Palmelo is

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 southeast

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 ...

. It is the smallest municipality in the state and the only town in Brazil where most of the inhabitants follow the religion called

Spiritism Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...

Location

The distance to 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 ...

, is 128 km.

Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

connections are made by BR-352 /

Bela Vista de Goiás Bela Vista de Goiás is a city located in central Goiás state in Brazil. Location It is 45 kilometers from the state capital of Goiânia The municipality has boundaries with Hidrolândia, Caldazinha, Aparecida de Goiânia, Senador Canedo, and ...

Cristianópolis Cristianópolis is a municipality in south-eastern Goiás state, Brazil. Geographical Information Cristianópolis is in the Pires do Rio Microregion approximately 93 kilometers from the state capital, Goiânia. Highway connections from Goiânia ...

/ BR-352 / GO-020 /

Santa Cruz de Goiás Santa Cruz de Goiás is a municipality in southeast Goiás state, Brazil. Geography Santa Cruz is located in the southeastern part of the state, 33 km. west of regional center, Pires do Rio. The Rio dos Bois, a tributary of the Corumbá R ...

. Source
Sepin
The municipality is bounded on north, south, and east by

Pires do Rio Pires do Rio is a municipality in Goiás state, Brazil. It is a prosperous town and a major producer of poultry. Location It is located in the Pires do Rio MicroregionCitybrazil It is located 144 kilometers from the state capital and is served ...

and on the west by

. It is crossed by the Ribeirão Caiapó and its tributaries: Ribeirão São Jerônimo and Ribeirão Monjolinho, which flow into the

Corumbá River The Corumbá River (''Rio Corumbá'' in Portuguese) is the most important river in the Central Plateau region of Brazil. Its source is in the Montes de Pireneus, near Pirenópolis, state of Goiás, near the boundary with the Federal District and ...

History

The city was founded on February 9, 1929, when a group of 18 people founded a Spiritist center called Luz da Verdade. These people had converted to

after seeing the alleged cure of a medium, Dorcelino Damásio da Silva, who had suffered from a disease called fogo selvagem. In 1953 Palmelo became a municipality separating from Pires do Rio. It is probably the only town in Brazil and in the world where most of the inhabitants are Spiritists.

Climate

The climate is moist tropical, with two well defined seasons: summer and winter. The summer is very rainy while the winter is very dry. The temperature varies between 16 °C and 26 °C.

Political Information

In January 2005 the Mayor was Geraldo Afonso Leite. The city council had 9 members and there were 1,842 eligible voters in December 2007.

Demographic Information

In 2007 the population density was 38.32 inhabitants/km². In 2007 there were 2,088 people living in the urban area and 172 living in the rural area. The population has increased by about 600 people since the first census in 1980.

Economy

The main economic activity is cattle raising, both for meat and milk and the region also produces a lot of clay for brick making. In 2006 there was a dairy—Centrolac Indústria e Comércio Ltda—and 3 small industrial units. There were 22 commercial units. In 2007 there were 2,500 head of cattle. The main agricultural products were oranges, manioc, and corn. All were of modest production due to the small area of the municipality. Agricultural data 2006 *Number of farms: 63 *Total area: 1,161 ha. *Area of permanent crops: 22 ha. *Area of perennial crops: 61 ha. *Area of natural pasture: 862 ha. *Area of woodland and forests: 176 ha. *Persons dependent on farming: 110 *Farms with tractors: 12 *Number of tractors: 12 *Cattle herd: 127,000 hea
IBGE

Health and education

In 2007 there was 1 hospital, with 14 beds and 2 ambulatory health clinics. In 2000 the infant mortality rate was 9.80—much lower than the national average of 33.0 and one of the lowest in the state. It 1990 it had been 40.97. In 2006 the school system had 3 schools, 17 classrooms, 34 teachers, and 622 students. In 2000 the adult literacy rate was 85.3%--lower than the national average of 86.4%. 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: 0.787 *State ranking: 18 (out of 242 municipalities) *National ranking: 891 (out of 5,507 municipalities) For the complete list se
Frigoletto.com

Tourism

One of the greatest attractions is

and people from all over the country come seeking cures for their illnesses.

References

Frigoletto
{{Municipalities of Goiás Municipalities in Goiás