Elói Mendes is a municipality in the south of the Brazilian state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. In 2020 the population was 28,320 in a total area of 498 km².IBGE 2020
/ref> The elevation of the municipal seat is 899 meters.

Location

Neighboring municipalities are

Três Pontas Três Pontas (; , ''Three Tips'') is a municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It's a city with about all streets of urban zone paved and services of water and sewage to all people. The municipality has about 57 thousand inhab ...

, Paraguaçu,

Cordislândia Cordislândia is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the Southeast R ...

Monsenhor Paulo Monsenhor Paulo is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the Southeast ...

and

Varginha Varginha is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in southwest Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Varginha stands out as one of the major centers of commerce and coffee production in Brazil and the world. The city is a center for export of coffee drai ...

. The IBGE statistical microregion is

. Elói Mendes lies on federal highway BR-491 and is between

and Paraguaçu. The distance to

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

is 335 km.

Climate and Temperatures

*Maximum elevation: 1,084 m - Cab. Córrego Pitangueira *Minimum elevation: 793 m - Represa de Furnas *Elevation of the city: 899,36 m *Average annual temperature:19.6 °C *Average annual minimum: 14.3 °C *Average annual maximum: 26.9 °C *Rainfall index: 1,592.7 mm

The economy

The economy is based on agriculture and small and medium size industries. In agriculture the main crops are coffee, with 9,300 hectares planted in 2006, rice, sugarcane, beans and corn, with 3,200 hectares planted. In the industrial sector there are factories of cardboard tubes, furniture, mattresses, cement products, wires and thread, textiles, and magnetic cards. In 2007 there were 3 financial institutions.

Sectors of economic activity by workers

*Agriculture, fishing, and forestry: 3,900 *Industry: 1,687 *Commerce and merchandise: 1,379 *Other services: 3,007 TOTAL: 9,973

History

The town traces its beginnings to the middle of the eighteenth century. Explorers arrived and camped on the banks of a small river. The climate was mild, there was abundant water, and the lands were fertile. But the site had one defect: it was infested by clouds of a blood-sucking mosquito called Mutuca. For this reason the river and the lands nearby were given the name "Mutuca". 1792 is the first date known in an authentic document referring to the existence of the town. The first settlement of Mutuca changed its name to Espírito Santo da Mutuca, later Espírito Santo do Pontal, and later reducing the name to Pontal. In 1911 it got its municipal emancipation from

. The name, Pontal, was changed to Eloy Mendes in honor of Major Joaquim Eloy Mendes (1827–1913), who was an important local figure and a baron in the Empire of Brazil with the title of Baron of Varginha. Later with modern spelling the name was changed to Elói Mendes.

Tourism

Elói Mendes is not far from the Rio Verde and the gigantic

Furnas Reservoir The Furnas Dam ( pt, Usina Hidrelétrica de Furnas) is a hydroelectric dam in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. A small settlement was built near the dam with the same name to house the workers during the dam construction. The main purpose of the ...

, which is used for fishing, swimming, and boating. The annual carnival celebration attracts revelers from all over the south of Minas Gerais. Municipal

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

*MHDI: .768 *State ranking: 181 out of 853 municipalities *National ranking: 1,385 out of 5,138 municipalities *Life expectancy: 72 years at birth *Literacy rate: 85% For the complete list se
Frigoletto

References

City governmentEloi Mendes.comIBGE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eloi Mendes Municipalities in Minas Gerais 1911 establishments in Brazil Populated places established in 1911