65.715/km2 (170.20/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−4 (AMT)
Postal code	79.800-000 to 79.849-999
Area code	67
HDI (2010)	0.747 – high
Gini	0.52
GDP (2023)	R$ 20.26 billion
GDP per capita (2023)	R$ 83,240.35
Website	www.dourados.ms.gov.br

Dourados is a city and municipality in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Central-West Region of Brazil. It is the most populous municipality in the interior of the state and the second most populous in Mato Grosso do Sul, behind only the capital, Campo Grande.

The municipality lies between the Serra de Maracaju and the Paraná River basin, forming part of the Dourados intermediate geographic region and the immediate geographic region of the same name. As in the rest of the state, its characteristic drink is tereré, which is easy to prepare and is drunk mainly at informal gatherings among family and friends.

Founded in 1935, Dourados developed slowly until the second half of the 20th century, owing to the deficiencies of transport and communication routes with other cities and states. In the 1940s, the city already had 14,985 inhabitants. From the 1950s, with the opening of highways, its development accelerated and Dourados became an important agricultural and services center from then on. In the 1960s the municipality already had 84,955 inhabitants (466.9% more than in 1940), being at that time the most populous municipality in all of Mato Grosso (then surpassing Campo Grande and Cuiabá). In the 1980s its population totaled 106,483 inhabitants, a growth of 34.5% over the previous decade. In the 1990s, in addition to the growth of agriculture, the commercial and service development of the urban area was decisive for Dourados to consolidate itself as a center of services and agriculture. In the 2000s there were already 164,700 inhabitants (54.7% growth in twenty years). In the following ten years there was an increase of 19% in its population, which totaled almost 200,000 inhabitants. In more than 70 years of existence, the city of Dourados had a total demographic growth of 1,208.4% between 1940 and 2010. Today the city is an important regional hub of services and agriculture for a region with about 1 million inhabitants, including part of Paraguay, which earned it the nickname "Gateway to Mercosur".

In the 2022 Brazilian census, the municipality had 243,367 inhabitants, with a population density of 59.91 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the IBGE estimate for July 1, 2026, is 266,950 inhabitants. In 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Dourados at current prices was R$ 20.26 billion, the second largest in Mato Grosso do Sul, with a GDP per capita of R$ 83,240.35. The city also had the 114th largest consumption potential (IPC Marketing) among all Brazilian cities in 2014, with an index of 0.128%; in the state it ranked second. The city is also the 129th least violent among Brazilian municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants considering deaths by aggression (homicides) and violent deaths from undetermined causes, having recorded 60 killings (28.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) according to a study by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea).

The municipality is an educational and university hub of Mato Grosso do Sul, hosting institutions such as the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) and the University Center of Grande Dourados (UNIGRAN), as well as a campus of the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS), which offers technical and higher education courses.

Etymology

The toponym derives from the Dourados River, next to which the population nucleus of São João Batista de Dourados formed in the first half of the 19th century, giving origin to the settlement. The demonym of the natives of the municipality is douradense.

History

In 1870, with the end of the Paraguayan War, a more effective settlement of this region began, which had also been traversed by Spaniards and bandeirantes in search of natural riches. In 1884, the village of São João Batista de Dourados was formed, near the Dourados River.

The first penetrations into the region of the present-day municipality were recorded in the first half of the 19th century, in the habitat of the Caiuá people. On May 10, 1831, according to some authors, or in 1861, according to others, the military colony of Dourados was founded, on a plateau of the Serra do Amambaí, near the largest of the three headwaters of the Dourados River; the colony was commanded by Antônio João when the Paraguayan invasion of 1864 occurred.

In 1909, about 50 pioneers — among them Marcelino Pires, Januário Pereira de Araújo and Joaquim Teixeira Alves — began work to form the patrimony. By Law No. 658 of June 15, 1914, Dourados was elevated to a district of the municipality of Ponta Porã, and its area included the two police districts existing at the time (created in 1910). It was then that the Peace District emerged. At that time some people had already settled with their families in the region.

In 1910, Marcelino Pires, owner of the Alvorada farm, donated part of his lands — including the place where Antônio João fell — for the creation of the Patrimony of Dourados; the first house built belonged to Januário de Araújo. The patrimony was expanded in 1915 by State Decree No. 401, which set aside 37,600 hectares, reduced to 20,000 hectares in 1932 by Decree No. 122. From 1942, the municipality had great development with the founding of the Dourados National Agricultural Colony and the beginning of the construction of the BR-16 highway.

The village was developing when, by state decree No. 30 of December 20, 1935, the municipality of Dourados was officially created, being separated from Ponta Porã on January 22, 1936. Its first appointed mayor was João Vicente Ferreira. On September 13, 1943, the Federal Territory of Ponta Porã was created by president Getúlio Vargas, comprising the municipalities of Dourados, Porto Murtinho, Miranda, Nioaque, Bela Vista, Ponta Porã, Maracaju and Bonito (with Ponta Porã as its capital). It lasted only three years (1943 to 1946), being returned to the state of Mato Grosso on January 7, 1947. In 1960 the municipality already had 84,955 inhabitants, being at that time the most populous municipality in all of Mato Grosso (then surpassing Campo Grande and Cuiabá).

On October 11, 1977, Dourados became part of the present-day state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Administrative formation

The district of Dourados was created by state law No. 658 of June 15, 1914, subordinated to the municipality of Ponta Porã, and the municipality was separated from Ponta Porã by Decree No. 30 of December 20, 1935, with installation on January 22, 1936. The seat received city status by Decree No. 208 of October 26, 1938, and the municipality has been the seat of a judicial district since March 12, 1946.

Before the changes in its administrative composition that occurred from 1963, the municipality had an area of 13,244 km². Over the following decades, successive separations gave origin to municipalities such as Glória de Dourados, Douradina and Angélica, reducing the territory to its current configuration, formed by the districts of Dourados (seat), Guaçu, Indápolis, Itaum, Panambi, Picadinha, São Pedro, Vila Formosa and Vila Vargas.

Immigration

From the 1950s the city began to receive a large flow of migrants from various parts of Brazil and also immigrants. These newcomers occupied various regions of the municipality. Its settlement was carried out mainly:

• by the settlement of ex-combatants;
• by the arrival of gaúchos, mostly fugitives from the consequences of the Federalist Revolution, which occurred in Rio Grande do Sul between 1893 and 1895. Later, in the 1970s, another wave arrived in the region because land prices were low;
• by the development of pastoral culture, mainly by families from Minas Gerais;
• by the construction of the Noroeste do Brasil Railway, from 1904 to 1914, attracting people from São Paulo to the region;
• by the action of the Mate Laranjeira Company, which held the monopoly of the exploitation of yerba mate groves in the entire region, between 1882 and 1924.

Geography

Location

The municipality of Dourados is located in the southern part of the Central-West Region of Brazil and in the plateau zone of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, near the Serra de Maracaju and in the Paraná River basin. Until 2017 it was officially located in the Southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul mesoregion and the Dourados microregion. With the new regional division of the country created by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2017, it became part of the Dourados intermediate geographic region and the immediate geographic region of the same name.

It lies near the border with the state of Paraná and near the border with Paraguay (about 120 km (75 mi)). The municipality has fertile soils, which favor a diversified agricultural production. It is located at latitude 22º13'18.54" south and longitude 54°48'23.09" west. Distances:

• 214 km (133 mi) from the state capital (Campo Grande).
• 1,250 km (780 mi) from the federal capital (Brasília).

Physical geography

The soils most commonly found in Dourados are dystroferric (76.2%) and eutroferric (5.1%) red latosols, formerly called "purple latosols" or "purple earths" in popular speech. Other soils commonly found in the municipality are sand, gravel and basalt for crushed stone.

In its relief, Dourados is close to the Serra de Maracaju. Despite being at an average altitude of more than 400 m, the city has flat topography. The Dourados River, the main one in Dourados, is part of the Paraná River basin and the Ivinhema River sub-basin. Other rivers that bathe the municipality are the Ivinhema itself, which is called Brilhante as it passes through the municipality of the same name, as well as the Santa Maria and Peroba rivers. The natural vegetation consists of clean grasslands, also having large parts of cerrado and large patches of tropical forest.

It has a tropical highland climate, with mild summers, being dry in winter and humid tropical in summer. According to data from the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), referring to the period from 1971 (from December 4) to 1984 and from 1993 onward, the lowest temperature recorded in Dourados was −1.7 °C (28.9 °F) on July 20, 1981, and the highest reached 41.2 °C (106.2 °F) on September 16, 2019. The largest accumulated rainfall in 24 hours was 123.6 mm (4.87 in) on March 12, 1999.

