Santa Cruz do Sul ( pronunciation ) is a city in central Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The city has an estimate 126,775 inhabitants as of 2016 and sits about 150 km (93 miles) from the capital city of the state, Porto Alegre. The city enjoys a high standard of living and gross income per capita is 2.5 times greater than that of the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a whole.

The population of Santa Cruz do Sul has steadily increased, with help from immigration to Brazil during its early history – in 1849 there were 12 inhabitants, ten years later the city population had reached 2723 people, and in 1878 there were ten thousand inhabitants. Most of the early immigrants were farmers and craftsmen.

The area around Santa Cruz do Sul is mainly agricultural, and produces large quantities of tobacco and soy beans for animal fodder. Most of the tobacco produced in the area is exported as a raw material for cigarette manufacturing plants all over the world. Soy bean processing plants sell several million tons of animal fodder annually, for domestic use and for export.

Each year, the citizens of Santa Cruz do Sul and visitors from the region celebrate Oktoberfest. The city has a large population of German-Brazilians. Thousands turn out each year for the celebration. The Oktoberfest in Santa Cruz do Sul is the third largest in the world, leaving behind only the Oktoberfest in Munich in Germany and Oktoberfest Blumenal of the state of Santa Cartarina in Brazil as well.

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