Curvelo
Encyclopedia
Curvelo is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. It is located in the geodesic centre of Minas Gerais, 170 km. north of the capital, Belo Horizonte, and connected to the capital by highways MG 135 and BR 040. Its estimated population is 74.409 inhabitants (2008) and the total area of the municipality is 3,344 kmª. The city lies at an altitude of 633 metres.

Curvelo Statistical Micro-region

Curvelo is also a statistical micro-region with 11 municipalities: Augusto de Lima
Augusto de Lima, Minas Gerais
Augusto de Lima is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,589 living in a total area of 1,250 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Buenópolis
Buenópolis
Buenópolis is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 9,522 living in a total area of 1,610 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Corinto
Corinto, Minas Gerais
Corinto is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 22,741 living in a total area of 2,524 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Curvelo, Felixlândia
Felixlândia
Felixlândia is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 13,618 living in a total area of 1,553 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Inimutaba
Inimutaba
Inimutaba is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,420 living in a total area of 529 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Joaquim Felício
Joaquim Felício
Joaquim Felício is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,937 living in a total area of 791 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Monjolos
Monjolos
Monjolos is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 2,303 living in a total area of 652 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Morro da Garça
Morro da Garça
Morro da Garça is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 2,887 living in a total area of 414 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Presidente Juscelino
Presidente Juscelino
For the municipality in Maranhão see Presidente Juscelino, MaranhãoPresidente Juscelino is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,257 living in a total area of 696 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of...

, and Santo Hipólito
Santo Hipólito
Santo Hipólito is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,541 living in a total area of 341 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

. The population in 2000 was 141,619 inhabitants in a total area of 13,792.20 km². The population density was 10.27 inhab/km² (2000).

Geography

Curvelo titles itself the Gateway to the Sertão (Portal do Sertão), due to its geographical location—the beginning of a drier vegetation—and a drier climate.

It is located on a large raised plain in the centre of the state, where there are no mountain chains. It is between the basins of the São Francisco River
São Francisco River
The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...

, the Rio das Velhas, Paraopeba, Cipó, and Bicudo. Neighboring municipalities are: Corinto
Corinto
Corinto may refer to any of the following:Brazil*Corinto, Minas GeraisColombia*Corinto, CaucaEl Salvador*Corinto, MorazánNicaragua*Corinto, Nicaragua...

, Felixlândia
Felixlândia
Felixlândia is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 13,618 living in a total area of 1,553 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Inimutaba
Inimutaba
Inimutaba is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,420 living in a total area of 529 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Monjolos
Monjolos
Monjolos is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 2,303 living in a total area of 652 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Morro da Garça
Morro da Garça
Morro da Garça is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 2,887 living in a total area of 414 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

, Presidente Juscelino
Presidente Juscelino
For the municipality in Maranhão see Presidente Juscelino, MaranhãoPresidente Juscelino is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,257 living in a total area of 696 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of...

 and Santo Hipólito
Santo Hipólito
Santo Hipólito is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,541 living in a total area of 341 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the statistical microregion of Curvelo. It became a...

.
The distance to Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

 is 170 kilometers. Connecting highways are BR-135, coming from the south, and BR-259, east to west.

Economic activities

Curvelo's economy is mainly dependent on goods and services, but agriculture is still important. The Gross Domestic Product in 2005 was R$ 413 million, with 264 million from services, 55 million from industry, and 44 million from agriculture. The cattle herd had 122,000 head in 2006. In the rural area there were 1,165 producers on 172,000 hectares. Only 210 of the farms had tractors (2006). Around 4,000 people were involved in agriculture (2006). The main crops were citrus fruits, rice, sugarcane, beans, manioc, and corn. As of 2007 there were 7 banks and 8,487 automobiles, giving a ratio of 8 inhabitants per automobile.

In recent years the planting of eucalyptus trees on a great scale to provide charcoal for the industries of Sete Lagoas and Contagem has brought revenue to the municipality but has also contributed to great ecological damage to the fauna and flora. One company alone, V&M Florestal Ltda., has 338.67 km² planted in the municipality. More land is also used for charcoal production in João Pinheiro, Bocaiúva, Brasilândia, Paraopeba and other smaller communities.

Traditionally small round ovens were used on each property to make charcoal, but these are gradually being replaced by modern more centralized ovens. When the charcoal is ready it is transported by truck to the industrial area of greater Belo Horizonte.

In addition to the ecological damage of destroying the land to plant trees of only one species, the physical risks for the charcoal workers are: excessive fatigue due to lifting and transporting heavy materials, which can bring on physical stress and cause damage to various muscles and skeletal structures (one study showed that a typical charcoal worker will carry 7,000 kilos of Eucalyptus wood to fill a 5 cubic metre oven in one hour!); long hours of work, including shifts during nights and the weekends, which brings about alterations in biological rhythms, increasing the risk of accidents on the job, difficulty in sleeping, chronic fatigue and loss of emotional control; and dust and smoke inhalation, causing skin irritations, conjunctivitis, and respiratory problems.

Brazil is the largest world producer of "ferro-gusa" or pig iron (used in the production of steel), which has as its base this charcoal produced from trees. Counting only last year, the 52 industries involved in the production of "ferro-gusa" made 700 million dollars in profit. "Ferro-gusa" is a primary substance in modern ironworks industry. Mineral charcoal, the closest alternative, is not largely used in this industry in Brazil, since the country does not have significant mineral charcoal reserves.

Health and education

In 2005 there were 40 health establishments, of which 27 were public and 13 were private. These included 12 specialized clinics and 2 hospitals with 157 beds. Educational needs were met by 34 public and 11 private primary schools, 9 public and 4 private middle schools, and 14 public and 11 private pre-primary schools. In higher education there is the Faculdade de Ciências Administrativas de Curvelo and the Faculdade de Ciências Humanas de Curvelo.
  • MHDI: .755 (2000)
  • State ranking: 247 out of 853 municipalities
  • National ranking: 1,724 out of 5,138 municipalities in 2000
  • Life expectancy: 70
  • Literacy rate: 88


The above figures can be compared with those of Poços de Caldas
Poços de Caldas
Poços de Caldas is a city and municipality in south-western Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2009 was 151,449 inhabitants...

, which had an MHDI of .841, the highest in the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

. The highest in the country was São Caetano do Sul
São Caetano do Sul
São Caetano do Sul is a city in São Paulo state in Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Area. It is the city with the highest per capita income in Brazil and it also has the highest Human Development Index .-Geography:São Caetano do Sul is located on a plateau that is part of the...

 in the state of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 with an MHDI of .919. The lowest was Manari in the state of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...

 with an MHDI of .467 out of a total of 5504 municipalities in the country as of 2004. At last count Brazil had 5,561 municipalities so this might have changed at the time of this writing.

Celebrations

The most important popular event is the Forró Beneficente de Curvelo, which takes place in July. This is a festival of popular music. During the period of four days the city receives 100,000 visitors. For images of the Forró de Curvelo see Forro de Curvelo

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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