This polygon shapefile contains the mesoregion boundaries for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2010. Mesoregions are subdivisions of Brazilian states, grouping together various municipalities in proximity and with common characteristics. They were created by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics for statistical purposes and do not, therefore, constitute an administrative area. This layer is part of the Evolução da divisão territorial do Brasil 1872 - 2010 dataset, a collection of data representing the evolution of Brazilian states, municipalities and cities. This dataset is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production, or to provide a basemap to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2011). Mesoregion Boundaries: Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, 2010 IBGE. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/vt802yh9674 This layer is presented in the WGS84 coordinate system for web display purposes. Downloadable data are provided in native coordinate system or projection.