Itapuranga is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in northern

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

state,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Location and Climate

Itapuranga is located northwest of

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

and north of

, the old capital of the state. *Main highways of access from Goiânia are G0-070 to

Itaberaí Itaberaí is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. Itaberaí is a large producer of agricultural products including corn, rice, soybeans, tomatoes, and sugarcane. Location Itaberaí is located 92 kilometers north-west of Goiânia on s ...

and state highway GO-156 north through

Heitoraí Heitoraí is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. Location Heitoraí lies 142 km. from the regional center of Anápolis. Highway connections are made by federal highway BR-153 from Goiânia to Itaberaí then north on GO-156 for 38 ...

. Se
Seplan
Because of its fertile soil and geo-economic location, Itapuranga is considered the capital of the Vale do São Patrício. Municipal boundaries are with: Carmo do Rio Verde, Faina,

Guarita Guarita is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The best way to go to Guarita is via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotepeque- Cololaca-Guarita and it ta ...

, Morro Agudo de Goiás,

Uruana Uruana is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. It is known statewide as the watermelon capital of the state. Location Uruana is located 36 km. southwest of Ceres. It is 25 km. west of the highway junction with BR-153 at Ri ...

and São Patrício. There are two well defined seasons, a rainy season from October to April, and a dry season, from May to September. The average annual minimum temperature is 11 °C, the maximum, 38 °C, and the average, 25 °C. The vegetation is quite diversified: small clumps of forest, bushes, and grasses. The types of vegetation cover are:

cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

8.2%, fields 4.4%, forest 3.0%. The cultivated area is 8.7% and the pasture land is 74.8%. Districts, Villages, and Hamlets *Districts: Cibele and Diolândia. *Hamlets: Lajes and São José

History

Itapuranga began in 1933 when Dominican friars from

, acquired land from the government on the left bank of the Rio Canastra. The name of the settlement was "Xixá", taken from the Xixazeiro tree under which the first mass was celebrated. Joaquim Moreira da Silva opened the first general store and the town began to grow. Soon a public school was built and a road opened to the city of Goiás. In 1943 Xixá became a district of Goiás and the name was changed to Itapuranga, which means in the Tupi language "red rock" or "place of pretty rocks". In 1953 it was dismembered from Goiás to form a municipality.

Demographics

*Population density: 19.44 inhabitants/km² (2007) *Population growth rate: -1.05% from 1996/2007 *Population in 1980: 30,358 *Population in 2007: 24,832 *Urban population in 1980: 15,492 *Urban population in 2007: 19,090 *Rural population in 1980: 14,866 *Rural population in 2007: 5,742

The economy

The main economic activities were cattle raising, services, small industries, and agriculture are the main economic activities. In 2006 there were 1,441 farms with a total area of 65,894 hectares, of which 11,000 hectares were cropland and 40,400 hectares were pasture. The cattle herd had 134,000 head in 2006 and the main crops cultivated were bananas, sugarcane, rice, corn, coconuts, and soybeans. Sugarcane was the most important crop with 9,400 ha. planted and a production of 855,000 tons (2006). Corn was second with 5,500 ha. and 17,600 tons. *Industrial establishments: 87 *Commercial retail establishments: 243 *Industrial park: Distrito Agroindustrial de Itapuranga - DIAI (June/2006) *Financial institutions: Banco do Brasil S.A., BRADESCO S.A., Banco Itaú S.A.

Education and Health

In 2006 there were 27 schools with an enrollment of 6,799 students. There was one institute of higher education: UEG - Faculdade de Educação, Ciências e Letras de Itapuranga. The literacy Rate was 82.9%. In the health sector there were 5 hospitals with 141 beds. The infant mortality rate was 26.53 (in 1,000 live births) 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: 0.735 *State ranking: 128 (out of 242 municipalities in 2000) *National ranking: 2,312 (out of 5,507 municipalities in 2000) For the complete list se
frigoletto.com.br

References

Frigoletto

External links

Itapuranga Net
{{Municipalities of Goiás Municipalities in Goiás