Corumbá

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Corumbá (kŏŏrōōmbä´), city (1996 pop. 87,832), Mato Grosso do Sul state, SW Brazil, on the Paraguay River. A river port and a junction point on the railroad to Bolivia, it is a trade center for a large pastoral region. Corumbá exports leather, meat products, iron ore, and manganese and has varied light industries. Founded as a military outpost and colony in 1778, it became strategically important with the opening of the Paraguay River to international trade after the Paraguayan War (1865–70). Nearby are the buttes of Morro do Urucum, which contain vast mineral deposits.