Januária
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Januária, known as "The Queen of the Beautiful Waters"" is a city and municipality in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It is located on the left bank of the São Francisco River. The estimated population is more than 86,000 inhabitants and the area of the municipality is 7.325 km2.
With an elevation of 454.87 meters the average annual temperature is 26º. Temperatures vary between maximums of 38º and 12.6º. The climate is tropical with transition to semi-arid and its vegetation is composed of cerrado (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.
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, the state capital, is 613 km.
Januária lies in an agro-pastoral region. Some changes have been implemented in recent years. Irrigationn, soybean cultivation, and the decline of cotton cultivation are some of them.
[edit] Economic Activities
Important crops are sugar cane (from which it inherited the fame of having the best rum in Brazil), cotton, 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.
Small industries produce rum, vinegar, cotton by-products, shoes, and furniture.
[edit] History
The first expeditions to the region date from the sixteenth century. A settlement called Brejo do Salgado was founded in 1630, the name deriving from the salty taste of nearby marshes and streams. in 1833 the village of Brejo do Salgado became a vila, a town, and was called Brejo do Amparo. In 1860 the city became a municipality with the name Januária, in honor of Princess Januária, daughter of the Brazilian emperor, Pedro I and sister to the future emperor Pedro II.
[edit] External links
- Rotary Club of Januária
- JaNu AR - O Melhor de Januária & Região na Web
- Serviços de Informática em Januária
