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The Brazilain city of Franca has always been linked with shoemaking, coffee growing and lingerie as it excells in these industries, now another industry has emerged which is property investment, all thanks to the governments Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing programme and international developers such as the EcoHouse Group The history of this Brazilian city started nearly three hundred years ago, back in the 1720's. At that time it was established as a small settlement on the rough track between Sao Paolo and the gold mines at Goias. It was one of many such 'landings' on the trails leading to and from the mining areas. The location of the place is (and was) somewhat inland in Sao Paolo state, at Latitude 20.6 degrees S and Longitude 47.4 degrees W. In the early days, by the end of the 18th century, settlers had spread out from the 'waystation' places to colonise the surrounding areas. Local population grew and by about 1780 the district around Franca had over a thousand inhabitants. Eventually mining activity in the region declined and the area became much more agricultural. In particular, coffee plantations became a major economic factor in the whole of this part of the State. As this activity expanded, many more Europeans (mostly Italians) immigrated to live and work in and around Franca, especially in the early twentieth century. They also introduced on a large scale the settlement's first manufacturing enterprise, shoemaking. This (together of course with coffee!) remains economically very important to the city to this day.The Franca area produces Brazil's second highest total of manufactured shoes per year. Over 30 million pairs, for both domestic and overseas sales. The hundreds of companies working here in the industry provide about 20,000 direct jobs (plus of course a large number indirectly). The closely linked industries are essential. These of course include the thirty-odd tanneries for the processing of the shoe leather plus the vital chemical plants for the necessary pharmaceuticals. Also, rubber is produced for more than forty factories making shoe soles. Nowadays Franca has a population of about 330,000 people. Natural vegetation is mostly high-level grassland and the average elevation of the city is around 1,000m above sea level. The water supply for the city is provided by the Canoas River, in whose basin the built-up area mostly lies. Coffee is still a critically important local crop and features the world famous 'Mogiana' variety of coffee. The city is renowned for the high quality of its coffee, in a nation that has a similar reputation. Most of the coffee production these days is centred on coffee co-operatives, some with many hundreds of members. Another important local crop is sugar, from sugar cane. This is mainly used to produce alcohol (especially Brazilian hard-spirit 'pinga') and ethanol for fuel rather than directly as a food or food additive. Yet another major industry in the Franca area is clothing manufacture, especially ladies' underwear. This has been growing very rapidly in recent years, in particular since the turn of the century. There are now more than a hundred lingerie factories and the number grows nearly every year. Franca is also well known for its sporting expertise and nowadays has the reputation of being men's basketball capital of the Latin America area. Other sports such as football (soccer), swimming and martial arts also feature heavily. The arrival of the Minha Casa Minha Vida programme has been welcomed by the people of Franca as well as government officials and local businesses as it now means the city itself will receive much needed investment rather than relying solely on exports.
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