Machine translation of the Portuguese Wikipedia article (November 2026 version).
Vilhena is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Rondônia. Its population was estimated at 110,708 inhabitants in 2026 according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), making it the third most populous municipality in Rondônia.
With the second-best HDI in the state, the city is in constant expansion in the industry, commerce and services sectors, and it is also a strong agricultural hub in the region. In addition, the city has become a major educational center, attracting many students from a macro-region that covers the southern part of Rondônia and the northwest of Mato Grosso.
The municipality is known as the Gateway to the Amazon, as it is located at the entrance to the Western Amazon region. It is also known as the Climate City of the Amazon, since its average temperature is lower than that of other cities in the North Region. At the time of its colonization, it was given the nickname Amazonian Eldorado, in reference to the city of Eldorado which, according to Indigenous legend, was made of solid gold.
The name “Vilhena” was given by Cândido Rondon in honor of the engineer from Maranhão who headed the Álvaro Coutinho de Melo Vilhena Public Telegraph Organization. In 1908, he was appointed Director General of Telegraphs by the President of the Republic.
Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Read the full article on Wikipedia (in Portuguese)