Paracatu, Minas Gerais
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| State: | Minas Gerais |
| Micro-Region: | Paracatu |
| Founded: | 1890 |
| Population: | 81,599 (2004) |
| Postal code: | 38600-xxx |
| Website: | www.paracatu.mg.gov.br |
Paracatu is a city in the western part of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It had 81,599 inhabitants in the 2004 census. The origin of the name comes from the Tupi language.
Paracatu is situated on the BR 040, the main highway linking the Brazilian capital of Brasília and southwestern Minas Gerais. The Paracatú River, a major tributary of the São Francisco River, passes about 40 km. south of the city. Distances from major cities are:
- Brasília: 220 km
- Belo Horizonte: 502 km
- São Paulo: 1.082 km
- Rio de Janeiro: 956 km
- Vitória: 992 km
- Goiânia: 350
[edit] The Economy
The economy is centered on cattle raising with 231,000 head of cattle registered in 1996. The main breeds are: Zebu (Gir, Indu-Brasil, Guzerá and Nelore), Girolanda, Frisian and Brown-Swiss. There is also large production of soybeans, corn, rice, and beans. Some coffee is also grown. The city has grown because of its rich lands and the location on one of Brazil's most important highways.
In 1978 the municipality began to receive investments from the Brazilian and the Japanese government to develop the cerrado soils, by way of PRODECER-Programa de Cooperação Nipo-Brasileiro para o Desenvolviemnto do Cerrado.
By using new technologies for developing the cerrado, agriculture in Paracatú became efficient and profitable in many properties. Today, the cultivated area in the municipality surpasses 1000 square kilometres, with 300 square kilometres irrigated by central pivot sprinklers. This number has raised Paracatá to the position of greatest continuous area irrigated by center pivot irrigation in South America, using 318 center pivot sprinklers.
There are still active gold mines near Paracatú. The largest is the Mina Morro do Ouro, whose gold content is the lowest in the world, about 0.43 grammes of gold for every ton of mineral extracted. Annual production is about 6.7 tonnes of gold and 1.3 tonnes of silver in this open surface operation.
[edit] History
The city of Paracatú has its origins in the beginning of the eighteenth century, with the discovery of gold. For some time gold was abundant in alluvial deposits.
The town began before 1730. On 24 June 1744 the news of the discovery of the mines of Paracatú reached the government of the Capitania of Minas and the town began to prosper.
On 20 October 1796, the Vila de Paracatu do Príncipe was created, with a document signed by D. Maria I, Queen of Portugal. In 1840 the Vila was raised to the category of City. Decline set in with the exhaustion of the gold fields, but with the building of Brasília in the 1960's and the building of the highway linking Belo Horizonte and the new capial Paracatu began to grow again.
