Virgem da Lapa () is a Brazilian municipality 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 13,740 people living in a total area of . 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 peo ...

. It became a municipality in 1948. Virgem da Lapa is located just on the left bank (north) of the

Jequitinhonha River The Jequitinhonha River () flows mainly through the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its source lies near Diamantina in the Espinhaço Mountains at an elevation of , after which it flows northward and then east-northeastward across the uplands. ...

at an elevation of 385 meters (center of the town). The climate is semi-arid and the region suffers from periodic drought. The economy is based on cattle raising, services, and subsistence agriculture, with the main crops being rice, beans, manioc, sugarcane, and corn. The cattle herd had 14,000 head in 2006. In 2005 there were 1858 rural producers but only 14 tractors among them. 6,200 persons were dependent on agriculture—almost half of the population. As of 2005 there were 5 health clinics and 1 public hospital with 42 beds. Educational needs were met by 24 primary schools, 2 middle schools and 3 nursery schools. There were 492 automobiles in 2006, giving a ratio of 29 inhabitants per automobile (there were 675 motorcycles). There was 1 bank in 2007. Neighboring municipalities are: Rubelita - Coronel Murta -

- Berilo - José Gonçalves de Minas - Josenópolis. The distance to Belo Horizonte is . The distance to the nearest major population center,

is . Social Indicators Virgem da Lapa is ranked low on the MHDI and was one of the poorest municipalities in the state and in the country in 2000. *MHDI: .664 (2000) *State ranking: 696 out of 853 municipalities *National ranking: 3,549 out of 5,138 municipalities in 2000 *Life expectancy: 67 *Literacy rate: 72 *Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio: .740 *Per capita income (monthly): R$107.00Frigoletto
/ref> The above 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 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.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in Minas Gerais

See also

References