Ubá 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 ...
located in the
Zona da Mata mesoregion 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 (literall ...
, Brazil, southeast of
Belo Horizonte, and north of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...
. The estimated population of the city of Ubá was 116,797 in 2020. The current mayor of Ubá is Edson Teixeira Filho.
Once a great
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...
producer, Ubá has one of the main
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...
industry parks in Brazil. The city is the economic and cultural center of Ubá
microregion. It is also home of the famous Ubá mango (Manga Ubá).
History
Settlement
The
Pomba River basin settlement took place, initially, due to the decline of mining activities. In the late 18th and early 19th century, several families left
Mariana
Mariana may refer to:
Literature
* ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens
* ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
* ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz
Music
*"Mariana", a so ...
,
Ouro Preto
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 Herit ...
, and other
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
centers in search of fertile land where they could undertake activities that would result in a more stable and secure incoming. The regions bathed by the Itajaí River, Chopotó River, Pomba River, among others, were of great interest because the land in those areas were of great fertility, and that they were previously inhabited only by natives (
Coroado
The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in Portuguese or ''kanhgág'' in the Kaingang language) people are an Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande ...
s,
Coropós and
Purís) and adventurers.
The attempts of colonization of Coroados, Coropós, Purís and
Botocudos always ended in bloody battles between the true owners of the land and the white invaders. During the battles, using arrows and axes against firearms, the Indians were gradually slaughtered or made prisoners for slave labor, especially when it comes to young people and women.
Due to the international pressure against the genocide of natives, the King of Portugal was convinced to order the Governor
Luís Diogo Lobo da Silva to organize an expedition in an attempt to friendly approach the natives. In November 1767, Father
Manoel de Jesus Maria was put in charge for the conversion of the natives to Catholicism, laying the groundwork for the entry of the owners of land grants after 1797.
Captain Francisco Pires de Farinho, who was familiar with the tracks of forests and the indigenous customs, and was familiar with them, was named special guide with control power.
Father Jesus Maria arrived at
Uba River, where the Coroado natives lived. Those natives used a kind of grass,
Gynerium sagittatum (in Portuguese, U-Uva), to make the arrows they used. For linguistic evolution U-Uva became Ubá. Between 1797 and 1798, the first land grants located around the river were donated.
In 1805, Captain
Antonio Januário Carneiro
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...
and his brother-in-law Commander Jose de Faria Alvim Cesario, acquired several land grants previously belonging to the
Municipality of São João Batista do Presídio, bringing their families, slaves and livestock. In this period, according to an agreement between the
Vatican and the
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bo ...
, when a settlement in the colonies was founded, a church was to be the first building to be built. While the former owners of land were concerned about their farms, Antonio Januário Carneiro idealized establish a settlement. His first step was to lead a movement to sign the petition requesting the permit for the construction of the church. On November 3, 1815, the request was granted.
To promote this settlement, Captain Januário Carneiro brought all the workers needed to build the church by giving them small pieces of land, housing and food, while they could not have its own supply by cultivating the land. The
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...
received the name of
St. Januarius
Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later ...
, and the village the name of Capela de São Januário de Ubá (Chapel of St. Januarius of Ubá).
Due to the growth of the village, it was elevated to Paróquia de São Januário de Ubá (Parish of St. Januarius of Ubá) on April 7, 1841. The development of the town took place gradually around the parish. Due to the development of the parish and the activities of the inhabitants, especially coffee plantations, the settlement was officially recognized as a village on June 17, 1853, and on July 3, 1857 was incorporated as a municipality.
The first
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
was composed by:
*Colonel Francisco de Assis Ataíde
*Pedro de Souza Ozório
*Maximiano José Pereira de Souza
*Joaquim Vieira da Silva Pinto
*Manoel de Oliveira da Silva Brandão
*Diogo da Rocha Bastos
Geography
Ubá is situated in the Zona da Mata mesoregion of Minas Gerais. Most of the city lies in the
Paraíba do Sul River basin, with a small part of it lying in the
Doce River
The Doce River (literally the "sweet river"; pt, Rio Doce ) is a river in southeast Brazil with a length of .
The river basin is economically important. In 2015 the collapse of a dam released highly contaminated water from mining into the river ...
basin. The city is not surrounded by any large river.
Ubá River crosses the city from northwest to southeast and is responsible for drainage of most sewers in the city.
The city sits in a
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
and has only 5% of its area flat, the rest being rugged. The altitude ranges from 295 meters to 875 meters.
Climate
Ubá's climate can be classified as Tropical, with yearly average temperature between 18 and 31 °C (64 and 88 °F). The city is considered the warmest one in the Zona da Mata mesoregion, and the temperatures can reach over 40 °C (104 ºF) between November and February.
Notable current and former residents
*
Ary Barroso
Ary de Resende Barroso (1903–1964), better known as Ary Barroso, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV. He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th centur ...
, composer and radio man
*
Antônio Olinto, writer
*
Ascânio Lopes, poet
*
Evandro Soldati
Evandro Soldati (born April 17, 1985) is a Brazilian model. According to Forbes, he was the 7th most successful male model in the world in 2008.
Biography
Soldati was born in Ubá, Minas Gerais. He is of Italian descent. Evandro appears in t ...
, fashion model
*
Mauro Mendonça, actor
*
Nelson Ned
Nelson Ned d'Ávila Pinto (2 March 1947 – 5 January 2014) was a Brazilian singer-songwriter. He built a solid career as a singer and composer of sentimental, suffering songs, rising to popularity in Brazil and Latin America in 1969 and becoming ...
, singer
*
Levindo Ozanam Coelho, politic, lawyer and prosecutor
*
Raul Soares de Moura
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
, politic, jurist and professor
See also
*
List of municipalities in Minas Gerais
This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the Southeast Region of Brazil. Minas Gerais is divided into 853 municipalities, which are grouped into 66 microregions, which are grouped into 12 mesoregions.
...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uba
Municipalities in Minas Gerais