Climate data for Dourados (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1971–1984, 1993–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	37.2 (99.0)	37.3 (99.1)	37.1 (98.8)	35.3 (95.5)	34.0 (93.2)	32.8 (91.0)	34.3 (93.7)	38.0 (100.4)	41.2 (106.2)	40.3 (104.5)	38.7 (101.7)	37.4 (99.3)	41.2 (106.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	31.8 (89.2)	31.4 (88.5)	30.9 (87.6)	29.1 (84.4)	26.5 (79.7)	24.1 (75.4)	26.3 (79.3)	28.0 (82.4)	29.0 (84.2)	30.3 (86.5)	31.1 (88.0)	30.9 (87.6)	29.1 (84.4)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.4 (77.7)	24.9 (76.8)	24.4 (75.9)	22.3 (72.1)	19.9 (67.8)	17.6 (63.7)	18.5 (65.3)	20.0 (68.0)	21.6 (70.9)	23.7 (74.7)	24.6 (76.3)	24.9 (76.8)	22.3 (72.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	21.3 (70.3)	21.0 (69.8)	20.1 (68.2)	17.6 (63.7)	15.3 (59.5)	13.0 (55.4)	12.9 (55.2)	14.1 (57.4)	16.2 (61.2)	18.7 (65.7)	19.7 (67.5)	20.3 (68.5)	17.5 (63.5)
Record low °C (°F)	12.1 (53.8)	12.5 (54.5)	8.0 (46.4)	4.6 (40.3)	3.3 (37.9)	0.6 (33.1)	−1.7 (28.9)	−0.8 (30.6)	0.2 (32.4)	6.0 (42.8)	10.5 (50.9)	11.0 (51.8)	−1.7 (28.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	168.1 (6.62)	130.8 (5.15)	145.5 (5.73)	106.0 (4.17)	92.1 (3.63)	99.0 (3.90)	40.2 (1.58)	45.0 (1.77)	113.0 (4.45)	153.2 (6.03)	143.2 (5.64)	205.7 (8.10)	1,441.8 (56.76)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	12	12	10	7	7	7	3	3	6	11	10	11	99
Average relative humidity (%)	80.9	82.9	80.3	77.6	78.1	79.0	70.3	66.0	68.6	73.9	75.4	79.0	76.0
Mean monthly sunshine hours	220.9	184.1	211.9	222.3	199.8	174.8	228.4	191.7	170.4	201.7	217.7	219.0	2,442.7
Source: Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia

Political geography

The time zone is −1 hour with respect to Brasília and −4 hours from Coordinated Universal Time with respect to Greenwich.

The total area of the municipality is 4,062.236 km², according to the 2022 census, and the urban area totals 205.990 km² according to the municipal government.

Dourados has as its districts Guaçu, Indápolis, Itaum, Panambi, Picadinha, São Pedro, Vila Formosa and Vila Vargas.

The seat has a total of 170 neighborhoods.

Limits

The municipality borders, to the north, with Itaporã, Douradina, Maracaju and Rio Brilhante; to the south, with Ponta Porã, Laguna Carapã, Caarapó and Fátima do Sul; to the east, with Deodápolis; and to the west, with Ponta Porã.

Demographics

Since its foundation in 1935, Dourados has gone through several development processes, always with ups and downs. Initially its development was slow owing to its precarious access to other cities and states. In the 1940s, the city already had 14,985 inhabitants, and from the 1950s, with the opening of highways, its development accelerated and Dourados became an important agricultural and services center from then on, already having 22,834 inhabitants (52.4% growth). In the 1960s the municipality already had 84,955 inhabitants (272.1% more than in 1950), and in the 1970s the municipality's population fell to 79,186 inhabitants (−6.8%) owing to the separation of some municipalities such as Fátima do Sul, Caarapó and Naviraí in the previous decade. In the 1980s its population totaled 106,483 inhabitants, or 34.5% growth in ten years. In the 1990s, in addition to the growth of agriculture, the commercial and service development of the urban area was decisive for Dourados to consolidate itself as a center of services and agriculture from then on, which made its population jump to 135,984, or 27.7% more than in 1980. In the 2000s there were already 164,700 inhabitants (21.1% more in ten years). In the following ten years there was an increase of 19% in its population, leaving it close to 200,000 inhabitants. In more than 70 years of existence, the city of Dourados had a total demographic growth of 1,208.4% between 1940 and 2010.

According to the 2010 census, the population of the municipality was counted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) at 196,068 inhabitants, with a population density of 47.98 inhabitants per km². According to the 2010 census, 96,274 inhabitants were men and 99,761 were women. Also according to the same census, 92.31% of the population was urban (181,005 inhabitants lived in the urban area and 15,030 in the rural area). According to the 2010 census of the IBGE, the population of Dourados was composed of whites (55.77%), pardos (35.32%), blacks (3.95%), indigenous (3.48%) and yellow (1.48%). Dourados was also included in a study released in 2017 by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) analyzing homicide rates. According to the study, the city is among the 150 least violent cities (129th position) among municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Considering deaths by aggression (homicides), the city recorded 56 killings (26.3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) and, in violent deaths from undetermined causes, 4 killings (1.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants). In the sum of both indices, it totaled 60 killings (28.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants).

Population growth
1940	14,985
1950	22,834
1960	84,955
1970	79,186
1980	106,483
1991	135,984
1996	153,191
2000	164,700
2006	186,357
2010	196,068
2012	200,729
2014	210,218
2015	212,870
2016	215,486
2017	218,069
2018	220,965
2022	243,367

In the 2022 Brazilian census, Dourados had 243,367 inhabitants and a population density of 59.91 inhabitants per square kilometer. The IBGE estimate for July 1, 2026, is 266,950 inhabitants. Dourados is the largest municipality in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul, the second most populous in the state and is among the largest in Brazil.

Religion

In Dourados there are diverse religious manifestations existing in the city. Although it developed over an eminently Catholic society, both due to colonization and immigration — and to this day the majority of the people of Dourados declare themselves Catholic — it is also possible today to find dozens of different Protestant denominations in the municipality. Among them, Eastern religions have relevance among the beliefs most practiced by the people of Dourados. Communities of Spiritists and Jehovah's Witnesses are also considerable, in addition to atheists.

According to data from the 2000 census carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the population of Dourados was composed of 98.04% Christians, divided into Catholics and Orthodox (58.62%), Protestants (29.14%), Restorationists (0.52%) and other Christians (10.26%). There are also reincarnationists (1.75%), African religions (0.16%), Eastern religions (0.71%), indigenous traditions (0.04%), esoteric traditions (0.01%), undefined (0.76%) and the non-religious (14.85%). According to the 2022 Brazilian census, the religious composition of the city was 50.83% Catholics, 32.16% Evangelicals or Protestants, 1.56% Spiritists, 0.52% Umbanda or Candomblé practitioners, 0.09% traditional religion, 3.87% other religions, 10.73% irreligious, 0.08% unknown and 0.16% undeclared.

Christians

It is by far the largest religious group present in Dourados, where it is composed of 98.04% of its inhabitants. Of these, 58.62% are Catholics and Orthodox, 29.14% are Protestants, 0.52% Restorationist and 10.26% are represented by other options.

Catholics and Orthodox

Dourados is located in the most Catholic country in the world in absolute numbers. The Catholic Church had its legal status recognized by the federal government in October 2009, even though Brazil is currently an secular state.

The Catholic Church recognizes the Immaculate Conception as patron saint of the city. The municipality is part of the ecclesiastical circumscriptions of the West I Region (which serves Mato Grosso do Sul) and, according to the division resolved by the Catholic Church, the municipality of Dourados belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Campo Grande, more precisely to the Diocese of Dourados, and divides the territory of the municipality of Dourados into two ecclesiastical vicariates (East and West), being the seat of 9 parishes and five vicariates. Its current bishop has been, since 2001, Dom Redovino Rizzardo. With 58.62% of the population, the Catholic and Orthodox church in the municipality of Dourados is formed by representatives of the Roman Apostolic Catholic Church (58.42%), the Brazilian Apostolic Catholic Church (0.16%) and the Orthodox Catholic Church (0.04%).

Mother church

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: its construction began in 1925, and it was inaugurated the following year. The population took to the chapel an image of Our Lady of the Conception, brought from France. The parish was created in 1935. The current building was constructed in 1943 and renovated in 1953, housing inside it a beautiful ceramic mosaic.

Protestants

The city of Dourados has the most diverse Protestant creeds, represented by 29.14% of the inhabitants of the municipality, with historical evangelicals (5.53% of adherents) and Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal evangelicals (14.22%) as the two main representative currents.

Historical evangelicals

The city has the most diverse subdivisions of mission evangelicals. Represented by 5.53% of the citizens, 0.33% are Lutherans, 1.68% are Presbyterians, 0.21% are Methodists, 2.32% are Baptists and 0.99% are Adventists.

Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal evangelicals

Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal evangelicals are represented by 14.22% of the population. Of this total, 3.82% belong to the Assemblies of God, 1.53% to the Christian Congregation in Brazil, 0.08% to Brazil for Christ, 1.78% to the Foursquare Gospel, 0.48% to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, 1.09% to God is Love, 0.04% to Maranata, 0.06% to the Evangelical Community and 5.36% unspecified.

Other Christians

In the city there are also Christians of other denominations, represented by 10.26%, of which 9.38% of the population belong to other evangelical churches and 0.88% to other Christian religiosities.

Indicators

General indicators

The Municipal Human Development Index (HDI-M) of the city of Dourados in 2010 is considered high by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), totaling 0.747 points, and is the 3rd highest in the entire state of Mato Grosso do Sul and the 599th in Brazil.

