ABSTRACT
The State of Mato Grosso (MT), located in the central-west region of Brazil (Figure 15.1), occupies an area of 903,357.91 km2 (IBGE, 2001). It is the third largest state in the Brazilian federation, greater in surface area than France and Germany combined. As it lies in the geographic centre of the South American continent, equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines and beyond the routes of European colonization (save for some minor gold and diamond mining), it is a state of relatively recent frontier occupation. This isolation enabled it to retain untouched indigenous territories, savannas and forests up until the mid-twentieth century.
