Pouso Alegre 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 southern region 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 ...

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 ...

, with a population of 152,549 in 2020. The area of the municipality is 543 km². It lies in the valley of the Sapucaí River. Cities that form boundaries with Pouso Alegre are: Cachoeira de Minas,

Santa Rita do Sapucaí Santa Rita do Sapucaí () is a municipality situated in the southernmost part of the State of Minas Gerais. The city is known as the "electronic valley", since it has plenty of electronic industries, and both a technical school ( ETE - Escola Téc ...

, Careaçu, São Sebastião da Bela Vista, Estiva, Congonhal, São João da Mata and Silvianópolis. The distance to the state capital,

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 385 km, to

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 ...

202 km, and to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

390 km. The city is 8 km. from the main interstate highway BR-381 (

Rodovia Fernão Dias The Rodovia Fernão Dias (official designation BR-381 or SP-010 in the state of São Paulo) is a federal highway which runs in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and southern region of Minas Gerais. In Atibaia, the Fernão Dias highway inter ...

), which connects São Paulo to Belo Horizonte. Pouso Alegre is an industrial center with industries in the food sector, textiles, and metallurgy. Many national and multinational enterprises have their plants here. Their activities include food (

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

), clothing (Searchco), cars (Usiparts - Johnson Control's - Sumidenso),

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

(ACG Capsules, Uniao Quimica, Sanobiol), glass (Sobral Invicta), and many other small and medium enterprises.

Geography

According to the modern (2017) geographic classification by Brazil's National Institute of Geography and Statistics (

IBGE The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information ...

), the city is the main municipality in the

Intermediate Geographic Region of Pouso Alegre The Intermediate Geographic Region of Pouso Alegre (code 3109) is one of the 13 intermediate Intermediate and Immediate Geographic Regions, geographic regions in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and one of the 134 of Brazil, created by the Nati ...

History

The "

Bandeirantes The ''Bandeirantes'' (), literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494 ...

" explored all the Brazilian country looking for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and other mineral resources. They were the first

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an explorers to arrive in the ancient Pouso Alegre region, in 1596. After discovering gold in the Santana's mines, they founded the new village called "Matosinho do Mandu", Pouso Alegre's first name. New paths were built to connect Pouso Alegre to other cities. These paths connected it to

and to

Vila Rica Ouro Preto (, ''Black Gold''), formerly Vila Rica (, ''Rich Village''), is a city in and former capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Herita ...

. In 1797 the Governor Dom Bernardo José de Lorena, Sarzedas Baron, passing by the small village became so enchanted by its nature, by "the vast and clean horizons", said "This village should not be called Mandu, but Pouso Alegre". In

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, ''Pouso Alegre'' means "a joyful stay". The 2009 census of the city population was 131,462 inhabitants. The city is the nineteenth largest city in Minas Gerais and the second largest in southern Minas Gerais.

Population growth

*1996 - 94,354 inhabitants *2000 - 106,457 inhabitants *2010 - 140,658 inhabitants The city of Pouso Alegre stands out in the region by high buildings found in its central region. The highest building in the city is building Octávio Meyer, with 70m and 20 floors. It has been the highest building since 2004, the year of its completion.

Economy

Commercial specifications

Pouso Alegre has more than 4,500 stores in its commercial area. The statistic is made by ACIPA in 2010. Some of the stores in the city are: Bob's, Chilli Beans,

Colcci Colcci is a Brazilian fashion company that manufactures and sells high-end clothing and accessories for men and women. History Colcci was established in 1986 in Brusque, Santa Catarina, in Brazil. Since 1988, Adriana Zucco has been the creati ...

Cia. Hering Companhia Hering (Cia Hering) is a Brazilian textile and retail clothing company, being the leading clothing textile company in Latin America. The company has 805 stores. The company is one of the oldest Brazilian companies still in activity, fou ...

, Kaza Houseware, M.Officer, N-Store, OAK Shop.

Business and industry

The city is an important industrial center in the region. Several different kinds of industries are present in the city. In 2012 the city will receive the largest Chinese investment in Latin America, with the installation of heavy machinery industry,

XCMG Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG Group) ( zh, s=徐工集团, p=Xúgōng Jítuán) is a Chinese multinational state-owned heavy machinery manufacturing company with headquarters in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Founded in 1989, XCMG ...

and 18 other industries have settled in the city between 2008 and 2012. Some of the industries in the city are:

, Ball Corporation, Alpargatas, and Yoki.

Sports

Estádio Municipal Irmão Gino Maria Rossi, which is nicknamed Manduzão, is the home of

Pouso Alegre Futebol Clube Pouso Alegre Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Pouso Alegre, is a Brazilian professional club based in Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais founded on 15 November 1913. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian f ...

. The stadium has a capacity of 17,000.

Distances

Itajubá Itajubá is a municipality in southeastern Minas Gerais state of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It lies in a valley by the Sapucaí river and has terrain elevations ranging from 827 to 1500 metres, occupying an area of 290.45 km2 (112.14&n ...

65 km *

(“Valley Electronics”) 25 km *

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 ...

100 km *

Varginha Varginha is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in southwest Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Varginha stands out as one of the major centers of commerce and coffee production in Brazil and the world. The city is a center for export of coffee drai ...

(dry port / customs) 123 km *

200 km * Santos (harbor) 260 km *

São José dos Campos São José dos Campos (, meaning Saint Joseph of the Fields) is a major city and the seat of the Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the same name in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. One of the leading industrial and res ...

150 km *

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

(international airport) 200 km *

Guarulhos Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the last ...

(international airport) 180 km * Senador José Bento 32 km *

384 km *

360 km *

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

1,300 km *

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

1,790 km *

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

2,400 km *

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

1,084 km

References

External links

Pouso Alegre government website
{{coord, 22, 13, 41, S, 45, 56, 01, W, region:BR_type:city(120000)_source:dewiki, display=title Municipalities in Minas Gerais