HDI-M of Dourados
Year	HDI	Nat. rank	State rank
2010	0.747	599	3
2000	0.636	869	4
1991	0.512	625	5

The FIRJAN Municipal Development Index (IFDM) is an indicator that aims to measure the degree of municipal development through indicators that show the degree of evolution of Brazilian municipalities. The reading of the IFDM varies between 0 (null development) and 1 (perfect development). In 2013 Dourados reached 0.7631 points of IFDM, which placed the city in 883rd place in Brazil and 11th place in the state.

IFDM of Dourados
Year	IFDM	Nat. rank	State rank
2013	0.7631	883rd	11th
2012	0.7734	653rd	7th
2011	0.7695	620th	6th
2010	0.8054	301st	2nd
2009	0.7985	249th	2nd
2008	0.7681	448th	2nd
2007	0.7228	884th	6th
2006	0.6995	1,079th	9th
2005	0.7591	455th	2nd
2000	0.6105	1,500th	16th

Income distribution

In Dourados the HDI-M income is 0.753 (the country's is 0.739), an index higher than in 2000 (0.698) and 1991 (0.645). And the Gini coefficient of the municipality, which measures social inequality, is 0.46 in 2003 (varying between 0.44 and 0.47), where 1.00 is the worst number and 0.00 the best, which places the municipality in 69th place among the municipalities of the state.

The incidence of poverty, measured by the IBGE, is 33.28%; the lower limit of the poverty incidence is 31.43%, the upper is 35.12%.

In 2010, the richest 20% accounted for the accumulation of 57.93% of the income of Dourados. When this index rises to 40%, it already accumulates 76.35% of the income. Among the poorest, the indices are 3.98% (poorest 20%), 11.83% (poorest 40%), 23.65% (poorest 60%) and 42.07% (poorest 80%).

The per capita income of Dourados is considered relatively high for national standards, totaling an average of R$ 983.73 reais per month, which would give an annual income of R$ 11,804.76 per inhabitant. This index places the city in the 367th position in Brazil and in the 5th position in the state.

In 2013 Dourados reached 0.7140 points of IFDM income, which placed the city in 379th place in Brazil and 8th place in the state.

IFDM employment and income
Year	IFDM	Nat. rank	State rank
2013	0.7140	379th	8th
2012	0.7633	222nd	5th
2011	0.7695	102nd	2nd
2010	0.8550	83rd	2nd
2009	0.8405	67th	2nd
2008	0.7588	209th	2nd
2007	0.6203	495th	5th
2006	0.5830	640th	9th
2005	0.7607	215th	2nd
2000	0.4437	1,525th	19th

Birth, health and mortality coefficients

The longevity index of the HDI in Dourados is 0.843 in 2010 (the Brazilian one is 0.816), this index being higher than that of 2000 (0.758) and almost 0.150 with respect to 1991 (0.713).

Its survival index for children aged 0 to 6 is in satisfactory conditions. One of the important actions for reducing infant mortality is prevention through immunization against infectious-contagious diseases. The mortality rate of children under 5 years old in 1995 was 37.36 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 2011 this percentage changed to 15.39 deaths per 1,000 live births, representing a reduction of 58.81% in infant mortality. The total number of deaths of children under 5 years old in the municipality between 1995 and 2011 was 1,842. The mortality rate of children under one year old for the municipality, estimated from the 2010 census data, is 18.92 per 1,000 children under one year old. Of children up to 1 year of age, in 2010, 8.50% had no birth registration in a registry office. This percentage falls to 7.88% among children up to 10 years old. Immunization is considered one of the actions that contribute to the reduction of infant mortality. In 2012, 92.08% of children under 1 year old had their vaccination card up to date. The mortality coefficients follow below:

• General mortality: 5.6
• Infant mortality up to 1 year: 15.39
• Neonatal mortality: 8.9

The number of maternal deaths in the municipality between 1996 and 2011 was 45 per thousand inhabitants, and the proportion of pregnant women without prenatal care in 2011 was 1.25%. Pregnant women with 7 or more consultations were 68.88%. In 2011, 99.17% of live births had their deliveries attended by qualified health professionals. In 2001, 24.21% of children born in Dourados were born to adolescent mothers, falling to 20.87% in 2011, which represents 1 in every 5 live births. When analyzing the population aged 10 to 19, it can be seen that there was a reduction in the percentage of adolescents who are mothers. The index went from 5.06% in 2001 to 4.52% in 2011.

The health index of the IFDM in Dourados was 0.8630 in 2013, placing the municipality in 985th place in the country and 13th place in the state.

IFDM health of Dourados
Year	IFDM	Nat. rank	State rank
2013	0.8630	985th	13th
2012	0.8527	1,007th	14th
2011	0.8144	1,365th	21st
2010	0.8335	2,323rd	44th
2009	0.8323	2,192nd	37th
2008	0.8311	2,049th	39th
2007	0.8327	1,822nd	31st
2006	0.8268	1,709th	30th
2005	0.8169	1,635th	29th
2000	0.7224	1,933rd	32nd

Education

Considering only Education, the HDI of Dourados is 0.657 (medium) in 2010, while that of Brazil is 0.637 — higher, therefore, than the 0.487 recorded in 2000 and more than double the value recorded in 1991 (0.292).

To ensure a longer time in school life and more opportunities to learn for children, the Ministry of Education established the implementation of nine-year primary education. In 1991, 86.23% of children aged 7 to 14 were attending primary education, an index raised to 90.42% in 2000. In 2010 the index fell to 83.82%. In the case of the 15-to-17 age group, the indices are 17.81%, 35.65% and 42.53% respectively. With regard to completion, in 1991 22.52% of young people aged 15 to 17 had completed primary education, an index raised to 45.07% in 2000, and by 2010 the index rose to 54.12%. In the case of the 18-to-24 age group, the indices are 17.70%, 35.10% and 54.15% respectively.

The literacy percentage of young people and adolescents between 15 and 24 years old, in 2010, was 99.11%. In 2012, among primary school students, 22.60% were older than the recommended age in the initial years and 37.50% in the final years. The age-grade gap reaches 30.50% among those who reach secondary school. A student is considered to be in a situation of age-grade distortion when the difference between the student's age and the age expected for the grade is two years or more. It can be seen that the age-grade distortion rises as one advances through the levels of education.

The IDEB is an index that combines school performance with the scores of the Prova Brasil exam, applied to children in the 4th and 8th grades, and can vary from 0 to 10. This municipality, in 2011, was in the 2,839th position among the 5,565 municipalities of Brazil when students of the 4th grade (initial years) are evaluated, and in the 3,420th in the case of 8th grade students (final years). When analyzing the position of the municipality in its state, Dourados is in the 36th position in the initial years and the 33rd in the final years. The national IDEB, in 2011, was 4.7 for the initial years of primary education in public schools and 3.6 for the final years. In private schools, the average scores were, respectively, 6.5 and 6.0. Still considering the 2011 IDEB, in the initial years only 711 Brazilian municipalities obtained a score above 6.0; the situation is even more critical when looking at the final years: only 10 Brazilian municipalities achieved a score above 6.0.

The education index of the IFDM recorded in Dourados in 2013 was 0.7124 points, which places the municipality in 3,436th place in the country and 47th place in the state.

IFDM education of Dourados
Year	IFDM	Nat. rank	State rank
2013	0.7124	3,436th	47th
2012	0.7041	3,132nd	40th
2011	0.6963	3,151st	38th
2010	0.7276	3,116th	41st
2009	0.7225	2,787th	38th
2008	0.7144	2,483rd	31st
2007	0.7155	2,384th	35th
2006	0.6886	2,149th	22nd
2005	0.6997	1,961st	19th
2000	0.6655	1,550th	12th

In higher education, the municipality has two public universities, the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) and the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), as well as private institutions; in all, the municipality has 202 undergraduate and postgraduate courses, in on-site and distance (EaD) modalities. The city also has a campus of the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS), which offers technical and higher education courses.

In non-formal education, the municipality has one of the oldest scout groups in the state, the Grupo Escoteiro São Jorge 07/MS, which has existed since 1991 and operates in the Parque Alvorada neighborhood. The scouting movement is a movement for young people with the support of adult volunteers, which mainly works on the character of young people; in recent years, the Grupo Escoteiro São Jorge has carried out various social actions in the municipality, such as combating dengue, actions seeking to preserve the environment and distributing clothes to needy communities, among others. The Grupo Escoteiro São Jorge is a non-profit institution, of an educational, cultural, charitable, philanthropic and community nature, associated with the União dos Escoteiros do Brasil (UEB) and recognized as a municipal public utility. Having been awarded several times, with highlights including the various honorable mentions of the Municipal Council, the Araucária trophy for the good and efficient activities developed, the highlight in the messengers of peace and the gold standard group award.

Notable people

See also Category:People from Dourados

• Lucas Leiva, football player
• Keirrison, football player
• Lucas Kanieski, swimmer

Economy

In 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Dourados at current prices was R$ 20.26 billion, the second largest in Mato Grosso do Sul, behind only Campo Grande. The GDP per capita, considering the population of the 2022 census, was R$ 83,240.35.

