Januária is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in northern

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

state,

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 ...

. It is located on the left bank of the

São Francisco River The São Francisco River (, ) is a large Rivers of Brazil, river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon R ...

. The population was 67,852 inhabitants (IBGE 2020) and the area of the municipality was 6,691 km² (2007).

Municipal limits

Januária is limited in the north by the state of

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, Bonito de Minas and Cônego Marinho, in the south with São Francisco, in the east with Pedras de Maria da Cruz and Itacarambi, and in the west with Chapada Gaúcha.

Microregion

Januária is also a statistical microregion (number 31) consisting of 16 municipalities: Bonito de Minas, Chapada Gaúcha, Cônego Marinho, Icaraí de Minas, Itacarambi, Januária, Juvenília,

Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, Matias Cardoso, Miravânia, Montalvânia, Pedras de Maria da Cruz, Pintópolis, São Francisco, São João das Missões, and Urucuia. The area is 15,945.80 km² and the population was 246,071 in 2000.

Districts

Due to the size of the municipality there are several districts. They are Brejo do Amparo, Levinópolis, Pandeiros, Riacho da Cruz, São Joaquim, Tejuco, and Várzea Bonita.

Geography

With an elevation of 454.87 meters the average annual temperature is 26°. Temperatures vary between maxima of 38° and 12.6°. The climate is tropical with transition to semi-arid and its vegetation is composed of

cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

(savanna) and clusters of caatinga (thorn bush). The size of the municipality ranks it among the 75 largest municipalities of the state of Minas Gerais.

Climate

Communications

The most important route of communication with the rest of the state is the BR-135. A modern bridge has substituted the ferry on the river. The distance to

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, the state capital, is 613 km. Januária lies in an agro-pastoral region. Some changes have been implemented in recent years such as irrigation, soybean cultivation, and the decline of cotton cultivation.

Economic activities

Important crops are sugar cane (from which it inherited the fame of having one of the best rums in Brazil), corn, manioc and beans. Mango, breadfruit, coconut, orange, avocado, cashew, and bananas are also produced. Like almost all the cities in this area of Minas Gerais cattle raising is an important economic activity. In 2006 there were 62,000 head—small when the size of the municipality is taken into consideration. Small industries produce rum, vinegar, cotton by-products, shoes, and furniture. Motor vehicles in 2007 *Automobiles: 2,271 *Pickup trucks: 584 *Number of inhabitants per motor vehicle: 23 IBGE
Main crops in area 2006 *Rice: 600 ha. *Corn: 3,000 ha. *Manioc: 2,500 ha. *Beans: 2,500 ha. *Sugarcane: 500 ha. Farm data for 2006 *Number of farms: 3,349 *Agricultural area: 120,016 ha. *Planted area: 9,700 ha. *Area of natural pasture: 55, 113 ha. *Workers related to the producer: 10,147 *Workers not related to the producer: 1,050 *Number of farms with tractors: 97 From this data we can see that the planted area is small compared to the total agricultural area and that there are many people still living in the rural zone of the municipality. The number of tractors per farm was very low.

Health and education (2005)

*Hospitals: 2 with 113 beds *Health clinics: 21 *Primary schools: 95 *Primary school enrollment: 15,411 *Middle schools: 13 *Middle school enrollment: 239

Ranking on the Municipal Human Development Index

*MHDI: .699

History

The first explorers arrived in 1553 looking for gold. They were led by the Spaniards Francisco Bruza de Espinosa and Father João de Apicuelta Navarro. The first settlement was called Brejo do Salgado, due to the salinity of the streams and the marshes. The first sugarcane mill was set up and soon a chapel followed dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Amparo. In 1833 Brejo do Salgado became a "vila", or town and the seat was transferred to the left bank of the São Francisco River, the name being changed to Januária, in homage to Princess Januária, daughter of the Emperor Pedro I. In 1860 Januária was elevated to the category of city. The surrounding area was immense with several districts such as São Caetano do Japoré (today the city of

), São João das Missões, Jacaré (today the city of Itacarambi), Conceição de Morrinhos (today the city of Matias Cardoso), Mocambo (today a district of Levinópolis) all created in 1903. Districts created and lost *In 1911 the district of Pedras de Maria da Cruz was created. *In 1923 the districts of

and Matias Cardoso were lost but the district of Cônego Marinho was added. *In 1938 the district of Missões was created *In 1953 Riacho da Cruz (ex-Bela Vista) was created. *In 1962 the districts of Itacarambi and Missões were lost. *In 1976 the districts of Bonito, São Joaquim and Tejuco were created *In 1982, São Pedro das Tabocas was created. *In 1992 the district of Pedras de Maria da Cruz (hoje Maria da Cruz) was lost *In 1995 the districts of Bonito (today the city of Bonito de Minas) and Cônego Marinho (today the city of Cônego Marinho) were created.

Tourism

The location on the banks of one of the most important rivers in Brazil opens up many recreational possibilities. In the months of July, August, and September when the river is low and relatively clean there are extensive beaches along the river sought after by swimmers and sunbathers. Nearby there is a fifteen meter high waterfall called the Cachoeira de Pandeiros which has a large area for swimming. In the city itself the nineteenth century architecture has been preserved in many government buildings and private houses, with the most important being the Casa da Memoria (1910) and the City Hall (1890). The municipality contains part of the Cavernas do Peruaçu National Park, which holds the dramatic Gruta do Janelão, a large limestone cave.

Transportation

The city is served by Januária Airport 5 km (3 mi) to the northwest of the city.

Notable people

* Wilson Reis, MMA fighter

References

External links

in Portuguese:
JaNu AR - O Melhor de Januária & Região na Web
incomplete
SESC/MG LACES e Pousada JanuáriaPrefeitura de Januária
little practical information
Hotel in JanuáriaCamara Municipal de Januária
incomplete in most areas.
Romtech Soluções em Informática e Serviços
{{DEFAULTSORT:Januaria Municipalities in Minas Gerais