Lago da Pedra 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 the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

in the Northeast region of

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 ...

. Its estimated population in 2020 was 50,616 inhabitants. Along with

Lago do Junco Lago do Junco is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Maranhão (MA), located in the Northeast Region o ...

Lago dos Rodrigues Lago dos Rodrigues is a second-order municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Maranhão (MA), located in the ...

Lagoa Grande do Maranhão Lagoa Grande do Maranhão is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Maranhão (MA), located in the Northe ...

and Poção de Pedras, Lago da Pedra is located in Lakes Region, an area for sustainable exploration of

babassu ''Attalea speciosa'', the babassu, babassu palm, ''babaçu, or cusi'', is a palm native to the Amazon Rainforest region in South America. The babassu palm is the predominant species in the Maranhão Babaçu forests of Maranhão and Piauí states. ...

. Founded on January 1, 1953, Lago da Pedra is the fifth most important economic center and detentor of the largest cattle herd in Pindaré microregion, as well is among the cities with the highest socioeconomic development indexes in Maranhão. Its urban plan, known for its excessive uphills and downhills – resides the burila of large surface area of the eponymous lake; meanwhile, the rest of this surface area is exposed to various wastes – was the result of disordered occupation since the early history of Lago da Pedra.

History

The early history of Lago da Pedra begins in 1929, with the arrival of the first residents: Rosendo Rodrigues, Cândido Adão Sales de Oliveira, Joaquim Bastos, José Gago, José Melquíades and Luciano Rodrigues, farmers who were looking for animals for subsistence, which led them to find the region that possessed in its geographical landscape a large

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, whose banks had a rocky fragment of whetstone, a fact that was able to hold the attention of those residents. In 1931, the arrival of other residents was intensified, so starting the building of the first houses. The main activity at that time was subsistence farming, provided by exceptional

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

conditions. The district which today corresponds to the Municipality of Lago da Pedra was created under the name District of Jejuí, by State Law number 269 of December 31, 1948, on which District of Jejuí was subordinated to the Municipality of Vitória do Mearim, a situation reinforced by territorial division of July 1, 1950. Elevated to a municipality-level under the name of Municipality of Lago da Pedra by State Law number 776 of October 2, 1952, District of Jejuí was so dismembered from Vitória do Mearim, being so established on January 1, 1953. After emancipation, Antonio da Silva Coelho was appointed as provisional administrator, ruling for two years, being replaced by Antonio Bandeira Lima, who ruled for one year.

References

Municipalities in Maranhão {{Maranhão-geo-stub