Agriculture and livestock raising play a central role in the municipal economy. The 2023 Municipal Agricultural Production recorded 442,851 hectares of area planted or intended for harvest, with a total production value of R$ 2.92 billion for temporary and permanent crops. Among the products, soybeans occupied 230,000 hectares, with a production value of R$ 2.11 billion; maize occupied 186,200 hectares, with R$ 601.3 million; and sugarcane, 18,894 hectares, with R$ 173.6 million. In livestock raising, the cattle herd was 96,106 head in 2023.

The municipality performs the function of a commerce and services center for the center-south region of the state. According to the Empresômetro portal, Dourados has a total of 22,170 active companies (8.68% of the state's total companies), which places the municipality in 132nd place in Brazil and 2nd place in the state.

The city has a modern shopping mall with 191 stores and 500 parking spaces, in addition to recreational parks and squares, many shops, nightclubs and a broad range of restaurants in the city center, which offer cuisines ranging from churrascarias to pizza parlours and numerous places catering to the substantial Japanese community. On Saturday night and Sunday morning there is a large open-air market (feira) offering locally produced fruits and vegetables, with restaurants providing Brazilian and Japanese food and stalls selling popular local delicacies such as sugarcane juice (caldo de cana), doce de leite and cocada. Many locals make regular trips to the Paraguayan border town of Ponta Porã/Pedro Juan Caballero, where they can buy relatively low-cost, low-duty imported items such as electronic goods, perfumes and designer clothing.

Urbanization

From 1950, Dourados received a developmental impulse thanks to the construction of roads, which triggered the unbridled beginning of new constructions and disorderly growth. Being the largest urban center in the interior of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, it has a considerable urbanization rate. While the Brazilian average of people living in urban centers is 84.4%, in Dourados it is more than 90%. Of the 196,035 inhabitants residing in the city in 2010, 181,005 lived in the urban area and 15,030 in the rural area (92.33% and 7.67% respectively).

Urban characteristics

Dourados has a total urban area of 205.990 km² according to the municipal government. Urbanistically it has a continuous patch with blocks forming a design reminiscent of a chessboard in much of its urban zone. The central nucleus of the city has developed verticalization, characterized by the presence of commercial and service buildings (such as shopping malls, hypermarkets and convenience stores), and the periphery of the city develops, in general, with houses and low buildings. Until recently, the Land Use Law of Dourados provided that buildings could reach a maximum of 12 floors, but with the new Land Use Law of the city there is no longer a restriction on the number of floors that buildings in Dourados may have. Despite this, almost all buildings constructed to date in the city have up to 12 floors. However, it is the second city in the state in number of buildings, according to the page specialized in research on building data Emporis Buildings.

Some points of Dourados began to concentrate commerce nuclei, which encouraged the creation of new commercial zones from the socioeconomic point of view. The city has also gone through several development surges over the last few years. New industrial centers and commercial companies arrived in the city from other cities or states, and several areas that were formerly warehouses of old factories, or even abandoned for years, were transformed into commercial or even residential areas.

Housing

In Dourados there is a total of 67,767 properties (67,671 private and 96 public) according to data from the 2010 IBGE census (138th place among all Brazilian municipalities and, in the state, the 2nd largest).

Households of Dourados
Total households	67,767 households
Private households	67,671 (99.86%)
Collective households	96 (0.14%)
Households by per capita income
More than 5 salaries	4.91%
From 2 to 5 salaries	14.78%
From 1 to 2 salaries	27.67%
From 0.5 to 1 salary	32.24%
From 0.25 to 0.5 salaries	14.76%
Up to 0.25 salaries or no income	5.63%
Distribution of social classes
Class A	4.91%
Class B	14.78%
Class C	59.91%
Class D	14.76%
Class E	5.63%
Upper class (A – B)	19.67%
Middle class (C – D)	74.67%
Consumer class (A – B – C – D)	94.36%
Peripheral class (E)	5.63%

Electricity

In Dourados the electricity service is distributed by the responsible company (Enersul, private) for exclusive use in the municipality. The electrical system that serves the Dourados region is managed by Eletrosul and is incorporated into the country's South/Southeast/Central-West Interconnected System, which represents its high importance and its significant degree of reliability. Although there are needs for expanding the electrical grid for homes and industries, in recent years these deficiencies have diminished.

In Dourados there are 79,381 electricity connections across approximately one thousand km of urban distribution network. These almost 80,000 consumers consume 476,575 MWh per year. Of this total, 68,414 (145,259 MWh/year) are residential consumers, 662 (142,722 MWh/year) industrial and free industrial consumers, 7,414 (103,025 MWh/year) commercial and free commercial consumers, 2,192 (25,994 MWh/year) rural consumers, 527 (41,549 MWh/year) from the public power and service sector, 160 (17,648 MWh/year) from public lighting and 12 (378 MWh/year) own-purpose consumers.

Water resources

With regard to water resources, the supply in Dourados is considered quite satisfactory by the population. Local water abstraction comes from the Dourados River, since the river still maintains good environmental quality. Dourados has 60,851 water connections. In absolute numbers, the general network totals 48,554 units, wells or springs total 11,424 units and other forms total 873 units. With regard to the existence of toilets, 60,694 households had toilets and 157 units did not have toilets, with the extension of the sewage network totaling 294,923 m with the number of connections totaling 24,742. In sanitation it has 826,882 m of network extension, with 63,851 actual connections and 58,660 actual consumer units, with a produced volume of 18,894,892 m³, a consumed volume of 9,727,002 m³ and a billed volume of 10,753,942 m³.

Waste collection and recycling

The waste collection service in Dourados is considered satisfactory. In 2010, of the 60,851 households in the city, 92.57% or 56,328 units of the permanent private households had the waste collection service and the other 4,523 units (7.43%) had other destinations.

Infrastructure

With a total of 3,888 service companies according to CAGED, Dourados performs the role of a services center for a region comprising more than 1 million people, including part of Paraguay. It is one of the most important service centers of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, mainly in its southern region. All the main banks of Brazil are concentrated there, and it also has a good density of rail, road and airport logistics, which make it a point of convergence for international transport. This situation gives the city a considerable role, and important public institutions of the municipal, state and federal spheres tend to concentrate there.

Education and research

The education network of Dourados is one of the most extensive in the state. The municipality has a system of public and private primary and secondary education with a variety of technical school professionals. With 122 educational establishments, 83 are preschool (18 private and 65 municipal public), 79 primary (18 private, 20 state public and 45 municipal public) and 25 secondary (7 private and 18 state public). With regard to enrollments, Dourados recorded 47,770 students in primary education, of which 6,325 (428 rural) in early childhood education, 33,800 (5,037 rural) in primary and 7,645 (411 rural) in secondary education.

In higher education, important public and private universities stand out, some considered reference centers in certain areas. Among the public higher education institutions, the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) can be highlighted, created on August 1, 2005, when it was separated from the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). UFGD is also the one with the largest number of undergraduate and postgraduate places in Dourados, being also responsible for training the largest number of master's and doctoral graduates in the city, as well as responsible for a large part of all scientific production in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. There is also the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) and the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS), which is being implemented in the municipality. The municipality also has private colleges with a great regional and state reputation, such as the University Center of Grande Dourados (UNIGRAN) and the Faculdade Anhanguera de Dourados (FAD), maintained by the Anhanguera University group, in addition to several higher education and research institutes in specific areas, among which the Escola Superior de Direito do Mato Grosso do Sul (ESUD) (law) and the Faculdade Teológica Batista Ana Wollerman (FTBAW) (theology) can be highlighted.

An important research hub of the municipality is Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste, founded on June 13, 1975, and currently linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), a center of international renown in scientific research, where it develops research and technology transfer actions for the sustainability of agriculture in the region.

Hospitality

With more than 3,000 hotel beds, hospitality in Dourados generally carries out the trade of reception and accommodation of tourists and visitors in general in its lodging establishments, which total 29 units.

The hotels are generally made up of a building containing housing units, a reception and housekeeping for guests, and may also include food and beverage service in their structure, requiring a kitchen, wine cellar, restaurant, bar, canteen and pantry. They may also have external parking, an internal garage and a leisure area. The pousada is characterized as a means of lodging installed in a building of historical value and is popularly known as a rustic model of lodging, counting on individualized housing units and decoration identified with the locality. The hostel is characterized by providing collective accommodations, and its target audience is young people and backpackers.

Financial infrastructure

Financial movement (source: IBGE 2016)
Type of movement	Value (R$)
Credit operations	2,776,385,089.00
Savings	531,623,712.00
Obligations for receipt	682,688.00
Demand deposits – government	4,091,690.00
Demand deposits – private	133,876,868.00
Time deposits	253,883,876.00
Total	3,700,543,923.00

With a financial movement of R$ 3.7 billion reais (R$ 17,173.01 per capita) in 2016 according to the IBGE, Dourados has various options of financial establishments offering various services, among banks and finance companies. There are 21 branches, including five branches of Banco do Brasil, three of Bradesco, four of Caixa Econômica Federal, three of Itaú, one of HSBC, one of Pan (formerly Panamericano), two of Santander and three of Sicredi.

