Monte Alegre de Goiás
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monte Alegre de Goiás is a small town and municipality in northeastern Goiás state, Brazil.
- Population (2005): 6,219
- Total area (2002): 3,119.7 km²
- Elevation: 557 meters
- Became a municipality: 1947
- Postal code: 73830-000
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[edit] Location and Highway Connections
Monte Alegre is locted in the Chapada dos Veadeiros Microregion and is 31 kilometers south of the border with Tocantins. G0-118 connects it with Teresina de Goiás and Campos Belos de Goiás.
It is 568 kilometers from the state capital, Goiânia. Highway connections from Goiânia are made by BR-153 / Anápolis / BR-060 / Alexânia / Planaltina / GO-118 / BR-010 / São João d'Aliança / Alto Paraíso de Goiás / BR-010 / GO-118 / Teresina de Goiás. For all the distances in Goiás see Seplan
The Serra da Contenda lies north of the region.
[edit] Municipal Boundaries
Municipal boundaries are with:
- north: Tocantins and Campos Belos de Goiás
- west: Cavalcante
- east: São Domingos and Divinópolis de Goiás
- south: Nova Roma
[edit] Geographical Characteristics
The vegetation is mainly cerrado with tropical forest along the rivers. The Sumidouro forest, with 50 caves, is 90% preserved. [1] There are many rivers: Rio Paranã, Manso, São Domingos, Bezerra, Prata, Sarzeda and Pagão. All of these rivers flow north to join the Paranã and eventually the Tocantins.
[edit] Political Information
In January 2005 the Mayor was Juvenal Fernandes Almeida and the Vice-mayor was José Francisco Ferreira. There were 9 council-members on the city council and there were 5,380 eligible voters in 2004.
[edit] Demographic Information
In 2003 the population density was 2.10 inhab/km². The population has increased by a little over 1,000 inhabitants since 1980, when it was 7,343. The increase between 1991 and 2000 was 1.60.%. Most of the people live in the rural area, which had 3,829 inhabitants in 2003, while the urban area had 2,732 inhabitants.
[edit] Economic Information
The economy is based on cattle raising with 900 farmers raising 90,000 head of cattle. Many residents work for the government and there is a small commercial sector. In 2005 there were 2 industrial units and 31 retail units. There was 1 banking institution: Banco Itaú S.A. The number of motor vehicles in 2004 was: 97 automobiles, 11 trucks, 8 pickup trucks and 54 motorcycles.
In 2004 there were 110,500 head of cattle, of which 4,500 were milk cows. Poultry and swine raising were modest. The main agricultural products in planted area were rice, sugarcane, beans, manioc, and corn (1,600 hectares). The agricultural planted area was less than 3,000 hectares (30 km²).
[edit] Health and Education
In 2003 there was 1 hospital with 18 beds and 5 walk-in health clinics. There were 6 doctors, 1 nurse, and 2 dentists in 2003. The infant mortality rate was 45.34 in every 1,000 live births in 2000. This was much higher than the state average.
In 2005 the school system had 27 schools, 82 classrooms, 156 teachers, and 2,903 students. There were no institutions of higher learning. The adult literacy rate was 75.8% in 2000, one of the lowest in the state.
[edit] History
Monte Alegre de Goiás was founded because of the search for gold. The first settlers arrived around 1769 in a place called Morro do Chapéu. A chapel was built to honor Santo Antonio, giving the town the name Santo Antônio do Morro do Chapéu. The bandeirantes, who came up from São Paulo, brought 2,000 Negro slaves with them. In 1957 the municipality of Chapéu had its name changed to Monte Alegre de Goiás.
There are settlements nearby founded by runaway slaves. These Afro-brazilians are known as Kalunga. They live on the slopes of the Paranã River and in valleys called "vãos". Today they live in the municipalities of Cavalcante, Monte Alegre de Goiás, and Teresina de Goiás. Their small settlements are Contenda, Kalunga, Vão das Almas, Vão dos Moleuqes, and Ribeirão dos Bois.
Ranking on the Municipal Human Development Index
Monte Alegre is one of the poorest municipalities in the state. It ranked third from last place in the MHDI.
- Life expectancy: 62.2
- Adult literacy: 0.721
- School attendance rate: 0.746
- Monthly per capita income: 91.353 Reais
- Municipal Human Development Index (HDI-M): 0.626
- State ranking: 240 (out of 242 in 2000)
- National ranking: 4,205 (out of 5,507 in 2000)
All data are from 2000
For the complete list see Frigoletto.com
