Mineiros, population 68,154, 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 southwest of the state of

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. ...

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 ...

. Mineiros is the westernmost city in Goiás and a great producer of cattle, soybeans, and corn. Mineiros is located 430 km from the state capital,

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 is connected to the large town of

Jataí Jataí is a municipality in southern Goiás state, Brazil. Its population was 103,221 (2021) in a total area of . Jataí is a major producer of agricultural products, including soybeans, rice, and corn. It has the largest herd of cattle in the ...

BR 364 BR-364 is an inter-state highway in Brazil connecting the southeast state of São Paulo to the western state of Acre. The highway was opened in the 1960s and paved in the 1980s. It has brought economic development and population growth in the Amaz ...

. Highway connections from

are made by BR-060 /

Abadia de Goiás Abadia de Goiás is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil, located on the western edge of the Goiânia metropolitan area. Geographical Data The distance to Goiânia is 27 km. and highway connections are made by BR-060. Neighboring m ...

Guapó Guapó () is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. The population was 14,207 (2020) and the total area of the municipality was 517.0 km² (10/10/2002). Guapó is part of the Goiânia Microregion. Neighboring municipalities are: * ...

Indiara Indiara is a city and municipality in central-south Goiás state, Brazil. Indiara is a large producer of soybeans and cotton. Location Indiara is in the Vale do Rio dos Bois and has municipal boundaries with: *north: Palmeiras de Goiás *south: ...

Acreúna Acreúna is a city and municipality in western Goiás state, Brazil. Location Acreúna is located in the statistical micro-region of Vale do Rio dos Bois, southwest of the state capital, Goiânia, on BR-060, (Brasília-Acre) which links Goiânia ...

/ Rio Verde /

/ GO-050 / BR-364. Se
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Geography

It is one of the largest municipalities in the state as well as one of the oldest. It is part of the IBGE statistical microregion of Sudoeste de Goiás.

Origin of the name

The name "Mineiros" comes from the first explorers who were from

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 ...

. They settled in the region around 1873, building huts, ranch houses, churches, and chapels for saints. One of these settlers, who came to be known as "João Mineiro", because of his origin in Minas Gerais, was supposedly the first European to settle on the banks of a stream, a tributary of the Verdinho River, which soon was called the stream of the "Mineiro". This stream is the Mineiros stream today. The first official name was "Mineiro" when the settlement became a "vila" (old name for municipality) in 1905. In 1933 the name was changed to Mineiros as it appears today.

Demographics

The population density was 5.08 inhabitants/km² in 2007. The population has more than doubled since 1980, when it was 21,690. While the urban area has increased dramatically, the rural area has surprisingly lost little population in the last 25 years, having 4,506 inhabitants in 2007. The population increased by 2.12% between 2000 and 2007.

Economy

Considered one of the most prosperous regions of Brazilian agribusiness, the municipality of Mineiros is a great producer of soybeans, corn, sorghum and cotton, as well as beef and dairy cattle. It is the third largest producer of grains in the state. In an axis of 100km from the city there are fields producing more than 1 million tons a year of soybeans and sorghum. Because of this, the city has large grain storage facilities. In 2007, the city had an industrial district—Distrito Agroindustrial - I e II - DAIM—and there were 66 industrial units registered. The retail sector was very strong with 671 units in 2007. There was a meat-packing house—FRIGOESTRELA - Frigorífico Estrela D'Oeste Ltda—and a dairy—Coop. M. Agrop. do Vale do Araguaia Ltda. The banking sector was represented by 6 institutions:

Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. ( en, Bank of Brazil) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King ...

Bradesco Banco Bradesco S.A. is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Osasco, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the third largest in Latin America, and the seventy-nint ...

Banco Itaú Banco Itaú S.A. was a former Brazilian bank that merged with Unibanco on November 4, 2008, to form Banco Itaú Unibanco. History Banco Itaú began in 1945 under the name ''Banco Central de Crédito'' (Central Bank of Credit) and later changed ...

, CEF, HSBC Bank Brasil, Banco Multiplo,

Banco Mercantil do Brasil Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a natio ...

Agriculture

Like many cities in the state of Goiás the economy is based on cattle raising and agriculture. There were approximately 310,000 head of cattle in the municipality in 2006 of which 34,000 were milk cows. Agricultural production was based on cotton, corn, soybeans, and sorghum. Main crops in 2006 were: *corn: 25,500 hectares *soybeans: 133,000 hectares *cotton: 2,492 hectares *sorghum: 18,000 hectares Wheat production has decreased in recent years.

Farm statistics 2006

*Number of farms: 1,247 *Agricultural land area: 558,998 *Area of permanent crops: 1,490 *Area of perennial crops: 108,563 *Area of natural pasture: 315,574 *Persons working in agriculture: 3,364 (IBGE 2006)

Quality of life

90% of the urban population is served by a sewage system and chlorinated water.

Health and education

In 2007 there were 4 hospitals with 217 beds. There were also 8 walk-in health clinics. The infant mortality rate was 16.58 for every 1,000 live births in 2000, having been 39.53 in 1990. In 2006, the school system had 45 schools with 13,000 students. There were 2 institutions of higher learning: Fundação Integrada Municipal de Ensino Superior-FIMES, Pólo Unopar EAD and a campus of the State University of Goiás—Pólo Universitário da UEG. The adult literacy rate was 88% in 2000.

Municipal Human Development Index

*Life expectancy: 72.1 *Adult literacy rate: 86.6% *School attendance rate: 77.9% *MHDI: 0.780 *State ranking: 30 (out of 242 municipalities in 2000) *National ranking: 1,046 (out of 5,507 municipalities in 2000)

Tourism

The city of Mineiros preserves more than 1,000 km² of native vegetation, in the Parque Nacional das Emas. Created in 1961, the park is 80 km distant from Mineiros and is under the jurisdiction of

IBAMA Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis, IBAMA) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm. IBAMA supports anti- ...

. Its biodiversity is recognized as one of the richest in Latin America. At a distance of 63 km. lies Pedra Aparada, an important ecological site because of its arqueological characteristics. Mineiros also has such attractions as the sulphurous waters of Pilões, Água Emendada, Casa de Pedra, Corrente das Cachoeiras, Mata dos Coqueiros, Mata Típica, Cedro – Quilombo dos Negros, many colonial homes and the Center for Gaucho Traditions.

References

{{reflist

External links

Mineiros.com