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Santa Maria (full name Santa Maria da Boca do Monte) is a city in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

It is located at 29 ° 41'03 S latitude and 53 ° 48'25 west longitude and 151 metres above sea level. Its population is approximately 270,000.

Santa Maria is located about 300 kilometres from Porto Alegre in the geographic centre of Rio Grande do Sul. As home to one of the largest public universities (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, UFSM, currently more than 15,000 students) and one of the largest sites of the Brazilian Army and Air Force ,Santa Maria is very much influenced by young people. Besides UFSM there is also the UNIFRA (Centro Universitário Franciscano) and several other private schools.

In January 2013 in a nightclub in Santa Maria happened a severe fire disaster, which killed more than 230 people, particularly students.