Porto Alegre (lit. "Joyous Port") is one of the largest cities in Brazil, and the capital city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre is one of the most important cultural, political and economic centers of Southern Brazil. Porto Alegre held the best standard of living among all Brazilian capitals for many years and it was the only Brazilian city listed on Jones Lang LaSalle's World Winning Cities. Residents of the city are also known to be perhaps among the most linguistically talented in the Americas, where due to its relatively high standard of living, education, and proximity to neighboring Spanish countries, many residents of Porto Alegre report to being trilingual in Portuguese, Spanish, and English to varying degrees.