Diamantina
Encyclopedia
Diamantina is a Brazil
ian city in the state of Minas Gerais
. Its estimated population in 2006 was 44,746 in a total area of 3,870 km².
Arraial do Tijuco (as Diamantina was first called) was built during the colonial era in the early 18th century. As its name suggests, Diamantina was a center of diamond
mining
in the 18th and 19th centuries. A well-preserved example of Brazil
ian Baroque architecture
, Diamantina is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
.
Other historical cities in Minas Gerais are Ouro Preto
and Mariana
.
, Felício dos Santos
, Gouveia
, Presidente Kubitschek
, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
, Senador Modestino Gonçalves
, and Couto de Magalhães de Minas
. The area of this region is 7,348 km² and in 2006 the population was 80,063 inhabitants. The population density (2000) was 11.2 inhab/km².
in a mountainous area. The elevation of the municipal seat is 1,114 meters. The Jequitinhonha River
, one of Brazil's most important rivers, flows to the east of the municipal seat. Diamantina is linked to the state capital by federal highway BR-259, by way of Curvelo
. Diamantina Airport
has regular flights to Belo Horizonte.
Neighboring municipalities are: Olhos D'Água and Bocaiúva
(N); Carbonita
, Senador Modestino Gonçalves
, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
, and Couto de Magalhaes de Minas
(E); Santo Antônio do Itambé
, Datas
, Serro
and Monjolos
(S); Augusto de Lima
, Buenópolis
, and Engenheiro Navarro
(W).
The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas
with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha
with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul
in São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha. In more recent statistics (considering 5,507 municipalities) Manari in the state of Pernambuco
has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.
There were 2 hospitals and 31 health clinics in 2005. Educational needs were met by 30 primary schools and 9 middle schools.
There were 3 institutions of higher learning: Faculdade de Ciências Jurídicas de Diamantina - FCJ (a law school), Faculdade de Filosofia e Letras de Diamantina - FAFIDIA (humanities), and Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri - UFVJM (federal public).
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...
ian city 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...
. Its estimated population in 2006 was 44,746 in a total area of 3,870 km².
Arraial do Tijuco (as Diamantina was first called) was built during the colonial era in the early 18th century. As its name suggests, Diamantina was a center of diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in the 18th and 19th centuries. A well-preserved example of 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...
ian Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
, Diamantina is a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Other historical cities in Minas Gerais are Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto
-History:Founded at the end of the 17th century, Ouro Preto was originally called Vila Rica, or "rich village," the focal point of the gold rush and Brazil's golden age in the 18th century under Portuguese rule....
and Mariana
Mariana, Minas Gerais
Mariana is the oldest city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a touristic city, founded on July 16, 1696, and retains the characteristics of a baroque city, with its churches, buildings and museums.-Further reading:...
.
Statistical Micro-region
Diamantina is a statistical micro-region that includes the following municipalities: Diamantina, DatasDatas
Datas is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 5,418 living in a total area of 309 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a...
, Felício dos Santos
Felício dos Santos
Felício dos Santos is a Brazilian municipality located in the center-north of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 5,685 living in a total area of 358 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It...
, Gouveia
Gouveia, Minas Gerais
Gouveia is a Brazilian municipality located in the center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 11,569 living in a total area of 874 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a municipality...
, Presidente Kubitschek
Presidente Kubitschek
Presidente Kubitschek is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 2,978 living in a total area of 189 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a municipality in...
, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
São Gonçalo do Rio Preto is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,124 living in a total area of 313 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina...
, Senador Modestino Gonçalves
Senador Modestino Gonçalves
Senador Modestino Gonçalves is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,988 living in a total area of 951 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a...
, and Couto de Magalhães de Minas
Couto de Magalhães de Minas
Couto de Magalhães de Minas is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,332 living in a total area of 484 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. ...
. The area of this region is 7,348 km² and in 2006 the population was 80,063 inhabitants. The population density (2000) was 11.2 inhab/km².
Location
Diamantina is located 292 kilometers almost directly north of the state capital, Belo HorizonteBelo 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...
in a mountainous area. The elevation of the municipal seat is 1,114 meters. The Jequitinhonha River
Jequitinhonha River
thumb|Source of the river in [[Serro]]|rightThe Jequitinhonha River is a river that flows mainly through the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its source lies near Diamantina in the Serra do Espinhaço at an elevation of 1,200 m, after which it flows northward and then east-northeastward across the...
, one of Brazil's most important rivers, flows to the east of the municipal seat. Diamantina is linked to the state capital by federal highway BR-259, by way of Curvelo
Curvelo
Curvelo is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. 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 and the...
. Diamantina Airport
Diamantina Airport
Diamantina Airport is the airport serving Diamantina, Brazil.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:...
has regular flights to Belo Horizonte.
Neighboring municipalities are: Olhos D'Água and Bocaiúva
Bocaiúva
Bocaiúva is a Brazilian municipality located in the northwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 44,657 people living in a total area of 3,232 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of North of Minas and to the microregion of Bocaiúva...
