Minas Novas is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian 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 ...

. In 2020, the population was 31,497 in a total area of 1,810 km². The elevation of the urban area is 635 meters. It is part of the IBGE statistical meso-region of

Jequitinhonha Jequitinhonha is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Location The population was estimated to be 25,474 people living in a total area of 3,518 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinh ...

and the micro-region of

Capelinha Capelinha is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population was 38,057 living in a total area of 966 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statis ...

. It became a municipality in 1730. The economy is based on cattle raising, services and subsistence agriculture, with the main crops being coffee, rice, beans, sugarcane and corn. There were plantations of eucalyptus trees for charcoal production. In 2005, there were 3,367 rural producers but only 19 tractors. 10,500 persons were dependent on agriculture. In 2005, there were ten public health clinics, one of them carrying out diagnosis and complete therapy. There was one hospital with 69 beds. Educational needs were met by 68 primary schools, five middle schools and ten nursery schools. There were 867 automobiles in 2006, giving a ratio of 35 inhabitants per automobile (there were 1,290 motorcycles). There was one bank in 2007. Neighboring municipalities are

, Chapada do Norte, Leme do Prado,

Novo Cruzeiro Novo Cruzeiro is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2020 was estimated to be 31,335 people living in a total area of 1,701 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitin ...

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 ...

, Turmalina and

Virgem da Lapa Virgem da Lapa () is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2020 was estimated to be 13,740 people living in a total area of . The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to ...

. The distance to Belo Horizonte is 500 km.

Social indicators

Minas Novas is ranked low on the MHDI and was one of the poorest municipalities in the state and in the country in 2000. *MHDI: .633 (2000) *State ranking: 785 out of 853 municipalities *National ranking: 4,061 out of 5,138 municipalities in 2000 *Life expectancy: 67 *Literacy rate: 66 *Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio: .739 *Per capita income (monthly): R$81.00 Frigoletto
These figures can be compared with those of Poços de Caldas, which had an MHDI of .841, the highest in the state of

. The highest in the country was São Caetano do Sul 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 Ga ...

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

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

with an MHDI of .467 out of a total of 5,504 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. Minas Novas was an important center for diamond exploration during the colonial period. The name is derived from these diamond mines. Today it is famous for its handicrafts, especially figurines made of clay. An important religious festival takes place in June, celebrating the Virgin of the Rosary, organized by the Black Folk Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary. There is a strong African influence in the dances and costumes since this was a place that was mainly settled by slaves and later ex-slaves.Festa do Rosario

References

{{Municipalities of Minas Gerais Municipalities in Minas Gerais

Social indicators

See also

References