Naviraí

Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil · South America

About Naviraí

Naviraí sits on the route: 55 minutes from Itaquiraí.

Naviraí is in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with about 50,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Itaquiraí, about 46 km away.

Naviraí (Portuguese pronunciation: [naviˈɾai]) is a municipality in the immediate geographic region of Naviraí-Mundo Novo, in the intermediate geographic region of Dourados, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Central-West Region of Brazil. It was founded on 16 April 1952 by several Brazilian and Japanese

pioneers and emancipated in 1963. Initially occupied by indigenous peoples, Naviraí, in the 1950s, was just an uninhabited field. From then on, the first colonizers of European origin began to arrive by plane and by boat. In 1955, with the construction of the road linking Naviraí to Dourados, it began to develop faster. Fifteen years later, when the city's first census took place in 1970, the population was 23,117 inhabitants. More than twenty years later, the population reached 30,670 inhabitants, a growth of 32.7%. Two decades later, in 2010, the population jumped to 46,424 inhabitants, a difference of 51.4%. In forty years, the population of Naviraí had a net growth of 100.8%. The demonym of the population of the municipality is naviraiense. In the 2022 census, Naviraí had 50,457 inhabitants. The IBGE estimate for 1 July 2026 is 53,307 inhabitants — the sixth largest population of Mato Grosso do Sul and the 45th of the Central-West Region. The municipality is a medium-small city and is the seat of the Diocese of Naviraí. It is known for its cultural diversity, with Japanese, Portuguese, Paraguayan and indigenous influences. With a territorial area of 3,189.667 km2 (1,231.537 sq mi), Naviraí is the 484th largest municipality in Brazil and the 39th of Mato Grosso do Sul by extension. Tourism has been decisive in the development of the local job market. In the tourist market, Naviraí is part of the so-called Cone-Sul of Mato Grosso do Sul. In the national tourist infrastructure, the city was rated category C (between A and E), that is, in the middle. Among the important events of the municipality, the most important are Navi Folia (the municipality's street carnival), Exponavi (Naviraí Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition, the most traditional fair of the cone-sul of the state), Fejunavi (the municipality's June festival) and Nippon Fest (an event based on Japanese culture, with typical gastronomy and music). Via the BR-163 highway, the municipality connects with the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso and other Mercosur countries. In April 2014, the Mato Grosso do Sul stretch of the highway was granted to CCR MSVia, with plans to duplicate more than 850 km (530 mi) within the state. There is also access to the city through its bus terminal and its airport, included in the federal government's Logistics Investment Program: Airports. Another project being discussed in local logistics is the implementation of its dry port, which would prevent trucks from accessing the central region of the city. With a gross domestic product of R$3.67 billion in 2023 according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, it is the ninth richest municipality of Mato Grosso do Sul and the 423rd of the country. The municipality is pointed out as one of the main regional centers of the Cone-Sul of Mato Grosso do Sul, a region whose main economic activity is agriculture and livestock raising.