Montes Claros

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See also Montes Claros de Goiás

Montes Claros is a city located in northern Minas Gerais state, in Brazil. The estimated population in 2005 was 336,132 inhabitants and the total area of the municipality was 3,470 km². It was made a seat of a municipality in 1831 and attained city status in 1857.

It is 418 km. from the capital, Belo Horizonte, and is connected by the following highways:

BR 135 – Bocaiúva/Januária
BR 365 – Pirapora/Uberlândia
BR 251 – Rio-Bahia/Salinas/Coração de Jesus
BR 122 – Janaúba

The climate is tropical with an annual average temperature of 24.2º. The vegetation of the municipality is mainly Cerrado with areas of transition between cerrado and Caatinga

The history of the city is relatively old in Brazilian terms. It began with adventurers moving north from the coast in search of diamonds and gold in the streams. In 1707 the first ranches appeared and a small village took root: Arraial de Formigas. In 1810 the town was made a bishopric. In 1831 the town had grown and become Vila de Montes Claros de Formigas. By 1857, Vila Montes Claros de Formigas had around 2,000 inhabitants and became the city of Montes Claros.

[edit] Economy

Primary sector:

Producer of dairy and beef cattle, followed by agriculture: beans, corn, manioc, cotton, and irrigated rice.

Secondary sector:

The industrial sector began to increase with the arrival of electric power in 1965 and the participation of the government agency SUDENE in the industrial development of the region. Today industry is the main activity in the city. The factories installed are, among others, the largest factory of condensed milk in the world (Nestlé), one of the three factories of insulin in Latin America (BIOBRAS now Novo Nordisk Produção Farmacêutica do Brasil), a modern textile factory (COTENOR), and the fifth largest ciment factory in Brazil (MATSULFUR)

Montes Claros is also recognized nationally as the capital of Carne de Sol, a kind of steak that is salted and hung in the sun for some days, and Arroz com Pequi, a very popular meal that is made of rice and Pequi.

The city is well served by institutions of higher learning. There are two public universities: Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros (Unimontes) and a campus of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), and five private colleges: Faculdades Pitágoras, Faculdades Unidas do Norte de Minas (FUNORTE), Faculdade de Ciência e Tecnologia de Montes Claros (Facit), Faculdade de Saúde Ibituruna, and Faculdades Santo Agostinho.