Mara Rosa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mara Rosa is a small town and municipality in north-central Goiás state, Brazil.

Population: 11,406 (2005 estimate)
Total area: 1,703.9 km² (October 2002)
Elevation: 530 meters
Became a municipality: 1953
Postal code: 76490-000

1 Location
2 Political Information
3 Demographic Information
4 Economy
5 Health and Education
6 History
7 Municipal Human Development Index
8 Sources of Data

[edit] Location

Mara Rosa is located 356 kilometers north of Goiânia in the Porangatu Microregion. It is 11 kilometers east of the Belém-Brasília highway, between the basins of the Araguaia River and the Tocantins River. Neighboring municipalities are: Alto Horizonte, Amaralina, Campinorte, Campos Verdes de Goiás, Estrela do Norte, Formoso, Mutunópolis, Nova Iguaçu de Goiás, Santa Terezinha de Goiás, and Uirapuru.

Highway communications with Goiânia are made by GO-080 / Nerópolis / São Francisco de Goiás / BR-153 / Jaraguá / GO-080 / Goianésia / Barro Alto / GO-342 / BR-153 / Uruaçu / Campinorte / GO-239. See Seplan

[edit] Political Information

In January 2005 the mayor was Otávio Alves Neto and the vice-mayor was Ostervaldo Gomes de Aguiar. There were 9 members of the city council and the number of eligible voters was 8,549 in September 2004.

[edit] Demographic Information

The population density was 6.85 inhabitants/km² in 2003. The population has decreased greatly since 1980, when it was 21,524. From 1991 to 2000 the decrease was 6.23%. Most of this decrease has been in the rural area. In 1980 the rural population was 16,309 and by 2003 it had decreased to 2,576. Most of these people did not move into the town itself but most likely immigrated to the large urban centers of Anápolis, Goiânia, and Brasília.

[edit] Economy

There are deposits of phosphates, lead, copper, gold, and silver. Mara Rosa is the biggest producer of saffron in the state of Goiás and there are also important plantations of corn, soybeans, and rice. There are small industries producing cheese and furniture.

In 2005 there were 17 industrial units and 108 retail units. There was one dairy--Laticínios Mara Rosa Ltda. There was one bank institution--Banco do Brasil S.A.

The biggest employer was the retail sector with 224 workers in 2003. There were 529 automobiles, 60 trucks, 38 pickups, and 436 motorcycles in 2004.

The cattle herd was quite large with 118,000 head in 2004. The main agricultural products in planted area were corn with 2,000 hectares in 2005 and rice with 1,160 hectares. Other crops were manioc, sugarcane, soybeans, and bananas. Saffron has become a planting option in recent years.

[edit] Health and Education

In 2003 there were 2 hospitals with 75 beds and 6 walk-in health clinics. There were 10 doctors, 4 nurses, and 3 dentists in 2002. The infant mortality rate was 27.56 in 2000.

In 2005 there were 11 schools, 74 classrooms, 156 teachers, and 3,551 students in the school system. There were no courses in higher education. The adult literacy rate was 82.3% in 2000.

[edit] History

Mara Rosa is considered one of the oldest municipalities in the state. The discovery of gold took many people to the region. The first houses appeared in 1742, 15 years after the founding of Vila Boa, the former capital of the state. The first name was Amaro Leite, a tribute to its founder, Amaro Leite Moreira. The district of Amaro Leite belonged to the Comarca de Pilar in 1911. In 1933 it was a district of Santana de Uruaçu. In 1953 it separated from Uruaçu to become the city of Amaro Leite. This settlement was transferred to another site and in 1960 the name was changed to Mara Rosa as a tribute to José Maurício de Moura.