Rio Grande

Port city, southeastern Rio Grande do Sul estado (�state�), southern Brazil. The city lies along the Rio Grande (river), which is the outlet to the Atlantic of the Patos Lagoon. It is built on a low peninsula, barely 5 feet (1.5 m) above sea level and 8 miles (13 km) from the river's mouth. Where it enters the ocean, the river passes over a submerged bar that has been dredged so that oceangoing vessels