Naturally, automated teller machines are a complement to the corresponding bank branches, with fourteen from Banco do Brasil, ten from Bradesco, nine from Caixa Econômica Federal, three from Itaú, three from HSBC, one from Pan (formerly Panamericano), two from Santander, three from Sicredi and seven from the Banco 24 Horas network.

In addition to the financial modalities mentioned above, there are also personal credit services, the nine lottery shops of Caixa Econômica Federal, and the Correios Postal Bank, where the last two operate as bank branches.

Community bank

Banco Pirê.

Media

From September 1, 2008, the municipality began to be served by telephone number portability, and in mobile telephony the city is served by the companies Vivo, TIM, Claro and Oi. As in the rest of Mato Grosso do Sul, the area code in Dourados is 67. In Dourados there are 71,439 landline telephone terminals installed and 38,483 service terminals served by the operator Oi. Also according to ANATEL data, Dourados had 89,483 mobile phones, with a ratio per area code of 1 cell phone for every 3 inhabitants. Several access providers offer broadband internet services in the municipality. The internet network in the municipality is optical fiber, represented by Oi Velox, Claro, TIM and Vivo.

The postal service is provided by 3 branches of the Postal and Telegraph Company operating in the city. There is also 1 community postal agency. The postal code in Dourados ranges from 79.800-000 to 79.849-999.

There is transmission of channels in the Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands. Among the television channels operating in the city are, in analog, MS Record – Record (channel 4), RIT Dourados – RIT (channel 5), SBT MS – SBT (channel 10), Record News (channel 16), Canção Nova (channel 21), TV Morena – Rede Globo (channel 25) and Rede Vida (channel 27). Among the digital ones are TV Brasil Pantanal – TV Brasil (channel 29), TV Morena – Rede Globo (channel 31 – 13.1), MS Record – Record (channel 34 – 4.1), Record News (channel 36 – 16.1), RIT Dourados – RIT (channel 41 – 5.1), Rede Vida (channel 43 – 27.1) and Canção Nova (channel 54 – 21.1). The city is also home to eleven radio stations, six of them commercial frequency modulation (FM), two community FM and three amplitude modulation (AM). There are radio stations such as Boa Nova (87.9 community FM), Grande FM (92.1 FM), 94 FM Dourados (94.7 FM), Coração FM (95.7 FM), Harmonia (98.3 community FM), Cidade 101 (101.9 FM), Transamérica Hits (103.7 FM), Band FM (104.7 FM), Rádio Deus é Amor (720 AM), Rádio Alvorada (770 AM) and Rádio Imaculada Conceição (1,060 AM).

According to the website Radios.com.br, the most listened to FM in the city is 94 FM Dourados, followed by the radio stations Cidade 101 and Band FM.

There are also six newspapers in circulation in the municipality, two of them daily. O Progresso and Diário MS stand out. Among the weekly newspapers are Jornal O Vigilante MS, Folha de Dourados, Gazeta Popular and Repórter MS. With regard to magazines, Dourados has Saúde Atual, Arandu, Troféu, Corpo e Mente, Bom de Ler and Vendas Diretas, as well as magazines of UNIGRAN (3 magazines), UFGD (11 magazines), UEMS (7 magazines) and Anhanguera Educacional (11 magazines), in addition to the distribution of magazines from other states and/or national ones such as Veja, Isto É, Época and Haley (from Ribeirão Preto – SP).

Transport

The city of Dourados is located in the center-south of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and has an intermodal transport system of air, road and rail that connects the city with the rest of Brazil and also with abroad. Its complex intermodal transport system includes airlines, highways and railways linking the city to the rest of the country, and the interconnection with districts, villages, hamlets, small farms and ranches can be made through paved roads that allow access throughout the year. With a fleet of 123,595 vehicles in 2013, it is estimated that the municipality of Dourados reached a motorization rate of 0.595 vehicles per inhabitant, which corresponds approximately to one vehicle for every two inhabitants. Of the total local fleet, it is divided into 56,158 automobiles, 42,411 motorcycles and mopeds, 5,245 trucks, 14,578 vans, pickup trucks and utility vehicles, 668 buses and minibuses and 4,545 other vehicles.

The municipality of Dourados is also served by some highways within its territorial extent. The main one is the BR-163, a federal highway that is one of the main road corridors of the municipality. In the state it links Dourados to the cities of Mundo Novo, Naviraí, Rio Brilhante, Campo Grande and Coxim. There are also other federal highways such as the BR-376 and the BR-463. There are also highways administered by the state government, such as the MS-156, MS-162, MS-276, MS-274 and MS-379. In the central region of the city is the Renato Lemes Soares Bus Terminal, the largest terminal in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul. With 15 operating companies, it has bus lines to various municipalities in the state and to many other states of the country, as well as lines to other South American countries, such as Paraguay and Bolivia. The terminal is attached to the Shopping Avenida Center, the main shopping center of the city, and is almost integrated with the Parque Arnunpho Fioravante. In rail transport, the municipality was served by the old Ponta Porã branch line, which once operated carrying passengers for tourism or export trade. Boarding in Dourados was done at the Itaum Station, which was located outside its urban perimeter. This branch line is 410 km (250 mi) long, starting in Campo Grande and going to Ponta Porã, on the border with Paraguay. This branch is a continuation of the Bauru–Campo Grande stretch, totaling 1,250 km. It made its last trip in 1996 and was soon afterward deactivated. Currently ALL administers the stretch, transporting only cargo. So far there is no forecast for reactivating the stretch for passengers. In the municipality there is an airport complex, the Dourados Regional Airport, which is located near the border with Paraguay (about 110 km (68 mi)), thus being situated within the Brazilian border strip with Paraguay, in the Grande Dourados region, which concentrates 38 municipalities, where agriculture is thriving, being a strategic region of Mato Grosso do Sul that serves approximately 1 million people.

The urban public transport is operated by Viação Medianeira, with a fleet of about 57 units between regular and articulated buses. In addition, Dourados has the largest fleet of taxis and motorcycle taxis in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul. The road system of the municipality is cut by some large avenues that play a structuring role, both on the intra-urban and inter-municipal scales: Avenida Marcelino Pires, Avenida Weimar Gonçalves, Rua Presidente Vargas and Rua Coronel Ponciano. These "arteries" are considered the main structural roads (or expressways) of the municipality, and several highways connect to them, among which the BR-163, BR-376 and BR-463. Furthermore, the North Ring Road (Anel Viário Norte) was recently inaugurated, which will allow access for those skirting the city coming from the north of the municipality.

Health system

Dourados is one of the main health hubs of the Central-West Region and is the seat of institutions of all three levels of government: federal, state and municipal. The private health sector also has a relevant participation in the municipality. Public health services are generally the responsibility of the municipal government and are spread throughout the municipal territory. Totaling 356 health units of all types in the municipality, it has a total of 30 basic health units (UBS), and several outpatient and emergency clinics. The Municipal Health Department has 51 employees, among them 4 doctors. In 2014, the city of Dourados had several centers and offices of professionals (doctors, dentists and others), in addition to 9 hospitals. Together, these units offer a total of 618 hospital beds, divided into 391 public and 227 private.

Cemeteries

In Dourados, the Lutheran, the Parque (private), Bom Jesus and Santo Antônio de Pádua (public) cemeteries stand out.

Security

Public security in Dourados is exercised by federal, state and municipal institutions, among which:

Federal Police

It has a police station with complete infrastructure and police officers specialized in work within the city.

Federal Highway Police

It has a station and post located at km 267 of the BR-163.

Civil Police

The Civil Police is present in the municipality with its specialized police stations and departments:

• Regional Police Station of Dourados
• Police Station for Assistance to Children, Youth and the Elderly (DAIJI)
• Women's Assistance Police Station (DAM)
• First Police Station of Dourados
• Second Police Station of Dourados

Military Police

The Military Police carries out ostensive and repressive work in combating crime in the city.

• 3rd BPM – Dourados
• GPM – Indápolis District
• 2nd Pel/2nd Cia – Itaum District
• 1st GPM/1st Pel/3rd Cia – Vila Formosa District
• 2nd GPM/1st Pel/3rd Cia – Vila Vargas District
• 3rd GPM/1st Pel/3rd Cia – Panambi District
• 4th Pel/1st Cia/15th Environmental BPM

Municipal Guard

It carries out patrols of public property in the city, works in traffic enforcement, and works in cooperation with departments and other public security bodies present, with emphasis on the teams of ostensive motorized patrol, school patrol and Environmental Municipal Guard. It has a main headquarters, as well as posts in the Antenor Martins and Primo Fioravanti parks, Praça Antônio João, the Bus Terminal and a future environmental headquarters at the Central Fair Space Prefeito João Totó da Câmara.

Local multifaceted management

According to the Empresômetro portal, Dourados has a total of 22,170 active companies (8.68% of the state's total companies), which places the municipality in 132nd place in Brazil and 2nd place in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. There are various small, medium and large companies and cooperatives in the city, such as industries, commerce and public bodies.

Public management

It refers to all administration promoted by the public power, among them councilors, mayors, judges and lawyers. The current Constitution (of 1988) provides a new conception for the managers of Dourados, who begin to obtain more rights and financial resources from the federal government and acquire responsibilities in health, education and environmental management. Local politics, through actions, plays an important role that can transform the social, economic, environmental and territorial areas, since the local political class (councilors and mayor) holds power in its fullness to promote them.

