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Paracatu 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 ...
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 ...
in
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 ...
. The name is of Tupi origin, translated "good river", from "Para" (river) and "katu" (good).


History

The region of Paracatu has been explored by Europeans since the end of the 16th century. In the middle of the 18th century deposits of gold and silver were discovered, and the area was settled. The settlement became the town Vila de Paracatu do Príncipe by royal charter in 1798.


The economy

The economy is centered on gold mining and agriculture.


Mining

In Paracatu, gold has been mined since 1722. The Morro do Ouro (Paracatu)
open-pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a Borrow pit, b ...
is operated by Rio Paracatu Mineração (RPM), a 100% owned subsidiary of the Canadian company
Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based gold and silver mining company founded in 1993 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Kinross currently operates six active gold mines, and was ranked fifth of the "10 Top Gold-mining Companies" o ...
. The gold content of the ore is comparatively low, about 0.41 gram of gold for every ton of ore extracted. Annual production is about 15 tonnes of gold and 5 tonnes of silver.
Kinross Gold Kinross Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based gold mining, gold and silver mining company founded in 1993 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Kinross currently operates six active gold mines, and was ranked fifth of the "10 Top Gold-mining ...
owns the open-pit Paracatu gold mine operated as Kinross Brasil Mineração S.A. that includes two process plants, two tailings facilities, as well as accompanying infrastructure. This mine is the region's largest employer. In 2015, Paracatu produced 477,662 gold equivalent ounces.


Agriculture

Cattle raising is the main agricultural activity with 231,000 head (1996). The main breeds are:
Zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty ...
( Gir,
Indu-Brasil The Indu-Brasil or Indo-Brazilian is a Brazilian breed of zebuine beef cattle. It was bred in the early twentieth century in the Triângulo Mineiro in the western part of Minas Gerais state, and particularly in the area surrounding Uberaba. It ...
,
Guzerá The Guzerá or Guzerat is a Brazilian breed of domestic cattle. It derives from cross-breeding of Indian Kankrej cattle, imported to Brazil from 1870 onwards, with local taurine Crioulo cattle of European origin. The name is a Portuguese spe ...
and
Nelore Nelore or Nellore cattle originated from Ongole Cattle (''Bos indicus'') cattle originally brought to Brazil from India. They are named after the district of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh state in India. The Nelore has a distinct large hump over t ...
), Girolanda, Frisian and Brown-Swiss. There is also large production of soybeans, corn, rice, beans, and also some coffee. Paracatu is the commercial center for an area one third the size of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. In 2006 there were 6 banking branches: Banco do Brasil, Itaú, Bradesco, Banco Mercantil, Banco Bamerindus, and Caixa Econômica Federal. The GDP was R$754,090,000 (2005). In 1978 the municipality began to receive investments from the Brazilian and the Japanese government to develop the
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 ...
soils, through the PRODECER-Programa de Cooperação Nipo-Brasileiro para o Desenvolviemnto do Cerrado. Because of new technologies used to develop the cerrado, agriculture in Paracatu became efficient and profitable in many properties. Nowadays, the cultivated area in the municipality surpasses 1000 square kilometres, with 300 square kilometres irrigated by central pivot
sprinkler Sprinkler may refer to: * Irrigation sprinkler, a device for watering lawns or crops * Fire sprinkler, a device for fire suppression * Sprinkler (dance), a dance move See also * * Feynman sprinkler A Feynman sprinkler, also referred to as a F ...
s. This number has raised Paracatu to the position of greatest continuous area irrigated by
center pivot irrigation Center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation), also called water-wheel and circle irrigation, is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. A circular area ...
in South America, using 318 center pivot sprinklers.


Agricultural data

In 2006 there were 995 rural producers with total agricultural land of 389,095 ha. Of the total 85,000 ha. were planted, 180,000 ha. were in natural pasture, and 113,000 were in forest or woodland. Around 4,500 persons were employed in agriculture. There were 768 tractors. The planted area of some of the main crops in hectares was: *Corn: 12,000 *Soybeans: 30,000 *Sorghum: 2,000 *Rice: 2,670 *Coffee: 1,050 *Cotton: 3,000 *Sugarcane: 1,600 *Beans: 9,100 *Watermelon: 1,050


Quilombola population

Many
quilombola A ''quilombola'' () is an Afro-Brazilian resident of ''quilombo'' settlements first established by escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Slavery in Brazil, Afro-Brazilian slaves who escaped from slave plantations that existed in ...
(descendants of escaped slaves) communities live in and near Paracatu, often in poverty.


Health and education

In 2005 there were 29 health establishments, 19 of which were public and 10 of which were private. There was 1 hospital with 139 beds. The score on the 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 ...
was 0.760. This ranked Paracatu 207 out of 853 municipalities in the state, with
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 ...
in first place with 0.841 and
Setubinha Setubinha is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2020 the population was 12,378 in a total area of 536 km². The elevation is 729 metres. It is part of the IBGE statistical microregion of Teófilo ...
in last place with 0.568. Paracatu has 4 faculties with undergraduation and graduation courses: Faculdade Tecsoma, FINOM – Faculdade do Noroeste de Minas, Faculdade Unimontes, and Faculdade Atenas.


Transportation

The city is served by Pedro Rabelo de Souza Airport.


See also

*
List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the Southeast Region of Brazil. Minas Gerais is divided into 853 municipalities, which are grouped into 66 microregions, which are grouped into 12 mesoregions. ...


References


External links


City Hall of Paracatu website

Government of the State of Minas Gerais website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paracatu, Minas Gerais Municipalities in Minas Gerais 1798 establishments in Brazil