RIO PARDO (formerly

Villa do Rio Pardo)  , a town of Brazil in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on the left bank of the Jacuhy at its confluence with the Pardo . Area (of the municipality) 1737 sq. m . Pop . (1890) of the municipality, 19,346; (1908, estimated) of the town, 3500 . The town is about 8o m. due west of Porto Alegre, with which it is connected by rail and steamer . The Jacuhy is navigable by small steamers to this place, which was once an important military station and commercial centre . Its military importance has considerably declined through railway extension . The surrounding districts are fertile but only slightly cultivated, and stock-raising is its chief industry . The town had its origin in a frontier fort built at this point by the Portuguese in 1751, but did not reach the dignity of a " villa " until 1809 .