another flow of immigrants arrived in the 19th century, mainly settling in the region now known as santa catarina -  the areas the immigrants chose greatly resembled their home climate and geographical features.

in 1818, prince regent john vi of portugal issued a decree allowing the swiss representative sebastian nicolau gachet to establish a colony in brazil - from 1818-1820 a total of 261 families (1,682 immigrants) formed the original settlement and on the 17 april, 1820 the government dubbed it an official village.

swiss traditions in brazil have been passed down through generations of swiss-brazilians - while the exact number of swiss immigrants is disputed, as many were counted as germans, their presence in rio de janeiro is certainly visible.

this explains the prevalence of wooden chalets and chocolate shops as well as the profusion of restaurants serving cheese fondue and raclette in rio municipality.