Padre Paraíso is a Brazilian

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 ...

located in the northeast of the 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 ...

. Its population as of 2020 was estimated to be 20,252 people living in a total area of 543 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the microregion of

Araçuaí Araçuaí is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais in the Jequitinhonha River valley. The Araçuaí River, a tributary of the Jequitinhonha, flows through it. Its population was estimated to be 36,712 peop ...

. It became a municipality in 1962. Padre Paraíso is located on the Rio-Bahia highway (BR-116) at an elevation of 664 meters (center of the town). The climate is semi-arid and the region is mountainous. The economy is based on cattle raising, services, and

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

, with the main crops being coffee, beans, manioc, sugarcane, and corn. The cattle herd had 8,000 head in 2006. In 2005 there were 639 rural producers but only 7 tractors. 2,100 persons were dependent on agriculture. As of 2005 there were 17 health clinics and 1 private hospital with 42 beds. Educational needs were met by 23 primary schools, 3 middle schools and 4 nursery schools. There were 959 automobiles in 2006, giving a ratio of 17 inhabitants per automobile (there were 790 motorcycles). There was 1 bank in 2007. Neighboring municipalities are:

Ponto dos Volantes Ponto dos Volantes is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the microregion of Araçuaí. As of 2020 the population was 12,179 in an area of 1,215 ...

Caraí Caraí is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population was estimated to be 23,780 people living in a total area of 1,240 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the mi ...

. 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 542 km. The distance to the nearest major population center,

Teófilo Otoni Teófilo Otoni is a municipality in northeast Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The population of the municipality was 140,937 in 2020 and the area is 3,242.818 km2. Origin of the name The city is named after (Vila do Príncipe, 27 January 1807 - ...

is 94 km. Citybrazil

Social indicators

Padre Paraíso is ranked low on the MHDI and was one of the poorest municipalities in the state and in the country in 2000. *MHDI: .656 (2000) *State ranking: 726 out of 853 municipalities *National ranking: 3,673 out of 5,138 municipalities in 2000 *Life expectancy: 67 *Literacy rate: 70 *Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio: .774 *Per capita income (monthly): R$94.00 The above figures can be compared with those of

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. History Poços was founded in 1 ...

, which had an MHDI of .841, the highest in the state of

. The highest in the country was

São Caetano do Sul São Caetano do Sul (or São Caetano) ('' Saint Cajetan of the South''. ) is a city in São Paulo state in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 161,957 (2020 est.) in an area of 15.33 km2. It is the ci ...

in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

with an MHDI of .919. The lowest was Manari in the state of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

with an MHDI of .467 out of a total of 5504 municipalities in the country as of 2004. At last count Brazil had 5,561 municipalities so this might have changed at the time of this writing.

Social indicators

References

See also