Bento Gonçalves 6.71

Bento Gonçalves is a municipality located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Created in 1875, it is one of the centers of the Italian immigration in Brazil. It is also known as the 'wine capital of Brazil' due to its vineyards and wine production. In 2016, its estimated population was 114,203 inhabitants.Ernesto Geisel, President of Brazil from 1974-1979 (under the military dictatorship), was born in Bento Gonçalves in 1907.HistoryBefore 1870, the area where the city is located was known as Cruzinha. It was inhabited, as the rest of the region, by Indians of the "jê" tribe.In 1875, the Brazilian government created, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, four settlements to receive Italian immigrants. In the Cruzinha area, a settlement was created called Dona Isabel (named after the Brazilian princess Isabel de Bragança). "Dona Isabel" received the first 25 families of Italian settlers in that same year. They mostly came from the region of Trento.During the next few decades, the region was settled by immigrants coming mostly from the Italian regions of Veneto, Trentino, and Lombardia.In 1890, Dona Isabel was elevated to the category of city, changing its name to Bento Gonçalves (named after the military leader of the Ragamuffin War).The Italian immigrants mostly worked in grape and wine production.