Florianópolis is the capital of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of the country. The municipality is composed of the main island, the island of Santa Catarina, the continental part, and some small surrounding islands. The city has a population of 516,524 inhabitants, according to estimates for 2021 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). It is the second most populous municipality in the state (after Joinville) and the 48th in Brazil. The metropolitan region has an estimated population of 1,209,818, the 21st largest in the country. The city is known for having a high quality of life, being the Brazilian capital with the highest score on the Human Development Index (HDI), calculated by the United Nations' UNDP.

The economy of Florianópolis is strongly based on information technology, tourism and services. The city has more than 100 registered beaches and is a center of shipping activity. The US newspaper The New York Times stated in 2009 that "Florianópolis was the destination of the year".Newsweek considered that the municipality is one of the "ten most dynamic cities in the world" in 2006. The 2014 Entrepreneurial Cities Index (ICE), prepared by the Brazilian branch of the American NGO Endeavor, elected the city as the best environment for entrepreneurship in the country. The city was also considered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) one of Brazil's "creative cities" in 2014, alongside Curitiba.

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