Dourados has some official symbols such as anthem, coat of arms and flag. It also has the largest electoral college in the interior of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with a total electorate of 152,169 people (8.112% of the state total), divided into 71,527 male voters and 80,642 women. Of this total, 6,195 are public servants (or 2.9 servants for every 100 inhabitants).

There are more than 1,100 public bodies in the city. As in the rest of Brazil, the local public power of Dourados is represented by the 3 official powers:

• In the Legislative it is represented by the City Council, responsible for the appreciation and approval of municipal laws. The city is represented by a total of 19 councilors, composed of various parties.
• In the Executive it is represented by the City Hall, where the mayor, vice mayor and municipal secretaries are responsible for the promulgation and application of municipal laws. The current mayor is Marçal Filho, of the PSDB, elected in 2024 for the 2025 to 2028 term.
• In the Judiciary, the municipality's main coverage is the Court of Justice, represented by the Dourados Judicial District (Fórum João Adolfo Astolfi) headquartered in the city. This is of state management, as are the Public Defender's Office and the State Public Ministry. There are also federal bodies headquartered in the municipality, such as the Federal Court and the Federal Public Ministry.

Private management

It refers to all administration promoted by the private sector (companies). Dourados is the main urban center of the interior of the state, with an economy based especially on agriculture and livestock raising, commerce and services. According to Empresômetro, the municipality has almost 20,000 private wholesale, retail and service establishments.

The city has several shopping centers, including galleries, supermarkets and convenience stores, in addition to new and used vehicle trade that serves the region.

Community management

It refers to all private initiatives of public utility originating in civil society, that is, it defines the various organizations without direct links to the public sector (the state) and the private sector (the market). Its composition is backed by non-profit organizations, created and maintained by voluntary participation, of a private nature, not subject to the direct control of the state, continuing the traditional practices of charity and philanthropy, working to achieve social or public objectives, providing society with improvements in quality of life, medical care, cultural events, educational campaigns, among many other activities.

Among these organizations are NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), philanthropic entities, OSCIPs (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest), non-profit organizations and other forms of civil associations without profit.

Mixed management and projects

It refers to all initiatives of at least ambiguous utility that define the various organizations that have direct links, or links only among public spheres (national, state or municipal) or between the public sector and the private sector (the market).

Its composition consists of organizations that may be for-profit or non-profit, created and maintained by participation of a private and public nature, or only public, and may not be subject only to the control of the state, which continues various traditional practices and works to achieve social or public objectives, providing society with improvements in quality of life, medical care, cultural events, educational campaigns, among many other activities.

Among these organizations there may be various profiles of companies such as NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), philanthropic entities, OSCIPs (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest), non-profit organizations, among others.

Tourism

The municipality of Dourados is part of the so-called Grande Dourados Tourist Region. Agricultural fairs, cowboy festivals, religious festivals and traditional events drive event tourism in the region. The city has its own tourism manager, the Grande Dourados Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Contemplation tourism

Green areas

Dourados has the following main green areas:

Parks

• Horto Florestal: green area located further south of the city of Dourados.
• Parque Antenor Martins: the park was founded in 1977 and has approximately 7,700 m². Its highlight is a large lake where fishing championships are held. The park has hosted major events such as Verão Dourados.
• Parque Arnulpho Fioravanti: located next to the bus terminal and shopping center, it has an immense lake and a large leisure area.
• Parque Córrego Rêgo d'Água: a park in an environmental protection area, along the bed of the Rêgo d'Água stream. Parque dos Ipês: inaugurated at the end of 1995, it has hosted cultural manifestations of great importance in the city, such as the "ethnic market", recently held.

Squares

• Praça Antônio Álvares Duarte: located in front of the Evangelical Hospital, the square houses the only transfer terminal of Dourados.
• Praça Antônio João: located in the center of Dourados, it has a pedestrian promenade known as the central promenade. The Central Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, better known as the Mother Church, is also located on the square.
• Praça do Cinquentenário: it is recounted that the square was built when Dourados completed 50 years, in 1985. Musical, dance and theater events are frequent in this public area. This square also hosts religious events.
• Praça Paraguaia: a small square that houses a chapel of the Virgin Mother of Caacupé.

Monuments

• Casa de Madeira (BR-163, Dourados–Campo Grande highway): on the date of its listing, it was owned by Albino Gonçalves da Silva, in the urban perimeter of the Vila São Pedro District.
• Cruzeiros: one of them was listed as historical heritage of the municipality; the "Cruzeiro" is a landmark of the beginning of the colonization of the Dourados Colonial Nucleus. The other is located at the CAND (Dourados National Agricultural Colony).
• Estação Ferroviária de Itahum (Itaum district): building used for the boarding and disembarking of passengers.
• Figueiras: located on Wlademiro Muller do Amaral street, in front of number 274 (1 fig tree); Vila Amaral – Av. Pres. Vargas between Marcelino Pires and Onofre P. de Mattos (17 fig trees); Rua João Candido Câmara between João Vicente Ferreira and Oliveira Marques (12 fig trees); Rua João Rosa Góis between Joaquim T. Alves and Cuiabá (9 fig trees); Avenida Aniz Rasselen, BR-463 (1 fig tree).
• Marco de Cimento (Parque dos Ipês): delimits the boundary between the urban nucleus of Dourados and the Dourados National Agricultural Colony. It was listed by the Municipal Historical Heritage "Presidente Getúlio Vargas".
• Monumento do Colono: popularly known as "Mão do Bráz".
• Usina Filinto Müller: also known as Usina Velha; on the date of its listing it was stipulated that the old plant would be transformed into the Dourados Museum, restored by the municipal public power; the plant is located on an area of 12,222 m².

Agricultural tourism

Considered today the largest agricultural frontier of the country, the region has also awakened to another wealth: agricultural tourism, which aims to take the city dweller to know the largest soy, maize, wheat and other grain farms using the best techniques, from planting to harvest.

Event tourism

The city has several options, including cinemas, restaurants, theaters, bars, choperias and drinking tereré, and also has a very rich nightlife. It attracts visitors with events such as EXPOAGRO (Dourados Agricultural Fair), the Brazilian Motocross Championship, the Festival of Nations, the Fish Festival, the Popular Seasons and scientific events held at its universities.

Events

Moving date

• Community Carnival (Folia Popular): an important popular festival that also takes place in the popular neighborhoods. Known and renowned entertainment groups always perform.

January

• Photography Exhibition: exhibition of the memory and history of Dourados. Exhibition of the entire collection belonging to the Dourados Historical Museum. They show the history of the significant events in Dourados.

February

• Verão Dourados: promotes artistic shows, presentations and various leisure options. It also holds sports championships.

March

• Encena Dourados: Encena Dourados is a children's theater showcase whose purpose is to enable access to the performing arts for an audience of approximately 5,000 students from the Municipal Education Network and the social projects of the municipal administration.

April

• Festa do Peixe: fishing championship among the Dourados community. A fishing championship takes place during the day and at night various artistic attractions are promoted.

June

• Festa Junina: this festival aims to cultivate the tradition of the June cycle in Dourados, preserve the cultural identity of the municipality and region, and also provide hours of leisure and culture for the local community. The June festival has the participation of various entities that set up stalls. The festival also features the quadrilha dance contest and the greased pole championship with prizes.
• Mostra de Dança: non-competitive dance showcase that brings together groups from all over Mato Grosso do Sul.

July

• Festa do Caminhoneiro: festival dedicated to truck drivers.
• Temporadas Populares: organized by the Cultural Market and aimed at writers who do not have the opportunity to have their works published.

August

• Concurso Literário de Dourados: this showcase aims to disseminate and stimulate the Literary Art of the Municipality.
• Exposição do SAD: exhibition promoted by the Salão de Artes de Dourados, with works by artists from Dourados and the region. It has been held since 1997.

September

• Encontro de Corais: traditional event that brings together choir groups from all over Brazil as well as from neighboring countries such as Paraguay, Uruguay and others.
• Festival Universitário de Teatro de Dourados (FESTUDO): theater festival that moves the whole city. Groups from Brazil and neighboring countries are selected by a jury committee to perform. It works as a showcase, but it is not competitive.

November

• Concurso de Bandas e Fanfarras: in this contest, bands from the entire Dourados region perform.
• Indareta: off-season carnival that takes place in the Indaiá region.

December

• Anniversary of Dourados: various events are promoted in celebration of the Anniversary of Dourados. Each department prepares something in its area to insert into the event.
• Festa das Nações: with typical foods and cultural presentations from the participating countries.

Sports

It has several other sports facilities that further boost sports tourism and attract thousands of people, among them a motordrome, two stadiums (the main one is the Douradão), five gymnasiums and two football teams.

Motorsport

The city has the following motorsport facilities:

• Kartódromo de Dourados
• Motódromo Fae Bianchi: track for motorsport competitions. When events take place, the structure of the Douradão is used.

