摘要：This article analyzes the spatial changes occurred in the productive structure of the Minimum Comparable Areas (MCAs) of Paraná, specifically of the agriculture, livestock and traditional industries sectors in the period of 1970 to 2000. The theoric approach of the economic base of Douglas North was used to support the analysis and the Locational Quotient to identify the MCAs which had these sectors as basic in the period analyzed. The results showed a change of the spatial distribution of the sectors analyzed: the agricultural and livestock sectors spread and traditional industries sector concencentrated in specific MCAs of Paraná, mainly in Guarapuava, Irati, Pinhão, Palmas, Bituruna, General Carneiro, União da Vitória , Porto Vitória, Paula Freitas, Mangueirinha, located in the Meso Region Center-south, and in the MCAs of Mariópolis, Clevelândia, Colonel Vivida, Francisco Beltrão, Ampére, located in the Meso Region Southwest of Paraná. Consequently, the capacity and the interaction of the economic base of agriculture, livestock and traditional industries of the MCAs (regions) of Paraná were responsible for the maintenance, dissemination and diversification of the branches of basic activities and leveraged the branches of non-basic activities of the traditional industry.