(N); Carbonita
Carbonita
Carbonita is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 10,145 in a total area of 1,454 km². The elevation of the town center is 751 meters. It is part of the IBGE statistical meso-region of Jequitinhonha and the micro-region of...
, Senador Modestino Gonçalves
Senador Modestino Gonçalves
Senador Modestino Gonçalves is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,988 living in a total area of 951 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a...
, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
São Gonçalo do Rio Preto
São Gonçalo do Rio Preto is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,124 living in a total area of 313 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina...
, and Couto de Magalhaes de Minas
Couto de Magalhães de Minas
Couto de Magalhães de Minas is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 4,332 living in a total area of 484 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. ...
(E); Santo Antônio do Itambé
Santo Antônio do Itambé
Santo Antônio do Itambé is a town in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Its coordinates are 18.46625/18°27'57" S and the longitude is 43.315/43°18'25" W. It has 4,692 inhabitants and the area is 303.857 km²...
, Datas
Datas
Datas is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 5,418 living in a total area of 309 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the statistical microregion of Diamantina. It became a...
, Serro
Serro
Serro is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the Metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Conceição do Mato Dentro....
and 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...
(S); Augusto de Lima
Augusto de Lima
Antônio Augusto de Lima was a Brazilian journalist, poet, musician, magistrate, jurist, professor and politician. He was born in Congonhas de Sabará ....
, 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...
, and Engenheiro Navarro
Engenheiro Navarro
Engenheiro Navarro is a Brazilian municipality located in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 7,079 people living in a total area of 632 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of North of Minas and to the microregion of Bocaiúva. It became a municipality in 1962...
(W).
Economic activities
The main economic activities are tourism, services, small industry and agriculture. The GDP in 2005 was R$ 184 million, with 140 million coming from services, 23 million from industry, and 8 million from agriculture. In 2006 there were 1,248 rural producers on 73,000 hectares of land. Only 24 of the establishments had tractors. There were 14,000 head of cattle.Health and education
The social indicators rank Diamantina in the top tier of municipalities in the state.- Municipal Human Development IndexHuman Development IndexThe Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
: 0.748 (2000) - State ranking: 298 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000
- National ranking: 1933 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000
- Literacy rate: 86%
- Life expectancy: 68 (average of males and females)
- Infant mortality: 32.8
The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was 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...
with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha
Setubinha
Setubinha is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 10,834 in a total area of 536 km². The elevation is 729 metres. It is part of the IBGE statistical microregion of Teófilo Otoni...
with 0.568. Nationally the highest 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 São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha. In more recent statistics (considering 5,507 municipalities) 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...
has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.
There were 2 hospitals and 31 health clinics in 2005. Educational needs were met by 30 primary schools and 9 middle schools.
There were 3 institutions of higher learning: Faculdade de Ciências Jurídicas de Diamantina - FCJ (a law school), Faculdade de Filosofia e Letras de Diamantina - FAFIDIA (humanities), and Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri - UFVJM (federal public).
Famous natives of Diamantina
- Chica da SilvaChica da SilvaChica da Silva, sometimes written as Xica da Silva was a Brazilian woman who became famous for becoming rich and powerful though having been born into slavery. Her life has been a source of inspiration for many works in television, films, theater and literature...
, an enslaved African-Brazilian folk heroFolk heroA folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
ine became first lady in the region, after having married a Luso-Brazilian ruler; born circa 1730. Adaptations of her story were made into songs and famous soap operas translated into other languages. - Alice Dayrell Caldeira Brant (pseudonym: Helena Morley), whose diaryDiaryA diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
Minha vida de menina (translated into English as The Diary of Helena Morley) is a classic in Brazilian literatureBrazilian literatureBrazilian literature is written in the Portuguese language by Brazilians or in Brazil, even if prior to Brazil's independence from Portugal, in 1822...
; born in 1880; died 1970. - Juscelino Kubitschek de OliveiraJuscelino Kubitschek de OliveiraJuscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira , known also by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician of gypsy Czech origin who was President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. He was born in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, and died in 1976...
, responsible for the creation of the new capital, BrasíliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961; born in 1902.
Further reading
- Cheney, Glenn Alan, Journey on the Estrada Real: Encounters in the Mountains of Brazil, (Chicago: Academy Chicago, 2004) ISBN 0-89733-530-9
Related subjects
- Minas GeraisMinas GeraisMinas 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...
- Ouro PretoOuro Preto-History:Founded at the end of the 17th century, Ouro Preto was originally called Vila Rica, or "rich village," the focal point of the gold rush and Brazil's golden age in the 18th century under Portuguese rule....
- List of municipalities in Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of DiamantinaRoman Catholic Archdiocese of DiamantinaThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Diamantina is an archdiocese located in the city of in Brazil.-History:* June 6, 1854: Established as Diocese of Diamantina from the Diocese of Mariana* June 28, 1917: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Diamantina...