Football

The three most prominent teams are Clube Desportivo 7 de Setembro, Dourados Atlético Clube and Ubiratan Esporte Clube, the latter recently returned to the professional scope of football. The stadiums that host official matches in the municipality are:

• Estádio Fredis Saldivar: nicknamed Douradão, it is the 2nd largest stadium in Mato Grosso do Sul and one of the largest stadiums of the Central-West Region, with a capacity for 30,000 people. It has hosted important football matches and attracts visitors from other cities. In addition to sports events, the stadium has hosted musical shows, among other cultural events.
• Estádio Napoleão de Souza: also known as Estádio da LEDA, it has the capacity to receive 10,000 people, with 2 restrooms and 2 locker rooms. It has hosted important Copa do Brasil matches and matches of the Brazilian Masters national team. The field has official measurements and emerald turf.

Other sports

Dourados also has five gymnasiums:

• Centro de Atividades Mário Amato: a gymnasium belonging to Sesi, with a covered multi-sports court with a wooden floor.
• Ginásio da Unigran: besides the gymnasium, it has an emerald grass seven-a-side football field.
• Ginásio Municipal de Esportes: the main sports gymnasium of the city of Dourados, it notably hosts sports and cultural events, such as the Carnaval de Cristo, which has been a tradition in the city for 14 years. With regard to prominent sports events, the gymnasium has hosted matches of the State Futsal Championship, in addition to the municipality's school games.
• Ginásio Poliesportivo do SESC: besides the gymnasium, the Sesc of Dourados has a water park with a semi-Olympic pool and a biribol pool, swimming equipment and competition structure.
• American football: Dourados has an American football team, which has been expanding the sport through the city.

Culture and literature

Popular culture

Regional products

In Dourados, among the handicraft that can be found for sale, among other places, at the Casa do Artesão, there are ceramic pieces that may be painted in a colorful way, or not, often representing animals of the region and of the Pantanal. These works often present details in woods typical of the region. It is also possible to find pieces, such as vases, that have more than a purely decorative utility. Artisans of the city also produce high-quality lace and other types of weaving.

Customs

Influence

It is composed of influences originating from the states and countries of its settlers: among the main of these influences are the cultures of São Paulo, of the South and of countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Japan and Paraguay. It also shares the culture of the state in which it is inserted, Mato Grosso do Sul. Among the strongest customs of the culture of Dourados is the relationship with the rural environment, in events such as the local agricultural fair, for example. The influence that the countryside exerts on the city is great and can be perceived through food.

Typical music

In music, genres from Paraguay stand out, such as chamamé, polka and guarânia, since the city has close ties with that country.

Instruments

• Accordion: the sound of the accordion is created when the air in the bellows passes between two reeds (located in the so-called castle, inside the bellows), which vibrate lower or higher according to the distance between them (when farther apart, the lower the sound) and their size (the larger, the lower the sound produced). The stronger the air is forced to the reeds, the more intense the sound. The air comes from the bellows, which is opened or closed with the help of the left arm. Most accordions have four voices, which are different octaves for the same key or button. Therefore, in a four-voice accordion with the 'master' register pressed, when playing a C, in fact two Cs are played in the octave pressed, a C one octave above and a C in the octave below, and this is responsible for the unique sound of the accordion.
• Flute: it has a melodious sound, with a soft and sweet timbre. Its sound depends essentially, on the one hand, on the nature and direction of the air wave and, on the other, on the length of the air column. The fundamental sound of the flute is C3, from which the instrument's range is 3 octaves, thanks to harmonics 2 and 4 (octave and double octave), whose emission is obtained by modifying the blowing pressure.
• Harp: with an always triangular shape reminiscent of a hunting bow, the harp consists of the sound box, column, neck(s), pedals and strings.
• Guitar: it has nylon or steel strings, initially conceived for the interpretation of classical music pieces. The body is hollow and flat, in a figure-eight shape, and made of several different woods. The neck has frets that make it a tempered instrument. The most common versions have six nylon strings, but there are guitars with other configurations, such as the seven-string guitar and the bass guitar, with 4 strings, tuned an octave below the 4 lowest strings of the guitar.
• Viola caipira: the viola caipira has characteristics very similar to the guitar, both in shape and in the arrangement of the strings and acoustics, but it is a little smaller. There are several types of tunings for this instrument, used according to the preference of the player. The best known are Cebolão, Rio Abaixo, Boiadeira and Natural.

Genres

The typical musical genres of Dourados come largely from Paraguay, owing to the proximity to that country:

• Chamamé: it is a musical genre traditional of the province of Corrientes (Argentina), also appreciated in Paraguay and in various places in Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul). Its origin integrates cultural roots of the Guaraní indigenous peoples, of the Spanish explorers and even of Italian immigrants. In Argentina, the chamamé is danced in triple time, that is, the waltz chamamé; in the Guaraní indigenous language, chamamé means improvisation. The chamamé is the result of the fusion of races (ethnicities), which, mixed with time, told the history of the human being and of their landscape, projecting itself even to other borders. It uses the accordion and the guitar as its main instruments.
• Guarânia: a musical genre of Paraguayan origin, with a slow tempo, generally in a minor key. The best-known songs are: Índia, Ne rendápe aju, Panambi Vera and Paraguaýpe. The genre seduces urban populations, but not in the interior. This is probably due to people's interest in faster styles such as the polka or the Purahéi Jahe'o.
• Paraguayan polka: also called Danza Paraguaya (or Paraguayan dance in Spanish), it is a musical style created in Paraguay in the 19th century.

Dances

The typical dances of Dourados have diverse origins, but a large part comes from styles of Paraguay and the South of Brazil.

• Chupim: a dance that symbolizes the Paraguayan polka, represented by three couples, who imitate the bird of the same name courting the females. Frequently they go to meet the Carão, an imitation of the bird of the same name, which is a bird of prey that tries to steal the female/lady of its companion in any way. Touches of castanets are also added, with the fingers of the hands, from the acculturation of the Spaniards. Its movements include the catena, bullfighting the pair, dances and spinning the pair.
• Mazurca: a dance equal to the rancheira, which is very common in the South region of Brazil and follows the same format as southern balls.
• Palomita: a ballroom dance performed to the sound of Paraguayan polka and/or chamamé. In Paraguay, a genre of the same name is used for such a dance, with rotation among participating couples.
• Polca de Carão: also called Polca do Fora, the dance is a game in which the dancers get a "carão" (or a rejection) from their suitor. It continues until everyone gets a rejection.
• Toro Candil: characterized more as a game than as a dance or revelry. It is made with the ox (toro in Spanish) made of wire, cloth and the natural skull of the ox's face, which is slaughtered for the festival. Two torches with lit fire are placed on the horn of the candle ox (candil in Spanish). Masked players (mascaritas in Spanish) give presentations dressed so as not to be recognized (both sexes), playing among themselves and switching their language to Guaraní. While the Toro Candil does not arrive, the bola-ta-ta game is played (a cloth ball soaked in oil and set alight), then the ball is kicked from one player to another until it goes out completely. Then the Toro Candil enters the scene to reach the height of the festival. When they get tired, they go to the hall and dance (one can dance with another player of the same sex, as they do not know each other) to the rhythm of salsas and merengues.
• Xote aos Pares: also called Xote de Três, it is a dance equivalent to the Xote de Duas Damas, which is widely performed in the South region of Brazil.
• Xote Inglês: brought by migrants from the South of Brazil, it has the format of a xote with two well-defined divisions: one with the rhythm that leads the marking of the turn executed by the pair with six steps turning to the left and then six more steps to the right, and then two steps to the left and two to the right are marked with a turn to the right with three more steps repeated in this second part. Then it returns to the beginning and the dance continues until the end.

Gastronomy and drinks

Dourados incorporates elements of Paraguayan and indigenous culture in its gastronomy, since it receives influence from these two environments, with emphasis on Paraguayan xipas. A very common drink in the city is the consumption of tereré (made with an infusion of yerba mate and ice water), served in a guampa usually made of ox horn and with a bomba; it is easy to prepare and drunk at gatherings, especially in young groups. There are rules that cannot be broken in a tereré circle and must be respected. The drink is consumed especially on weekends, accompanied by regional music (formerly guarânia and chamamé, today mainly sertanejo).

