The Goiânia metropolitan area (), popularly known as Greater Goiânia (), is a

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

of cities around

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

, capital of the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

History

The

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

was established on December 30, 1999 by the Complementary State Law number 27, and is the largest of Central-Western Brazil. It was the first metropolitan area of that region, since the Cuiabá metropolitan area was only established almost ten years later, on May 28, 2009. It is formed by the following municipalities: *

Abadia de Goiás Abadia de Goiás is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil, located on the western edge of the Goiânia metropolitan area. The residues from the Goiânia incident are stored within its territory and, according to the National Nuclear Ener ...

Aparecida de Goiânia Aparecida de Goiânia () is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in central Goiás, Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state (with a population of 590,146 inhabitants, according to the 2020 estimate) and the third largest ...

* Aragoiânia * Bela Vista de Goiás *

* Goianápolis * Goianira * Guapó * Hidrolândia *

Nerópolis Nerópolis () is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. Location The municipality is part of the metropolitan region of Goiânia, which is 25 kilometers to the west. It is nationally known as the city of garlic and sweets. Strategically ...

Santo Antônio de Goiás Santo Antônio de Goiás is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil, located just north of the state capital, Goiânia. *Distance from Goiânia: 42 km. with connections by way of GO-462. Location Neighboring municipalities are: *north ...

* Senador Canedo * Trindade

Demography

Encompassing thirteen municipalities, Greater Goiânia has an area of 5,787 km2 (or 2,234 square miles). It is by far the most expressive region of the state of Goiás, containing around 35% of its total population, a third of its voters, about 80% of its college students, and 36,5% of its GDP. According to the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

, over two million people live on this metropolitan area, making it the 11th most populous in Brazil and the 210th in the world.

Economic inequality

According to the 2008–2009 State of the World's Cities report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Goiânia has the largest economic inequality index among the nineteen Latin American cities analyzed."Para ONU, Goiânia é a mais desigual da América Latina"
. Rádio Paranaíba. October 24, 2008. Its

Gini index In economics, the Gini coefficient ( ), also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio, is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income inequality, the wealth inequality, or the consumption inequality within a nation o ...

is 65, while the goal for UN-Habitat is 40. If Goiânia was a country, it would be the second most unequal in the world, second only to

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Goiânia follows a state trend, since Goiás reached its highest economic inequality index for the past decade in 2005. Both the state and its capital, however, do not follow the national trend, once Brazil has reached an all-time low inequality index in the past five years. According to Cecília Martinez, director of UN-Habitat's regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean, this happens because "public policies prioritize the richest areas in the city". According to her, there is a lack of "orderly planning" and "clear policies" to foster the development of poorer areas. For the 2010–2011 report, Goiânia remained as the most economically unequal city of Latin America, with a Gini index above 60. Berlinck, Deborah
"Quatro capitais brasileiras estão entre as mais desiguais do mundo, diz ONU"
''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Ir ...

''. March 19, 2010."Quatro cidades brasileiras estão entre as mais desiguais do mundo"
''

Correio Braziliense The ''Correio Braziliense'' (in English, ''Mail of Brasília'', after the archaic demonym) is a daily newspaper in Brazil. The paper was first published on 21 April 1960. Its founder is Assis Chateaubriand. The paper has its headquarters in Br ...

''. March 19, 2010. Among all cities in the world analyzed by the UN-Habitat, Goiânia is behind only Buffalo City,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, and

Ekurhuleni The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. ''Ekurhuleni'' means "place of peace" in Xi ...

, all three of them located in South Africa.

Human development

According to 2000 data by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the Greater Goiânia has a

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

of 0.812, making it the 14th metropolitan area of Brazil in human development. With the dissolution of six metropolitan areas in 2007, however, it rose to the 9th position. The HDI of Greater Goiãnia is a little bit higher than the Brazilian average of 0.800.

Religion

The Greater Goiânia area has the least Roman Catholic population in all the state of Goiás. Over 60% of its population consists of self-declared Catholics, while this rate varies from 65% to 85% in other areas of the state. On the other hand, Goiânia metropolitan area is the fastest growing region for Protestantism in the state. According to the report Economy of Religions by Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Goiânia is the Brazilian capital with the largest number of Protestants. Among

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

s and non-Pentecostals, over a quarter of the city's inhabitants are self-declared Protestants."Panorama das Religiões nas Capitais"
. Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

References

External links

*
About the Goiânia metropolitan area on the official website of Goiânia city hall

Map of Greater Goiânia area
on WikiMapia {{DEFAULTSORT:Greater Goiania Metropolitan areas of Brazil Populated places in Goiás Goiânia