Patos de Minas
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| Patos de Minas | |
|---|---|
| State | Minas Gerais |
| Area: | 3,189 km² |
| Population: | 133,054 (IBGE 2007) |
| Elevation: | 832 m above sea level |
| Postcode (CEP): | 3148-000 |
| Became a city: | 1892 |
| Distance to Belo Horizonte: | 415 km. |
| IBGE statistical microregion: | Patos de Minas Microregion |
| Website: | City government site |
Patos de Minas is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, located some 400 km from Belo Horizonte on the Paranaíba River. The city had 133,054 in 2007 while the area of the municipality is 3,189 km². The elevation of the city is 832 meters.
Made the seat of a municipality in 1866, it gained city status in 1892 with the name of Patos, which was lengthened in 1944 to Patos de Minas.
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[edit] High standard of living
Patos de Minas occupies a privileged position in the ranking of cities in the state and country in socio-economic development. A study in Veja magazine in 2001 placed Patos in fifth place among five thousand cities with the greatest socio-economic development between 1970 and 1996.
Rare among Brazilian cities of this size, around 99% of all the streets of the city are paved and have public lighting and almost all of the inhabitants (97%) receive treated water. Sewage treatment reached 98% of the urban population. [City government site
[edit] Economy
The main sources of income are: the cultivation of beans, corn, manioc, rice, coffee, and oranges, along with phosphate fertilizer processing and livestock raising, dairy products, jerked beef, and hog by-products are processed in the city, which is linked by air and by roads to Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state.
Patos is known nationally for its corn production. The "Princess of the Alto Paranaíba" as it is called, has become the national capital of corn, a fact that has attracted investors from all over the country to set up industries in agro-industry, garments, beverages, and packaging. It is also one of the most important seed producing centers in the country.
Corn is so important in the life of the town that every May Patos puts on a festival, the biggest in the state, called Fenamilho, the Festa Nacional do Milho (National Corn Festival), in which there are rodeos and performances by country and western groups.
Main crops in 2006
- Coffee: 5,700 ha.
- Cotton: 310 ha.
- Potatoes: 130 ha.
- Sugarcane: 170 ha.
- Beans: 3,000 ha.
- Manioc: 1,000 ha.
- Corn: 12,000 ha.
- Soybeans: 4,500 ha.
- Tomatoes: 446 ha.
Farm data in 2006
- Number of farms: 3,135
- Agricultural area: 232,334 ha.
- Planted area: 45,300 ha.
- Area of natural pasture: 208,109
- Persons working in agriculture: 11,400
[edit] Health and Education in 2006
- Number of primary schools: 47
- Enrollment in primary schools: 21,711
- Numbre of middle or secondary schools: 23
- Enrollment in middle or secondary schools: 7,063
- Higher education: 3 private schools with an enrollment of 4,834 in 2005.
- Hospitals: 1 public and 3 private with 366 beds (2005)
- Health clinics: 27 public and 4 private.
Airport
The regional airport, built five years ago, can receive medium sized passenger planes from the Brasília to the Fokker F-27. It is located 6.5 km. from the city. There are daily flights to the capital and to Uberaba.
[edit] References