Theater and dance groups

Main theater and dance groups active in Dourados:

• New Street Power: a group created in July 2001, formed by 10 members, has already won many awards and is one of the largest street dance groups in the city. Its main choreographer is Luciano Lima, also a member of the group TWB.
• Agnus Street Dance: street dance style, the group has existed for three years, led by Claudinei Pires da Cruz (Ney). During this period the group performed constantly in the Arte na Escola Project in the municipality of Dourados. In addition, the group obtained 6th place in the 3rd International Hip Hop Festival, held in Curitiba in 2004, being the only group from Mato Grosso do Sul to compete in the festival, in the youth category. It is based at Sesc Dourados.
• Companhia de Teatro Rebuliço: the group, performing for children, youth, corporate and adult audiences, presents itself in theaters, amphitheaters, schools and street theater, also working with puppets, and holds courses and lectures.
• Ginasloucos: acrobatic basketball, formed by students of Unigran (University Center of Grande Dourados); they open municipal games and have participated in TV segments on Faustão's program in 2003 and 2004, Eliana's program (SBT), Ana Rickmann (Record) and festivals in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná. The participants are not basketball players; they use the sport's techniques to present acrobatic dunk shows. The group's leader is Rogério da Cruz Montes, a physical education teacher.
• Grupo de Atores Independentes: contemporary style, the group has existed since 1996 and frequently participates in the South Mato Grosso Theater Festivals, organized by Fesmat, and also in the Dourados em Cena event. Its works are aimed at children's theater, adult theater and street plays. The group recently ran the AIDS and dengue prevention campaigns (D-Day) in the city of Dourados, when they were hired by the local Municipal Health Department.
• Grupo de Dança Las Calândrias: specialized in typical dances of Paraguay, the Las Calândrias dance group has existed since 1998 and during this time has performed throughout the state and also in Cuiabá, Brasília and Asunción, Paraguay. It also participated in the 5th Bonito Winter Festival.
• Grupo de Dança Xirú: specialized in typical gaucho dances, this group is subdivided into children's, youth, adult and xirú. The group usually performs at the CTG, in schools, social events and fraternization dinners.
• Grupo de Teatro Teic a Trango: theater group of the Imaculada Conceição School. Of children's style, it is composed of students of the school and formed by 4 classes of 15 actors. They perform at various children's events, such as Children's Week.
• Grupo Experimental Anna Pavlowa: classical ballet, modern, contemporary and belly dance style, it is formed by girls who dance at the Anna Pavlowa ballet school, who give artistic presentations at academy meetings and dance festivals.
• Grupo Padrões Cia de Dança: contemporary style and dance theater, they perform on various occasions, with various styles such as ballroom dance, jazz, contemporary and modern.
• Grupo de Teatro Passa Anel: the children's theater group has existed since 2000 at the Franciscan School Imaculada Conceição, but only received its name in 2009. The group is formed by two classes of 20 students.
• Grupo de teatro Borboletas na Barriga: the children's theater group of the MACE School, directed by teacher Rejani Betoni Garcia Vendramini, has existed since 2006 and every year performs for the community at the annual Palco MACE event.
• Grupo Teatral Entreartes: contemporary and children's style, the group has existed since 1991 and over this period has presented countless plays, many of which received awards and honorable mentions, including "Pluft", winner of 9 awards at the 1st University Festival of Amateur Theater of Dourados. Meire Milan is responsible for the group.
• Cia. Teatral Trupe Zomba: contemporary style, it was founded in August 2004 in the city of Dourados with the objective of promoting the training of student-actors, staging of shows and interventions. It was part of an extension project of the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul – UEMS (2004–2009) and has the support of other institutions such as FUNCED, Casa da Cultura da UEMS and SESC-Dourados. Its first theatrical work was the play Fuck You, Baby by Mário Bortolotto in 2005. In 2006 the first Sketches Showcase was held with different theatrical languages: poetry, realism, the absurd, comedy and sarcasm. Its research and choice of plays are directed toward social relevance through partnerships with institutions such as SENTINELA (2005) and CORREIO (2006). In 2007 and 2008 it staged Inimigos de Classe by Nigel Williams (violence at school) and Quando as Máquinas Param by Plínio Marcos, and held the II Sketches Showcases touring Dourados and the region. It also performs poetry whisperings (openings of institutional events) and produced for companies such as SIPAT (Internal Week for the Prevention of Work Accidents): Doux-Frangosul (2008–2009), Eletrosul (2009/2011), Embrapa (2009) and SESI/Dourados (2013); an advertising campaign for UNIMED's 30 years (2009); and an advertising campaign for SICRED (financial education) with more than 30 presentations in the south of the state (2009/2013). It staged and toured the sketch "Claro" by David Ives (absurd theater) in 2009, "Hotel Lancaster" by Mário Bortolotto (2009) and the children's plays "Luas e Luas" by James Thurber (2009/2010/2013) and "Operação Planeta" by Lucas Sayão and Rodrigo Perandré (2012/2013). Until 2009 the company was directed by Professor Paula Regina Alvarenga; since then Trupe Zomba has been directed by social educator Lucas Gabriel dos Santos Sayão.
• Hendÿ: a Group of Experimentation and Research in Theater. It was an independent group in the municipality of Dourados, of experimental character, and was approved in important public calls at the regional and state levels. In its four years of activity it sought to develop quality theatrical activities in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
• Grupo Mandi'o: Grupo Mandi'o is a group born in the Bachelor's and Licentiate degree courses in Performing Arts at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), with an interdisciplinary character in the fields of Research, Teaching, Extension and Art, on Brazilian Amerindian culture; it has been active since 2010 and seeks to create, identify, understand and reflect on how the various forms of creation processes in Scene Arts occur and are perpetuated in relation to the manifestations of Brazilian Amerindian culture and their specificities in the border region of Mato Grosso do Sul, in addition to elucidating the relationship of these manifestations in contemporary society. The projects inserted in the Group relate to the Guarani Kaiowá Communities of Panambi, Panambizinho, Aldeia Bororó and Jaguapiru, Kaiowá indigenous people encamped at Lagoa Rica, Ita'y and Guyracamby'i, as well as young people and children from the settlements of the Nova Itamarati farm. Its actions are always built together with these groups and developed as a network that allows practical, theoretical and artistic interaction, in a community life. The objective is the creation of artistic processes that critically and creatively reflect the social and intercultural condition to which the Kaiowá and we are exposed. The group toured various regions of Brazil with the show "ARA PYAHU; (des)caminhos do contar-se", awarded in 2014–2016 by the Klauss Vianna Dance Prize.

Cultural and exhibition centers

• Casa de Cultura da UEMS: it is linked to the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul. Its main function is not to be a place for exhibitions, but rather a center for teaching and cultural manifestation. It holds cultural events articulated with UEMS, among which are theater workshops and choirs, coordinated by UEMS professors and aimed at the community. It also has a popular center for musical studies, with free music classes for the needy community.
• Centro Cultural Perpétuo Socorro: also known as IAD, it is a cultural space that promotes cultural and handicraft showcases.
• Salão de Artes de Dourados (SAD): located in the former Catarinense Supermarket, it promotes the exhibition of works by artists from Dourados and the region.

Museum

• Museu Histórico de Dourados: the museum's collection gathers documents on the history of Dourados: photographs and personal objects of pioneers such as Marcelino Pires, coins, old furniture, costumes, books, magazines, as well as an indigenous collection. The museum was created in 1977 and reopened on December 20, 2002.

Literary institutions

Entities

• Academia Douradense de Letras: with the acronym A.D.L., it is an association of unlimited duration, with an exclusively literary and cultural purpose, legally constituted as a legal entity. It is the highest literary association representing the city of Dourados before the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
• Grupo Literário Arandu: founded on May 17, 1997, by the writers Carlos Magno Mieres Amarilha, Edy Salis Leite, Luciano Serafim, Maria Lucia Tolouei, Nicanor Coelho, Regina Meyer and Simone Areco, with the objective of encouraging the publication of literary works by new authors from Dourados. The group presented itself to society through the holding of the 1st Poetry Fair, on May 17 and 18, 1997, an event that included the exhibition of clotheslines with poems by poets already established in Dourados and by students from public and private schools, at Parque dos Ipês, in addition to musical and capoeira presentations. On that occasion, the Arandu Manifesto was published, which demanded spaces for the dissemination and appreciation of the literature of Mato Grosso do Sul. In July 1997, the group launched the Arandu Magazine, for the publication of scientific articles produced in the region, and it is still published today.

Libraries

• Biblioteca UEMS: incorporated into the UFGD library, open for visitation.
• Arquivo Público da UFGD: located inside UFGD.
• Biblioteca Pública Municipal Vicente de Carvalho: has a collection of 14,500 books. The library was founded in 1967 and has a study area that supports 32 people seated.
• Biblioteca do SESC Dourados: has 3,800 books and receives 7 weekly and monthly periodicals. The library has internet and air conditioning.
• Library of the Academia Douradense de Letras: the library has 3,827 books and 186 high-school workbooks.
• Biblioteca Isaura Higa: located inside UFGD, it has 22,462 titles, 44,305 copies, 619 periodicals, 614 theses, as well as local newspapers and magazines. It has a study area, air conditioning and computers.
• Library of UNIGRAN, the largest in Dourados, with more than 80,000 copies, between books and periodicals. It is also structured with computers and internet access: located inside UNIGRAN.
• Biblioteca Interativa Centro Social Marista Dourados: has about 3,500 books among Literature, Didactic, Para-didactic, Vestibular/Contest and Pastoral, receives 6 weekly and monthly periodicals and subscribes to two local newspapers. It has a study area and computers.
• Biblioteca Pública Municipal Prof. Chester Soares Bonfim: the library founded by mayor José Laerte Tetila is located at Praça do Cinquentenário.

Sister cities

Dourados has four sister cities:

• Memuro, Japan (since 2015)
• Kearney, United States (since 2025)
• Jujuy, Argentina (since 2025)
• Iquique, Chile (since 2025)

See also

• List of municipalities in Brazil by population
• Agribusiness in Brazil

External links

• Official website
• Media related to Dourados at Wikimedia Commons